3 Players That Could Be Bought Out By The Edmonton Oilers

Ryan McLeod

While Ryan McLeod doesn't have the largest cap hit, his contract is one where they can get a decent amount of money back while still not having much to pay moving forward. While McLeod is a valuable player, he is replaceable. I don't know if the money saved would be worth having to replace him.

McLeod's current cap hit is $2.1 million if the Oilers were to buy him out the new cap hit would be $350,000 making it a savings of $1.75 million. The thing is you would still need to replace his roster spot. For the Oilers to come out ahead they would need to find his replacement for a cap hit of under $1.75 million, while it is possible to do that it is unlikely to find an effective player for that cost.

Jack Campbell

This is by far the most likely buyout for the Edmonton Oilers. The only reason Jack Campbell is not bought out is if they can trade him away. Unlike McLeod and Ceci, Campbell was not playing for the Oilers, so a buyout would make sense cause they don't even need to replace him.

Campbell has a cap hit of $5 million right now and that is 100% wasted money as he didn't even play for the Oilers for a majority of the season. While there is that dead cap space in the years following for a buyout it makes too much sense to buyout Campbell.

The buyout term would last 6 years versus his actual contract which is 3. In the first year, the Oilers would be saving $3.9 million, then saving $2.7 and $2.4 million in years 2 and 3. In the three years of dead cap of $1.5 million. It may hurt a bit in those 3 years at the end, but the short-term help it gives the Oilers is worth the move.

It is going to be a short offseason for the Oilers, but they have a lot that needs to be done in that time. While the core of the roster is locked in, it is the edges that now need to be filled in if the Oilers hope to make it the Cup Finals again.

*All cap/buyout info courtesy of CapFriendly*