As the NHL gears up towards Free Agency we hear more news every day about who teams will allow to hit Free Agency and who will not. For a team like Edmonton who has obvious roster holes some of the names that are going to hit Free Agency are intriguing.
Everybody know that the Oilers need legit Defensemen and short of the Dougie Hamilton Offer Sheet scenario I don’t see how they could get one, though trades do happen. Anyone who says they don’t happen is willfully forgetting Pronger, Leddy, Boychuk, Phaneuf, Streit, and a litany of other big minute Defenders who have been moved in the Cap era.
Sufficed to say that it can happen and sometimes it’s right out of the Blue.
Still though, Unrestricted Free Agency is a more simple option for clubs, albeit a financially expensive one most of the time.
The good news for Edmonton is that they have the Cap Space to add players in the here and now and they have even more money coming off the books in a year from now. They are in a favourable position to add key players if they can convince them to come aboard.
Today news broke that the Penguins would be going younger on their Defense by letting Christian Ehrhoff and Paul Martin hit Unrestricted Free Agency. Before that we learned that the Blues would be letting Jackman hit the market as well.
There are a few players that will be available on July 1st when the Oilers go shopping.
Ehrhoff and Martin are both interesting players, though Martin is already in his mid-30’s. A year ago it looked like Ehrhoff was going to be a bell of the ball type of defender but a tough year may have knocked his value down a peg.
The market will also see Franson, Green, Sekera, and several others switch teams. While most of these players arent homeruns, they should be an upgrade over Edmonton’s current vacancies.
I was just wondering what some of your favourite (but still possible) Edmonton Oiler Defense Scenarios might be.
For example, I would love to see the Oilers Offer Sheet Hamilton, sign Ehrhoff, buy out Nikitin, and potentially move Justin Schultz. The remaining Oilers D would look something like:
Klefbom Hamilton Ehrhoff Schultz (?) Marincin Fayne Ference
Nurse in the AHL
And I’m not particularly concerned about having the Captain be the 7th Defenseman or even what 3.25M in the Press Box means for the club. The fact is that the Oilers should be worried about Wins, not hurt feelings.
Is this a reasonable expectation for the Blueline? No, it’s one of my best case scenarios, but it involves just 2 moves: Hamilton and Ehrhoff.
We know the Oilers are at the very least interested and contemplating the Hamilton move. An Ehrhoff deal is perhaps less likely because of the potential ramifications with Nurse down the line, but honestly that’s not actually something they should worry about. Left Handed Defensemen play the right side all the time, someone will eventually move over.
So, let me know. Which Defensemen would you target this summer in Free Agency (Restricted or Unrestricted) to change the face of the Oilers Blueline?
Follow me on Twitter @Archaeologuy