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Finalizing the series. So far this is what has been done or discussed:
- Oilers RFAs
- Current Salary Cap Situation
- Buy-outs
- UFA Targets both Forwards and Defense
- Goalies
This post will wrap up all the parts and fill in any of the missing pieces.
Team Overview
The team assembled in this series looks a little bit like this
Forwards
| Line | Left Wing | Salary | Centre | Salary | Right Wing | Salary | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Benoit Pouliot | 4,500,000 | Ryan Nugent-Hopkins | 6,000,000 | Jordan Eberle | 6,000,000 | 16,500,000 |
| 2 | Taylor Hall | 6,000,000 | Name Witheld | 3,775,000* | Nail Yakupov | 2,500,000 | 12,275,000 |
| 3 | Leon Draisaitl | 3,400,000* | Anton Lander | 987,500 | Teddy Purcell | 4,500,000 | 8,887,500 |
| 4 | Rob Klinkhammer | 725,000 | Boyd Gordon | 3,000,000 | Matt Hendricks | 1,850,000 | 5,575,000 |
| Total | 43,237,500 |
Defense
| Pairing | Left Defense | Salary | Right Defense | Salary | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mark Fayne | 3,625,000 | 3,625,000 | ||
| 2 | Oscar Klefbom | 894,167 | Justin Schultz | 3,675,000 | 4,596,167 |
| 3 | Martin Marincin | 850,500 | Jamie McBain | 650,000 | 1,500,500 |
| Total | 9,721,667 |
Goaltending
| Player Name | Salary |
|---|---|
| Cam Talbot | 1,450,000 |
| Ben Scrivens | 2,300,000 |
| Total | 3,750,000 |
Extras
| Player Name | Position | Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Andrew Miller | Centre | 708,750 |
| Andrew Ference | Defense | 3,250,000 |
| Total | 3,958,750 |
Buy Out
| Player Name | Position | Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Nikita Nikitin | Defense | 4,500,000 |
| Cap Cost per Season | 1,500,000 |
The total cap cost is $62,167,917 which based off of a $69M cap ceiling that leaves $6,832,083 to spend on a top pairing defenseman or to allow for a trade and retain on a player.
Trade and Retain
The best option to acquire a top pairing defenseman at the least amount of cost to the Oilers is to make a deal with Chicago. The Blackhawks have just come off of their 3rd Stanley Cup in 6 years but they have a real problem, they have only 13 players signed and just $7M left in cap space. The Oilers could be their saving grace if they can convince one of their top defenders to waive his No Trade Clause.
Here is the situation. As I explained here, Chicago needs to resign Brandon Saad and Marcus Kruger. Chicago are very close to the cap and they risk losing one or both to offer sheets. Edmonton can make a trade offer that would free up cap space for the Blackhawks while helping the Oilers build a competitive team.
Brent Seabrook is worth $5.8M in salary cap, Antti Raanta is worth $750,000 and Marcus Kruger is worth $2M - $2.5M. Together the three will end up costing Chicago somewhere around $9,050,000. If Chicago takes Ben Scrivens, Jujhar Khaira and a conditional pick in 2016 they free up $4,250,000. The deal could be sweetened even more so if Edmonton retains $1M of Scrivens’ salary in the deal.
This gives the Oilers the top pairing defenseman they need, a relatively reliable backup goalie and Kruger makes Gordon and his $3M salary expendable. With Gordon moved and all of the acquisitions plus salary retention this is what the finally tally looks like.
- Current Cap: 62,167,917
- + Brent Seabrook - 67,967,917
- + Antti Raanta - 68,717,917
- + Marcus Kruger - 71,217,917
- - Ben Scrivens - 68,917,917
- + $1M Salary Retention - 69,917,917
- - Boyd Gordon - 66,917,917
This scenario leaves $2,082,083 is cap space but fills out the entire roster.
Final Roster
Forwards
| Line | Left Wing | Salary | Centre | Salary | Right Wing | Salary | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Benoit Pouliot | 4,500,000 | Ryan Nugent-Hopkins | 6,000,000 | Jordan Eberle | 6,000,000 | 16,500,000 |
| 2 | Taylor Hall | 6,000,000 | Name Witheld | 3,775,000* | Nail Yakupov | 2,500,000 | 12,275,000 |
| 3 | Leon Draisaitl | 3,400,000* | Anton Lander | 987,500 | Teddy Purcell | 4,500,000 | 8,887,500 |
| 4 | Rob Klinkhammer | 725,000 | Marcus Kruger | 2,500,000 | Matt Hendricks | 1,850,000 | 5,575,000 |
| Total | 42,737,500 |
Defense
| Pairing | Left Defense | Salary | Right Defense | Salary | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brent Seabrook | 5,800,000 | Mark Fayne | 3,625,000 | 9,425,000 |
| 2 | Oscar Klefbom | 894,167 | Justin Schultz | 3,675,000 | 4,596,167 |
| 3 | Martin Marincin | 850,500 | Jamie McBain | 650,000 | 1,500,500 |
| Total | 15,521,667 |
Goaltending
| Player Name | Salary |
|---|---|
| Cam Talbot | 1,450,000 |
| Antti Raanta | 750,000 |
| Total | 2,200,000 |
Extras
| Player Name | Position | Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Andrew Miller | Centre | 708,750 |
| Andrew Ference | Defense | 3,250,000 |
| Total | 3,958,750 |
Final Thoughts
I tried to be as conservative as I could in these moves. I didn’t go way out in left field with any of these acquisitions. The plan here was for improvement on the team that could be attainable. There are definitely places I’d have liked to be more aggressive but it would’ve hurt the team in the long run. There are parts I would have liked to move but doing so would’ve been quite difficult to justify. This roster makes the Oilers more competitive, evens out the defense and keeps the majority of the forward lines in tact.