Where do we go from here?
With only $225,834 in cap space for next season, don't expect anymore big moves. However, a GM's work is never done. Here's what I will expect from Bowman going forward:
Get younger
In this day and age younger players on the roster are not only key to success but are cheap cap hits for the first three years of their careers. The Oilers were the second oldest team in the league last season, only the Pittsburgh Penguins were older.
Having experience on the roster is great, but it's also important to maintain youth on your roster to keep cap hits down and speed up. I believe that Bowman has by and large accomplished that with the aforementioned Isaac Howard trade, trading Kane and Arvidsson, and letting Jeff Skinner and Corey Perry walk in free agency - combined with the fact that Matt Savoie is poised to take a regular spot in the lineup this year, as is Noah Philp.
There will be plenty of other players pushing for roster spots throughout the season too from the Condors if they play their cards right - James Hamblin, Viljami Marjala, Quinn Hutson, Josh Samanski, Max Jones, Atro Leppanen, Alex Regula, and Josh Brown could also get callups depending on how their developments go throughout the season.
Add another prospect or two
I'd say most of the work on the Oilers roster is done, now it's just a matter of filling out the farm team. GMs always have guys they like to add that might be diamonds in the rough during the dog days of the offseason, so we'll see what Bowman does in this regard.
Sign Connor Mcdavid to a new contract
This isn't the most urgent thing in the world as his contract doesn't expire until the end of next season, but the last thing the Oilers need right now is a Mitch Marner style soap opera of a "will he or won't he" variety. That kind of distraction can be bad for the team going into the season.
I expect we'll see a less than eight year contract just like Evan Bouchard, but one never knows with these things. I'm hoping for $15 million but that might be too optimistic because Mcdavid is eligible to sign for as much as $20 million.
However, Mcdavid is a smart guy and he realizes the value of the team having a little extra cap space in their pockets so they have more means to surround him with the depth that can put him over the top. It's also interesting to note that his wife a few months ago opened up a restaurant and bar in downtown Edmonton.
If Mcdavid wasn't interested in coming back, I doubt she would do that as she'd have to commute a long way to run the place and would probably sit on her hands while she waits and sees where her husband will go.
Don't forget we all saw all the noise surrounding Leon Draisaitl's extension last year, and Mcdavid's this year is no different. In fact, Leon and Connor are all saying pretty much the same thing prior to re-upping with the Oilers because it hurts their bargaining position if they say in public that "Edmonton is the only place I want to play." It's better for them if they publicly spout ambiguity just to plant enough doubts in management's mind that they might just leave under the right circumstances.
But, if I were you I'd bank on Mcdavid extending with the Oilers, no matter what the morons in New York and Toronto say. He knows the Oilers are the only contender that could easily fit his new cap hit into their cap structure, and if he signs with a lousy team he has to endure the same losing he had to endure at the beginning of his career all over again.
Somehow I doubt he's up for that. Mcdavid has all the leverage so the negotiations will be very straightforward, but bet on him coming back to the Oilers. He also knows he can't team up with anyone even close to Leon Draisaitl on any other roster in the league, and we've signed his old junior coach to coach him as well as his old agent to preside over the team.
The Oilers are literally built around Connor. We also have some of the best facilities in the league and an owner who bends over backwards to satisfy his players - and you can bet that Mcdavid, as the best player in the league, has the ear of Daryl Katz. Anything he wants to remain happy, Katz gets it for him. You can bet he also has Stan Bowman's ear too.
Bring in a new goalie only if it's a clear upgrade on either Skinner or Pickard - otherwise it's more important to stand pat
Neither Skinner nor Pickard have set the league on fire in the playoffs - and yet both goalies have been between the pipes while the Oilers went to two straight Stanley Cup finals. After all, neither guy is imploding like Jim Carey or Rick DiPietro did in the past. Both guys are also signed until next season.
There's no hurry to move either one of them - and all the options available are either nothing more than lateral moves or just completely laughable. Tristan Jarry is the latest to pop up in rumors ever since Pittsburgh traded for Arturs Silovs from the Canucks. But nothwithstanding the cap gymnastics we'd have to do, take a look at the playoff stats of Tristan Jarry.
He's only got a single game in his entire career of decent numbers in the playoffs, so his career playoff numbers are abysmal. Now take a look at Calvin Pickard - who is cheaper and more experienced than Jarry is right now in the playoffs, by the way.
Their career Sv% is almost identical while Pickard has the superior GAA. That's a lateral move at best. I wouldn't even think about it if I were Bowman unless the Pens retained 50% of the cap hit, took Mattias Janmark and Max Jones back as well, and threw in a sweetener like mid or top draft pick to take Jarry.
That means the Oilers would be rid of $3.45 million in cap space while only taking back $2.6875 million and would be up $762,500 in cap space. Even then I don't know if I'd do it with Jarry's history of wilting in the playoffs when the pressure gets turned up.
There there's John Gibson, the runner up booby prize in the goaltender sweepstakes. I was elated at his trade to the Red Wings, not because I'm a closet Red Wings fan but because the stupid trade rumors of a trade to the Oilers that have been going on for years will FINALLY at long last stop.
This is a guy who lost his starting role years ago in Anaheim to Lukas Dostal, had a career renaissance in numbers AS A BACKUP and suddenly everyone wants him here. No.....just no. Take a look at his stats. When he plays a significant number of games, he's only a sub-900 barely average goalie at best - and that's in the regular season.
What if Skinner got injured or underperformed and we'd have to turn the nets over to Gibson? We'd be screwed. Forfeit the series right now, seriously.
Then there's the Elvis Merzlikins rumors out of Columbus. No. Just no. You know the Jackets will take advantage of the market and demand an overpayment in exchange - plus just like with Jarry you're dealing with a big cap hit.
Jake Allen. Joel Hofer. All of these guys were linked to the Oilers in some way but all were flawed in some way. Considering the options, unless there is a clear upgrade I'd rather stick with Skinner-Pickard, thank you very much. Wait until someone better becomes available.
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