Three Things The Edmonton Oilers Need To Accomplish Still

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.