Bonus material, rapid fire style
Congratulations to Connor McDavid and Team Canada on winning the 4 Nations Cup
I'm probably not telling you anything you don't already know here, so there's not much else to say here, except to say it's very fitting that Connor McdDavid scored the OT winner against the US in the most dramatic fashion possible. An omen to come in the Cup Finals? We can only hope at this point.
Congratulations to Matt Savoie on his first callup and game as an Oiler
The youngster has been one of the AHL's best of late so he's earned this callup - and in the top six, no less, playing with Leon Draisaitl and Corey Perry. I couldn't watch the Philly game so I'm going to defer to Bruce McCurdy of the Edmonton Journal to tell you how great he did. First point already out of the way in his first game, and in spectacular fashion too. In a very short sample size, it's so far so good with Savoie.
Mikko Rantanen to the Oilers?
Before Colorado traded Mikko Rantanen to the Hurricanes, there was a ridiculous rumor going around online that Rantanen was coming to the Oilers, or so many dreamed. I honestly can't top what my colleague Devon had to say on the subject here, so I'm just going to defer to him on the subject. The same goes for the offseason when Rantanen is a free agent - don't expect Stan Bowman to pursue him then either.
Bonus material part 2, non-rapid fire style
Salary cap going to go way up in the next three seasons
With the player's debt to the owners paid off and the NHL experiencing normal revenues again and then some, the NHL announced about a month ago that the salary cap will be going from this season's cap ceiling of $88 million, to $95.5 million next season, then $104 million two seasons from now, then up to $113.5 million the season after that. For the record, that's a 22.5% increase, the largest increase since close to the beginning of the cap era when the cap increased by 45.28% between 2005-06 and 2008-09.
Knowing the NHL, they'll probably find a way to screw it up, but in the meantime this is great news for the Oilers, who will most likely be re-signing Connor Mcdavid and Evan Bouchard as their next core players needing new deals, but after those two players the Oilers won't have anyone who will require whopping raises for awhile, and with owner Darryl Katz committed to spending to the cap ceiling to ice a competitive team, this is good news for the Oilers indeed, as at this point after Mcdavid and Bouchard no one will need huge whopping raises for awhile, unless Matt Savoie turns into a superstar overnight. This means exciting times are in the works for Stan Bowman to add to the roster. Who knows, maybe he'll bring back Jeff Skinner for another tour of duty - just kidding. It also means that unlike in the recent past when the Oilers have lost Warren Foegele, Ryan Mcleod, Dylan Holloway, Philip Broberg, and Vincent Desharnais for cap reasons one way or another, that mass exodus of players is unlikely to happen after this season for cap reasons.
It harkens back to when the Pittsburgh Penguins were in their prime and Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang were all locked up long term prior to when the cap exploded the first time and it allowed the Pens to bring in high priced players such as Phil Kessel, Marion Hossa, and others as well as retain guys like Jake Guentzel a lot longer than if they were a cap team (they eventually traded Guentzel for hockey reasons, not cap reasons). This is now what the Oilers will experience. All trades, waiver pickups, and free agent signings will be for hockey reasons, not cap reasons.
It all equates to good times ahead, and I can't wait. The Oilers will be a prime destination for so many players it'll make your head spin.