It's going to be a wild and crazy day in Oil Country. The Edmonton Oilers have been linked to a number of different moves with some essentially already in the books. Here is what we know for sure:

The Edmonton Oilers are going to announced a seven year deal with forward Zack Hyman this morning, with an annual AAV of 5,5 million. Hyman plays a physical game but has hands, can be a net front presence and an excellent puck retrieval player. Last season was a shortened year but Hyman was on pace to score 30 goals on the top line with Auston Matthews. Expect him to see regular time on a line with Connor McDavid.

The next signing that has been made almost official this morning is Tyson Barrie returning to Edmonton on a three year deal worth 4.5 million a year. This one is likely going to ruffle a bunch of feathers around the fanbase. In terms of value, this is a good deal for Barrie. He is an excellent puck moving defenseman who is one of the top 5 offensive defenders in the league. Last season he led all defensemen in points. A cap hit of 4.5 million is fair value and the deal only being three years gives the Oilers some insurance as Barrie will have just turned 33 when the deal expires.

The more concerning questions are where does this leave some of the Oilers younger players. Evan Bouchard was expected to take on heavy PP minutes this season but that seems unlikely with Barrie now on the blue line. At some point Edmonton needs to have Bouchard in those minutes and the argument is they are paying a guy 4.5 million when a player on his ELC can replicate that same ability. We don't know Bouchard can be that guy but we also don't know that he can't. I still think it was a misstep for Tippett to not give the young defenseman more of those minutes last year just to see what he can do.

The other concern is what is going to happen to Ethan Bear. Rumours tie Edmonton to another shutdown right defenseman like Cody Ceci. If that is the case it seems highly likely that Holland will try and move Bear. This would continue a concerning habit of seeing Edmonton draft a young talented defenseman, have him cost controlled and under contract, and then trade them away when they are not immediately a top pairing option. Bear made some mistakes, especially some notable ones in the playoffs but he is still a great young player. He passes the puck extremely well and defensively he is highly aware of his options. Nurse turned into a top pairing defender just in the last season and he is 26 years old. Bear is 24 and only played 132 games so far. I would much rather see things juggled to keep him in the lineup.

It's going to be an interesting day and I will keep you posted as things unfold.

OILERS TRADE ETHAN BEAR FOR WILLIAM FOEGELE

This is a tough one for me. I like Ethan Bear. I think he is a talented young defenseman who is going to continue to grow and develop into a top four defender who can log a ton of minutes. On top of that I always found him just a very likable individual and an easy player to root for. Right after the playoffs information came out about a bunch of racist comments that were made against the Cree player. Fans around the league and players came out in support of Ethan. It was a good moment.

William Foegele is a 25 year old bigger LW who can play at even strength and on the PK. In a third line role he is able to produce and scored 10 EV goals in 53 games last season for the Canes. This is a good add for the Edmonton Oilers as it gives them a real option on their third line who could even grow into a top six option. In terms of trade value I think this is a fair deal.

Ultimately this happened because soon we are going to hear about a Cody Ceci signing in Edmonton. Holland has now shipped out Caleb Jones and Ethan Bear and he is replacing them with guys who have played in the league for some time. The plan now for better or worse does appear to be to win now. We will see if that is how things will play out.

CODY CECI SIGNS

And there it is. A four year deal worth 3.25 million a season. I don't dislike Ceci's game as much as some but regardless this is an overpayment for the middle pairing defender. Edmonton wanted to replace the more defensive style of game that Larsson plays and Ceci was the best free agent option that existed to fill that type of void.

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