Three Things The Edmonton Oilers Need To Accomplish Still

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The Edmonton Oilers are deep in the heart of the offseason. After going to the Western Conference Final the next step is a Stanley Cup Final appearance. Before the Edmonton Oilers even start looking to lift the cup they need to get through this offseason.

With only a month or so till the start of training camp there is still a couple of issues that need to be resolved before the start of the season. For the first time in a long time is has nothing to do with goaltending.

Obviously there is more than the three things that I am going to talk about in this article, but these are the three that I think are going to be the ones to keep an eye on moving forward. They are things that are going to have an impact on the day to day operation of this team.

The offseason so far for Ken Holland in my opinion has been a successful one. The free agent signings he has made have made this team better. More importantly this team didn’t take any steps backwards. With the team in it’s Stanley Cup window that is exactly what needed to happen.

The Edmonton Oilers are in win now mode. They need to keep moving forward and improving their team. With the rest of the teams in their Conference also trying to improve they need to keep the pressure on them.

Edmonton Oilers Forward Ryan McLeod, #71. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports /

Sign RFA Ryan McLeod

Ryan McLeod is a RFA who does not have arbitration rights. He had his breakthrough season last year with the Edmonton Oilers scoring 9 goals and adding 12 assists in a bottom six role. His role changed throughout the season. A lot of it had to do with where Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was playing.

McLeod would be the 3rd line centre in the scenario where Nugent-Hopkins was playing in a top 6 winger role. After the signing of Evander Kane the Edmonton Oilers did not use Nugent-Hopkins as a winger as often.

With the 3rd line centre position given to Nugent-Hopkins, McLeod would move into any of the other bottom 6 roles. Depending on the game and how the line-up looked that day chose where he would play.

If the Edmonton Oilers wanted a fast 3rd line he would play winger in that spot with another quicker player on the opposing side. If they wanted a fast 4th line, McLeod found himself centring that line. He is a very solid utility player.

For a bottom six player the Edmonton Oilers are going to need lots of them to be the utility style of player. They have already added one this off season in Mattias Janmark. This is a player that is going to likely replace the spot left by the Zack Kassian trade.

McLeod is also a solid penalty killer. His quick foot speed and his reach make his a very effective killer also. He also gets time on the second unit powerplay, not that they get a lot of time, but it is still a spot for him.

I have this as the number one point on this list simply because it is the easiest to accomplish, its not like McLeod is going to be asking big money. I would assume he lands somewhere around $1 million, $1.25 max. It’s his second contract so he can’t expect to much from it.

Current Edmonton Oilers General Manager Ken Holland. (Photo by Dave Reginek – Pool/Getty Images) /

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.

With Klefbom ($4.167M) & Smith ($2.2M) to LTIR, effectively $423K over the cap.

RFA: McLeodhttps://t.co/jaKNIxcF3w
— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) August 4, 2022

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.

The Edmonton Oilers could replace Tyson Barrie for the much cheaper P.K. Subban. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Brashear-USA TODAY Sports /

Replace The Player Moved To Become Cap Compliant

If my theory above is correct the Edmonton Oilers will be trading a current roster player to become cap compliant. Whether that player is Warren Foegele or Tyson Barrie that roster spot needs to be filled.

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Warren Foegele Trade

If they Edmonton Oilers do trade Warren Foegele he would be the easiest to replace. You have a youth player knocking on the NHL door already in Dylan Holloway. Going back to last season, I think he had a chance to make the roster if he didn’t get injured and required surgery.

Holloway made his NHL debut in the NHL playoffs last season. Don’t waste your time looking up how he did, the sample size was so small it’s not worth it. With a whole NHL season coming up I think he would fill that 3rd line winger spot perfectly.

That is where you want to start of Holloway. He may have the skill to eventually become a top 6 or even top 3 player, but good teams don’t need younger player in significant roles. Take a look at the Edmonton Oilers from the “Decade of Darkness”. Almost every prospect was playing big minuets shortly after being drafted.

It’s a good sign that Holloway starts on the 3rd line. If Foegele is a player they move on from Holloway is the perfect player to drop on that spot. He is much cheaper and has a higher skill level than Foegele. This is would be a simple move for the Edmonton Oilers.

Tyson Barrie Trade

To me this is the most likely move for Ken Holland and the Edmonton Oilers. You lose almost $2 million more off the cap than if you were to move Foegele. Plus 3rd pairing defenceman can be found just as easy as 3rd line wingers.

The only question about trading Barrie is do you trade him for another, cheaper right shot dman or do you get picks or prospects and sign a new player for that spot. If you got the “hockey” trade route then you don’t need to worry about the replacement cause you already got it in the trade.

Since that’s boring lets go with the Edmonton Oilers just dump Barrie for a non-roster player. They will need to look at what’s left in free agency, and to be honest there is only really one option for me and that is P.K. Subban.

Subban is not the player he used to be, but he should be able to serve a 3rd pairing role still. The best part about signing Subban right now is he would be much cheaper than he used to be.

I think the Edmonton Oilers would be able to bring in Subban for under $2 million/year. I think at this point in his career Subban wants to win a cup. There aren’t much more teams on paper that are better than the Edmonton Oilers to do that this year.

The teams that may look to be more skilled than the Edmonton Oilers already have players in Subban’s position. It is in my opinion almost a perfect marriage. A marriage that only would take place in Barrie is traded though.

Wait And See

As I mentioned earlier there isn’t much time for all these dominos to fall. As soon as the Edmonton Oilers sign McLeod they will need to clear the cap space to be compliant. If they trade a player away to do that they will need to be replaced.

Ken Holland has seemed to solve almost all the Edmonton Oilers problems this offseason and has done it good if you ask me. That being said he still has at least three more problems to solve.

Next. Recapping free agency so far. dark

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