Edmonton Oilers: 3 RFA Offer Sheet Options For The Team

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Edmonton Oilers, Xavier Bourgault (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

Dylan Coghlan

Dylan Coghlan is a 23-year-old defenseman, with his rights owned by the Vegas Golden Knights.

Coghlan has played 29 games in the NHL with the Golden Knights, and has 6 points to show for it. The young defender could be a huge factor in the NHL, as he only has room to improve. The Golden Knights depth is something that may keep him out of the lineup next season, or push him to a 7th defenseman role. As a 6’2, 206 pound D man, his size and offensive skill is something every team should be looking for.

Coghlan will likely earn a contract worth $750-900K a season, so a cheap option like this could prove beneficial for the Oilers. If it doesn’t pan out, it wouldn’t be hard to move him, or send him down. So it’s a low risk, high reward offer. If the Oilers were to offer sheet him, their D pairings could look like this:

Nurse – Barrie

Keith – Ceci

Coghlan – Bouchard

Extras: Koekkoek, Russell

Coghlan is a right shot, so putting him on that left side makes sense. I can see Bouchard moving up to play with Keith, and Ceci coming down to play w Coghlan, so the veteran presence is better spread out.

Robert Thomas

Robert Thomas is a 22 year old Center/Right Wing, who’s rights are owned by the St. Louis Blues.

Thomas has played 169 games in the NHL, and has a total of 87 points. As a solidified NHL player, Thomas could add depth to the Oilers bottom 6, and could even work his way up into the top 6 if he is able to continue his impressive offensive start to his career.

Thomas will likely be in for a bit of a raise, and should earn a deal worth between $2-2.75M a season. A little bit tougher to move money around, but again, moving Kassian’s contract could get this done.

With Thomas, our lines could look like this:

Hyman – McDavid – Puljujarvi

Nugent-Hopkins – Draisaitl – Yamamoto

Foegele – McLeod – Thomas

Shore – Ryan – Archibald

EXTRA: Tyler Benson

I don’t think Thomas would last long in our bottom 6, and I could see him earning a top 6 spot really quickly, playing with speedy, gritty guys like Foegele and McLeod.

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