As the current Oiler season limps towards its inevitable conclusion, more and more attention is focused on next year and the look of the Oilers going into the future.
Thoughts on trades, prospects rising, UFAs departing [perhaps arriving] are being voiced here, there, everywhere on the intertubes.
I pasted a little 3-year chart into the comments at Lowetide, a pretty so-so effort if I do say so myself. I’ve reworked the info a little – fixed the blatant errors and clarified my thoughts.
Its an attempt to give a sense of how the Oiler’s line-up will evolve over the next three seasons - how lines break out, how the Cap Hit changes.
Its important not to get hung up on the names used, I know everyone has their favourites. The guys mentioned represent ideas discussed many times on this site and others.
2011-12 |
|||||
Taylor Hall |
3,750,000 |
Shawn Horcoff |
5,500,000 |
Ales Hemsky |
4,100,000 |
Dustin Penner |
4,250,000 |
Tim Connolly |
5,000,000 |
Jordan Eberle |
1,187,500 |
Magnus Paajarvi |
1,525,000 |
Sam Gagner |
2,275,000 |
Linus Omark |
875,000 |
Liam Reddox |
550,000 |
Anton Lander |
1,000,000 |
Colin McDonald |
550,000 |
Colin Fraser |
825,000 |
Steve MacIntyre |
550,000 |
||
Ryan Whitney |
4,000,000 |
Tom Gilbert |
4,000,000 |
||
Ladislav Smid |
1,187,500 |
Jeff Petry |
1,000,000 |
||
Theo Peckham |
1,000,000 |
Steve Montador |
2,000,000 |
||
Kurtis Foster |
1,800,000 |
416,667 |
|||
Devan Dubnyk |
800,000 |
Josh Harding |
1,000,000 |
3,750,000 |
|
$52,891,667 |
Here, I’ve
· re-signed Reddox [though I like Thoreson better] and McDonald
· permanently promoted Petry and Lander
· given Peckham a raise
· loaned Khabibulin to Mytishchi Atlant
· signed an UFA back-up for Dubnyk
· given UFAs Connolly and Montador over-pays on two-year contracts
As you can see the Oilers have tonnes of Cap room even though they’re paying over $4,000,000 to players in the KHL.
2012-13 |
|||||
Taylor Hall |
3,750,000 |
Shawn Horcoff |
5,500,000 |
Ales Hemsky |
5,500,000 |
Dustin Penner |
5,500,000 |
Tim Connolly |
5,000,000 |
Jordan Eberle |
1,187,500 |
Magnus Paajarvi |
1,525,000 |
Sam Gagner |
2,502,500 |
Linus Omark |
1,750,000 |
Curtis Hamilton |
875,000 |
Anton Lander |
1,000,000 |
Tyler Pitlick |
1,000,000 |
Teemu Hartikainen |
875,000 |
Colin McDonald |
550,000 |
||
Ryan Whitney |
4,000,000 |
Tom Gilbert |
4,000,000 |
||
Ladislav Smid |
1,187,500 |
Jeff Petry |
1,000,000 |
||
Theo Peckham |
1,000,000 |
Adam Larrson |
3,750,000 |
||
Steve Montador |
2,000,000 |
||||
Devan Dubnyk |
2,400,000 |
Josh Harding |
1,000,000 |
3,750,000 |
|
$60,602,500 |
For the second year the Oilers are much closer to the Cap:
· Hemsky, Penner, Gagner, Omark & Dubnyk have all been given raises
· Larrson has been brought over from Sweden
· Hartikainen, Hamilton and Pitlick have been promoted.
· Everything about Khabibulin, except his Cap hit, remains across the pond
2013-14 |
|||||
Taylor Hall |
5,750,000 |
Shawn Horcoff |
5,500,000 |
Ales Hemsky |
5,500,000 |
Dustin Penner |
5,500,000 |
Sam Gagner |
2,502,500 |
Jordan Eberle |
3,187,500 |
Magnus Paajarvi |
3,525,000 |
Anton Lander |
1,000,000 |
Linus Omark |
1,750,000 |
Curtis Hamilton |
875,000 |
Ryan Martindale |
875,000 |
Tyler Pitlick |
1,000,000 |
Teemu Hartikainen |
875,000 |
Colin McDonald |
550,000 |
||
Ryan Whitney |
5,500,000 |
Tom Gilbert |
4,000,000 |
||
Martin Marincin |
1,000,000 |
Jeff Petry |
2,250,000 |
||
Theo Peckham |
1,000,000 |
Adam Larrson |
3,750,000 |
||
Brandon Davidson |
800,000 |
||||
Devan Dubnyk |
2,400,000 |
Josh Harding |
800,000 |
||
$59,990,000 |
For the final year of this 3 year plan Comrade:
· The Three Amigos’ ELCs are kaput, I gave them $2,000,000 extra each per
· Whitney also gets a raise
· Martindale, Marincin and Davidson have been promoted. A serious team would re-sign "Montador" to replace Davidson.
· Again, McDonald represents an utility forward.
So, we’ve learned that if the Oilers are prudent, they can keep Hemsky & Penner and stay well under the Cap. 2% annual increases will have the Cap north of $63,000,000 by the end of this time frame.
I’m not sure, though, if the team as shown is one that can advance beyond the first round of the play-offs.
They look a little light at Center for sure. By the 3rd year, Horcoff is into greybeard status.
I’ve pushed a bunch of the Youth onto the roster, likely more than can actually make it.
However, other than this coming summer, I’ve added no free-agents.