Three Edmonton Oilers That Will Not Be Back Next Season

I know that the Oilers Cup run has just ended, but that means it is time to look ahead to the upcoming offseason, there is a lot of work that needs to be done. For this Oilers team, there is going to be a big issue with the cap moving forward. There are few free agents that due to the lack of cap space are likely to leave to make more money elsewhere.

Lots of people talk about players taking a hometown discount or staying for a chance to win the Stanley Cup. Those ideals only really apply to the top paid players in the league. For example, for Connor McDavid the difference between 13 million and 12 million is less than a 10% difference, but for a player that only makes 4 or 5 million taking a one million dollar discount is a drop of 20-25%. That’s a lot of money. Would you take a 20% discount at your job, just to stay, I highly doubt it.

So this offseason there are going to be several players that are going to get offered more money elsewhere and the Oilers will not be able to match due to their cap scenario. People will get mad at them for leaving to get more money, but I am not going to be one of those people. The money these players make is a generational changing amount.

Edmonton Oilers Pending UFA’s

When it comes to the Edmonton Oilers there are a handful of unrestricted free agents that are going to be coming up for renewal this offseason. There are obviously some that are more important to sign than others. 

With this being said the Oilers can not afford to sign them all and that priority list will vary depending on how much each player makes. Of the list of players that are UFA’s here are the 3 that I think will not be back next season.