Three Things The Edmonton Oilers Need To Accomplish Still
Edmonton Oilers Become Cap Compliant
According to PuckPedia the Edmonton Oilers are currently $423,000 over the cap. This number doesn’t include the above re-signing of Ryan McLeod. It also already included the LTIR for Klefbom and Smith. This means something on the roster needs to change for them to become cap compliant before the start of the season.
After signing Yamamoto for 2 years $3.1M Cap Hit, #LetsGoOilers are $6.8M over cap with 21 players (12F/7D/2G) on the Projected Roster.
— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) August 4, 2022
With Klefbom ($4.167M) & Smith ($2.2M) to LTIR, effectively $423K over the cap.
RFA: McLeodhttps://t.co/jaKNIxcF3w
There isn’t much room for the Edmonton Oilers to send players down to the AHL to become fit under the cap. This likely means that a player will need to be traded. The question is which player can you move without upsetting the roster.
In my opinion option #1 is Tyson Barrie. First thing about this, I think Barrie is a good player and he was very good in the playoffs last season. The issue with Barrie is he has cap hit of $4.5 million this season.
This wouldn’t be a bad cap hit if he was in the top pair. It wouldn’t even be that bad if he was second pair, but on the right side he is now #3 on the depth chart. With Bouchard and Ceci being better defenders than Barrie, Barrie has slide down.
Another reason Barrie is the number one option is the fact he can still play. He is only one season removed from a season where he lead all defensemen in points. This means other teams will actually want to take him as he can contribute to the new team.
With the Edmonton Oilers likely moving on from a current roster player that sets me up perfectly for my point #3.