24-25

Forums/Armchair-GM

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Created by: swinny

Team: 2024-25 Edmonton Oilers

Initial Creation Date: Mar. 17, 2024

Published: May 7, 2024

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

Description

The Oilers window is wide open, and one has to think the Holland will push the envelope this offseason. Ideally would have liked to upgrade the bottom pairing, but Desharnais has been great and Kulak's contract for what he does actually is not horrible. Opted to round out the top nine, as in 2023-24 secondary scoring seemed to be an issue.

Signings:

Desharnais: has been great in a bottom pairing rile, and continues to get better. Brings a physical edge that is needed. Long term should take Ceci's spot once that contract expires.

Sherwood: An underrated 3rd line guy that plays 200 feet and plays it hard. Great in the forecheck. Physical. Over the last couple years has proven he can add depth offense. Has special team possibilities. I think many will be in on him, so that contract maybe light due to demand.

Zucker: Many may question this, but plays the game fast - which fits the Oilers style. Has some size and push back. Not banking on a 60 point season here..... but I think he can fit this system so well that 20 goals and 50 points maybe achievable; which for what he gets on the open market is value.

Carrick: A solid, physical 4th liner. Gives the Oilers options in the bottom 6. Nothing special but a cheap serviceable player that for the Oilers well down the stretch.

Freidman: #8 defenseman that can play. Feel.the need to carry 8 D...... the organizational depth at the position is, well...... ugh.

Side Notes:

Rodrigue: is not waiver exempt for 24-25, and simply cannot see him clearing waivers. Has put up 2 excellent years on Bakersfield. Honestly not sold that he is ready, but also not prepared to loose him on the waiver wire. Someone will grab him.....

Broberg: Comes in as the #7 D, but should be used on a rotation to give rest nights. Oilers need to see if he has soemthing to offer long term. He has looked good in Bakersfield, and no way he clears waivers. Could be a trade chip at the deadline, or supplant Kulak. Oilers need to find that out.

Reilly: Giving up draft capital is not something I would be hot and horny to do, but Reilly at $1.25 million is very much worth the move. Acquired in a 3-way deal with double retention. A vet, has a cup and a steady producer. His production at the price point will not be found in the UFA market.

Holloway: A defining year for him imo. Needs find a way to break through with some offense. The game is there, but it needs to start to translate. Again..... could be a possible trade chip. Maybe young, but 4th line checkers are rather easy to find.

Lavoie: Makes the team imo. Could be the 13th forward, but I think he starts the season on the 4th line to see what he is. Another player who I am doubtful clears waivers. Further, a cap friendly contract.

Overall:

This team is truly 3 lines deep. The blueline is sound. They will be a contender..... or should be.

Free Agent Signings

RFA	YEARS	CAP HIT
Holloway, Dylan	2	$950,000
Lavoie, Raphael	2	$900,000
Broberg, Philip	2	$900,000
Rodrigue, Olivier	2	$850,000

UFA	YEARS	CAP HIT
Sherwood, Kiefer	5	$1,750,000
Carrick, Sam	2	$875,000
Desharnais, Vincent	4	$2,500,000
Zucker, Jason	2	$2,750,000
Friedman, Mark	1	$875,000

CREATED		YEARS	CAP HIT
Smith, Reilly		1	$1,250,000

Trades

EDM

Reilly Smith, via a Pittsburgh at 50% retained.

40-50 points on a cheap 1-year deal who can play PP and on either the 2nd or 3rd line? Yes please.

CBJ

2026 2nd round pick (EDM)

Additional Details:

Sending a differed pick for a guy that for all intents and purposes will pay a 40-50 point season at $1.25 million is a place you just go given the cap constraints. Oilers window is wide open.

Simply put, the Oilers will not find a cheap 1-year deal via the UFA market who can do this. More importantly, the expiring deal leaves the money to sign Leon, Bouchard and McLeod.

Buyouts

James Neal: $1,916,667
Jack Campbell: $1,100,000

Draft	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Round 7
2024
2025
2026

ROSTER

LONG-TERM OUTLOOK

EMBED

TEXT-EMBED

ROSTER SIZE	SALARY CAP	CAP HIT	OVERAGES	BONUSES	CAP SPACE
23	$87,700,000	$87,616,667	$3,500,000	$0	$83,333

Left Wing	Centre	Right Wing
Nugent-Hopkins, Ryan $5,125,000$5,125,000 LW, C NMC UFA - 5	McDavid, Connor $12,500,000$12,500,000 C NMC UFA - 2	Hyman, Zach $5,500,000$5,500,000 RW, LW NMC UFA - 4
Smith, Reilly $1,250,000$1,250,000	Draisaitl, Leon $8,500,000$8,500,000 C, LW M-NTC, NMC UFA - 1	Kane, Evander $5,125,000$5,125,000 LW, RW NMC UFA - 2
Zucker, Jason $2,750,000$2,750,000 LW, RW UFA	McLeod, Ryan $2,100,000$2,100,000 C RFA - 1	Sherwood, Kiefer $1,750,000$1,750,000 LW, RW UFA
Holloway, Dylan $950,000$950,000 LW, C RFA	Carrick, Sam $875,000$875,000 C, RW UFA	Lavoie, Raphael $900,000$900,000 RW, C RFA
	Ryan, Derek $900,000$900,000 C, RW UFA - 1

Left Defense	Right Defense	Goaltender
Nurse, Darnell $9,250,000$9,250,000 LD NMC UFA - 6	Bouchard, Evan $3,900,000$3,900,000 RD RFA - 1	Skinner, Stuart $2,600,000$2,600,000 G UFA - 2
Ekholm, Mattias $6,000,000$6,000,000 LD/RD UFA - 2	Ceci, Cody $3,250,000$3,250,000 RD UFA - 1	Rodrigue, Olivier $850,000$850,000 G RFA - 1
Kulak, Brett $2,750,000$2,750,000 LD/RD UFA - 2	Desharnais, Vincent $2,500,000$2,500,000 RD UFA
Broberg, Philip $900,000$900,000 LD RFA	Friedman, Mark $875,000$875,000 LD/RD UFA

May 7 at 11:36 a.m.

CD282

Joined: Mar. 2017

Posts: 24,256

Likes: 7,829

I don't see any improvements really. Zucker and Smith are old and soft, Carrick isn't a roster regular now so the fact that he's fulltime 4C shows less depth. The defense isn't changed and the goaltending is uncertain. Rodrigue certainly has more upside than Pickard but I'm not sure he's ready for the position just yet.

Giving $10M to a 3rd pairing guy (and paying your 3rd pair $5.25M AAV) is not how you build depth in a cap world.

Ausbear17 liked this.

May 7 at 2:31 p.m.

swinny

Thread Starter

Joined: Mar. 2017

Posts: 4,830

Likes: 2,019

Quoting: CD282

The Oilers simply lack assets and cap space to do much of anything. Would I like to add youth to this group? Absolutely. But that costs either picks or money - neither which the Oilers have.

I am going to disagree on Zucker being "soft". No, he isn't a heavy hitter, but he does have some jam to his game. Older yes. But again, limited cap space to work with.

Reilly...... you tell me where you find a 50 point winger at $1.25 million. Call him what you will. The guy manages to produce.

Carrick..... for the money, I bring him back 100%. Because I am not that sold on Lavoie.

Bottom pairing...... I think you missed how this works long term. Desharnais fit in Edmonton. No reason to let him walk for a cheap plug. He replaces Ceci in a year, which..... frees up cap space.

Comments I get.

The lack of solutions however make the feedback moot.

May 7 at 5:52 p.m.

CD282

Joined: Mar. 2017

Posts: 24,256

Likes: 7,829

Quoting: swinny

The Oilers simply lack assets and cap space to do much of anything. Would I like to add youth to this group? Absolutely. But that costs either picks or money - neither which the Oilers have.

After overpaying 3rd liners and 3rd pairing defensemen, that's a bit rich. You could easily save $3M by playing Broberg (he's ready) and another ~$1M defenseman to play on the 3rd pairing.

Quoting: swinny

Reilly...... you tell me where you find a 50 point winger at $1.25 million. Call him what you will. The guy manages to produce.

He's not getting PP time in Edmonton, so that knocks 20 points off his total. Plus he's not getting a Malkin-level center, he's a 3rd liner on a contender so that means McLeod. So he'll score 30-ish points in Edmonton. That's less than Foegele scored, hence the comment that you haven't improved the roster. He also doesn't replace the speed and physicality Foegele brings.

Quoting: swinny

Carrick..... for the money, I bring him back 100%. Because I am not that sold on Lavoie.

Carrick and Lavoie aren't competing for the same job. Lavoie is a winger. There are lots of 4th line centers out there for cheap that would be better than Carrick. He's not good enough now, why would he be good enough next year?

Quoting: swinny

Bottom pairing...... I think you missed how this works long term. Desharnais fit in Edmonton. No reason to let him walk for a cheap plug. He replaces Ceci in a year, which..... frees up cap space.

Desharnais hasn't proven to be able to play top-4. They've tried him there and it hasn't worked out. Do you think he's going to be that much better at 29 than he is at 27? It's hardly logical.

I don't mind keeping Desharnais, but not at that cost or term. Same with Sherwood - he's a 29 year old bottom-6 player, no sane person offers him a 5 year contract.

May 7 at 8:50 p.m.

swinny

Thread Starter

Joined: Mar. 2017

Posts: 4,830

Likes: 2,019

Quoting: CD282

After overpaying 3rd liners and 3rd pairing defensemen, that's a bit rich. You could easily save $3M by playing Broberg (he's ready) and another ~$1M defenseman to play on the 3rd pairing.

He's not getting PP time in Edmonton, so that knocks 20 points off his total. Plus he's not getting a Malkin-level center, he's a 3rd liner on a contender so that means McLeod. So he'll score 30-ish points in Edmonton. That's less than Foegele scored, hence the comment that you haven't improved the roster. He also doesn't replace the speed and physicality Foegele brings.

Carrick and Lavoie aren't competing for the same job. Lavoie is a winger. There are lots of 4th line centers out there for cheap that would be better than Carrick. He's not good enough now, why would he be good enough next year?

Desharnais hasn't proven to be able to play top-4. They've tried him there and it hasn't worked out. Do you think he's going to be that much better at 29 than he is at 27? It's hardly logical.

I don't mind keeping Desharnais, but not at that cost or term. Same with Sherwood - he's a 29 year old bottom-6 player, no sane person offers him a 5 year contract.

Since when would anyone not suggest Leon IS NOT an elite centre? Actually BETTER than Malkin at this stage. Kind of speechless there. I think one year of Reilly playing with a superior Drastaitl probably means he produces. To suggest he doesn't see PP2 time given the roster is almost as outlandish.

Last time I checked, Carrick can play the wing, so HE DOES compete with Lavoie.

Listen. You can say there is overpaying going on. That is fine. But if the Oilers are going to contender for a Cup, they are going to spend. That is a fact.

Your comments are noted, but again, you have failed to produce a a better solution. I can handle critique. Why I do this. But when that critique lacks any counter proposal to what may work better, I ask..... how valuable is the critique?

What is your solution? Bringing back Brown and signing Kubalik to a show-me deal? Signing a couple bottom.pairing D on the cheap that would be depth on most organizations? A pair that would play maybe 10 minutes a game and cannot play up the line up?

PS. Broberg maybe ready, he may not be. Jury is out for me. I like insurance.

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Forums/Armchair-GM

24-25

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Free Agent Signings

Trades

EDM

CBJ

Buyouts

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