The departures of 3 players today mark a new era in the Edmonton Oilers organization. I explain this as a new start to what will be a challenging effect to perfecting a roster that would be ready for the post-season in a dominating fashion. Making sense of the current situation is what I will go through in this article.
The Edmonton Oilers will move on from this current situation
The Oilers' management, particularly GM Stan Bowman, made two broad choices regarding three players on the team. Codi Ceci was the first to be moved, followed by the Edmonton Oilers organization not matching the tendered offer sheets to those of Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg. Who will now serve as members of the St. Louis Blues team?
Not to mention, clearing the air on the Evander Kane injury status has cleared the confusion as to what kind of injury it is and how it will be treated. There is speculation that due to his condition, it will take quite a few months to recuperate.
The current cap space of the Edmonton Oilers is $945,833. Depending on the team's other moves, it will respond to those who doubt the general manager's ability to make a Stanley Cup-worthy team. Taking away Brett Kulak's contract would bring the salary cap from $87,054,167 to $82,208,334, which I will explain down the stretch.
This retooling will be interesting to the league because of its implications for the post-season. Unfortunately, the Edmonton Oilers organization is faced with the daunting task of building a solid team with the NHL and its fans observing them before the beginning of the season. The time is now for Stan Bowman to stand up to the critics and preside in an according manner to improve the team, in my opinion, by adding more brut toughness that comes with speedy players.
Will Brett Kulak be traded before the season begins?
Brett Kulak is a scapegoat in clearing up more cap space and adding to their respective pool of drafts for the upcoming year. Depending on what the brass has up their sleeve, it may come out as a trade for Kulak involving a seasoned vet or prospect and draft picks may go both ways to complement the deal itself.
The importance of his contract is that if traded for a reasonable return, it would save the team another $3.9 million to add to the cap space, depending on the return itself. Going from $945,833 to $4.845,833, including Evander Kane's LTIR acquittal to the cap space, which would present at least another $5.125,000 to the pot.
Bringing the current salary cap down to $77,083,334 from $945,833 would be slightly under the threshold for the contracts played in the season.