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Lowetide checks the direction of the wind and it seems to be blowing Ladislav Smid out of town, which makes the Oilers' off-season to-do list somewhat lengthy:
The Oilers have several off-season priorities this summer:
- Sign RFA"s Gagner, Paajarvi, Hartikainen, make a decision on RFA Peckham
- Sign Nuge to the Hall contract
- Make decisions on UFA’s Smid, Jones, Fistric, Petrell, Whitney and Khabibulin
- add a backup goaltender
- find a top 4D, lefty to go with Nick Schultz and Oscar Klefbom
- find a top 6D, righty to go with Justin Schultz and Jeff Petry
- offload contracts of Eager, Belanger and possibly Ryan Smyth
If the Oilers do ship Smid out and pursue another defender via free agency, they'll be in for a fight. The list of of top four defenders available in unrestricted free agency is one of the weakest in recent years. The restricted free agent list, on the other hand, is plentiful and ready for harvest.