We are five days (at the time of writing this) from July 1st and the beginning of free agency. Today teams had to submit their lists for qualifying offers. Those players who were not given offers will be eligible for free agency. There are a number of interesting names that should certainly be on the Oilers radar.
Tobias Reider - LW/RW - Previous Contract 2.25 Million
Oilers fans should be familiar with this player. He was traded to Arizona in exchange for Kale Kessy. Reider had success with the Coyotes putting up 111 points in 292 games but couldn’t muster the same success in LA. He would be a cheap middle six option for a team. Perhaps Draisaitl could give his fellow German a call because I do not think he has fond memories of Edmonton otherwise.
Anthony Duclair - LW - Previous Contract 1.2 Million
This one was a bit surprising at first glance. 2 years ago Duclair seemed a lock in the Coyotes core with a 20 goal 44 point season but has not come close to replicating the same success. Again a player who could fit in on a teams middle six.
Brandon Davidson - LD- Previous Contract 1.425 Million
Everyone’s favourite underdog. Take a look at Twitter and #BringBackDavy to see there is a strong group of fans who want to bring Davidson back. At a low price Davidson would be a strong 7th D option. Devante Smith-Pelly - RW - Previous Contract 1.3 Million
Every so often a player performs way above what they did during the regular season. Call it the “Pisani Effect.… Smith-Pelly has never been a strong forward but he was money for the Capitals during their Cup run, scoring 7 goals in 24 games… as many as he scored in the 75 games he played with the Caps.
Daniel Carr - LW - Previous Contract 725,000 Carr is an interesting player. His 16 points in 38 games last season won't make any fans jump for joy but the 6' 193lb winger has played with an offensively stunted Canadiens team. He has yet to play a full season in the NHL but he could be a cheap low risk option. As an extra fact he is a Sherwood Park native.
None of these players address Edmonton’s key areas of need but players like Duclair or Reider up front as well as Davidson on the backend would represent good depth options that are NHL calibre players.
The issue is how close Edmonton is approaching the cap. Strome and Nurse have been given qualifying offers and if they accept them the Oilers will have under 3 million dollars in cap space. That money is all that is left to address a top six right wing, and a 4th line centre… and that isn’t even discussing the need to upgrade the current roster on defense.
For those who don’t think overpaying on contracts by 500,000 here or there let this be a glaring reason why these negotiations need to be handled better. Especially with RFA players who the Oilers control the rights to.
Lucic being traded is a narrative we will be following this summer but it is unlikely we see such a deal transpire until much later in the summer. Lucic will not be any teams first choice to upgrade their team, however in August if a team is still looking to add players they may cycle back to Milan.
In the meantime free agency will begin and it is unlikely we see the Oilers active on day one. Those who have brought up names like Grabner, Vanek, Pirri, and others… these names might be gone before Edmonton is able to address their cap restraints.
Over the next few days I’ll take a look at a couple scenarios that would clean up some cap space for the Oilers. Until then we wait.