Three Edmonton Oilers That Won't Be Back Next Season

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After losing to a good Colorado Avalanche team on Monday the Edmonton Oilers season is over. Right now you may feel sad and upset because of the sweep to the Avs, but the Edmonton Oilers finished as one of the top four teams in the NHL.

It is now time for this team to gear up for another run next season. Next season this team will want to improve on how they finished this season. That will be no easy task. With all the players on expiring contracts and players need to be brought in to fill in empty spots.

Edmonton Oilers Offseason

Evander Kane who was here on a sweetheart deal will need to be replaced or re-signed. This will not be a cheap addition. This will cause some problems for the Edmonton Oilers as there isn’t a lot of cap space to spare as it is.

In order for everything to work cap wise moving forward I think that there will be some players traded in order to make things work. Making a trade for a higher cost players for a cheaper player is the easiest way for a GM to save on cap space.

Buying a player out is another option. The problem with a buyout is you are just pushing your problems down the road. You may save on cap space in that current year, but moving forward it actually adds cap to your team.

An example is the Edmonton Oilers bought out Andrej Sekera several years ago. The contract was set to expire in 2021, but they still have one more year of $1.5 million of dead cap space due to this. It originally saved them 4 million a year, but now it is wasting cap space.

Tyson Barrie

The Edmonton Oilers are going to need to clear up cap space in order to resign their RFA’s and bring in a replacement for Koskinen. I believe that Barrie will be the player on the outs and will be traded this off season.

Why trade Barrie?

Barrie will be on the top of the Edmonton Oilers trade list. The fact that he has a decent cap hit coupled with the fact that he is still a serviceable player that many teams would like to get their hands on.

Tyson Barrie was the quarterback to one the league’s best power-plays. Yes, the Oilers also have McDavid and Draisaitl, but they need a player to help them in moving the puck around. Right now Barrie is the Edmonton Oilers go to player for that.

The Edmonton Oilers do have an in house replacement for the power-play quarterback in Evan Bouchard. Bouchard has really come into his own this season. He was relied on heavily in not only an offensive roll, but a defensive one as well.

The fact that Bouchard has been able to grow so much this season makes it so that Barrie’s main upside is no longer required. Barrie is an excellent offensive defenseman and most team would like a guy like him on their team.

In a trade the Edmonton Oilers main goal with trading away Barrie would likely be getting a younger player on a cheaper contract. Cap space is the main gain on the return. If the Oilers can bring back a player that can help them as well as gain cap space that would be the ultimate win.

Warren Foegele

Warren Foegele is in a different boat than Tyson Barrie. He is a serviceable player, but his cap hit is too high for the services he brings to the team. His $2.75 million cap hit could be replaced by a much cheaper player.

The fact that he was a healthy scratch several times in the playoffs also shows that there isn’t much trust in the player from the team. When they brought in Foegele this last offseason I thought he would be a solid piece in the bottom 6.

The resurgence of Derek Ryan and the growth of McLeod made it so that Foegele didn’t need to be dressed on a game to game basis. The main thing that hurts Foegele is the fact that he isn’t on either of the special teams units.

To Be In The Bottom Six, You Must Be On The Special Teams

In this day and age of the NHL where there isn’t a need for a tough enforcer in the lineup, every player needs to contribute in multiple ways. This means if you are in the bottom six and you aren’t scoring points you need to find a way to help the team.

Look at the Edmonton Oilers bottom six, Nugent-Hopkins, Ryan, and McLeod, all of them kill penalties. These players are all likely to be back next season for the Edmonton Oilers next season. In a perfect world none of your top 6 play on the penalty kill. This means the Oilers will look at adding skilled penalty killers in their bottom 6.

So a player in the bottom 6 that doesn’t kill penalties will need to bring an extra element that no other player does. Warren Foegele may not be the only one that will be on the way out due to this.

Zack Kassian

Zach Kassian is another bottom 6 forward that doesn’t kill penalties. The difference between him and Warren Foegele is Kassian can moonlight in the top 6. He also brings a bit more physical energy lineup.

He may add an extra level of physical play, but his cap hit is much higher than the other players in the bottom six. This makes him the most likely of the bottom 6 players to be traded away.

His $3.2 million cap hit could be reapplied by a younger player who makes closer to league minimum. The difference in this should be enough to re-sign a player like Ryan McLeod. If I had to choose between Kassian and McLeod I am taking McLeod every time.

Only Time Will Tell

They said last offseason was the most important offseason for the Edmonton Oilers, but to me this one is just as important. This team needs to get better again, there can be no back step like there was after the 2017 playoff run.

There will be some big choices and some important players that will either need to be re-signed or replaced. There is room for growth internally for sure, but this team will need to add in some positions to improve this team.

This all will require cap space to be made available to maximize this roster. Trading away these three players would open up lots of cap space.

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