June 30, 2023 by Ryan Lotsberg

The Edmonton Oilers have had a busy last couple of days in preparation for the free agency period, which begins on Saturday.

First, general manager Ken Holland traded Kailer Yamamoto and Klim Kostin to the Detroit Red Wings for “future considerations”, which is just a fancy way of saying “for nothing”. Yamamoto got 118 points in 244 games with the Oilers. The 2017 22nd overall pick’s production while playing on scoring lines with the two best players in the game was underwhelming, even though his tenacious playing style despite his small stature is something to be commended. The Red Wings have since bought Yamamoto out, making him an unrestricted free agent on Saturday. Kostin was a pleasant surprise for the Oilers, scoring 21 points in 57 games while hitting and fighting his way into the hearts of Oilers fans. Kostin wanted more money than what the Oilers could afford to offer, and it turned out that he was the price for the Red Wings to take Yamamoto and his $3.1 million cap hit. 

Next, the Oilers re-signed Mattias Janmark to a one-year deal worth $1 million. Janmark scored 25 points in 66 games for the Oilers last season. He started the year in Bakersfield as a cap casualty out of training camp, but he more than earned a roster spot with his play after being recalled. Janmark consistently made smart plays with the puck, and he was fantastic on the forecheck. He became a fixture on the penalty kill as well. This is the kind of bargain signing that the Oilers will need in their bottom six this season.

These moves leave the Oilers with $7,932,500 in cap space with an active roster of 17 players. They still have two important RFAs to sign. Evan Bouchard will get a bridge deal. We don’t know the exact numbers, but I expect it to be a one-year deal worth about $3 million. I believe Ryan McLeod will end up around $1.5 million after all is said and done. I’m building a hypothetical roster here, so I’ll use those round numbers for budgeting purposes.

Signing those two RFA contracts would leave the Oilers with $3,432,500 to sign up to four players to round out the roster. They could potentially add a fifth player under $1 million if they want to have Dylan Holloway in Bakersfield. This is the Oilers depth chart as I see it now:

Kane – McDavid – Hyman

Nuge – Draisaitl – 2RW

Foegele – McLeod (RFA) – 3RW

Holloway – Janmark – Ryan

13F, 14F

Ekholm – Bouchard (RFA)

Nurse – Ceci

Kulak – Desharnais

Broberg

Skinner

Campbell

The most intriguing spots in my estimation are the two spots at right wing. I remember thinking that the Oilers needed to rebuild their right side a couple of years ago when I was looking at the depth chart and seeing Jesse Puljujarvi, Kailer Yamamoto, and Zack Kassian in the top three spots. All three have been moved out in the past year. Derek Ryan is the only true right winger on the roster right now. This is the summer that the right side gets rebuilt. One of Zach Hyman or Leon Draisaitl will have to play right wing at any given time next season. Holland still needs to add two more right wingers, and they need to be able to contribute at a middle or top six level. 

Related: Positional Asymmetry on the Oilers: Part 1 – The Wingers

If the Oilers were to add two extra forwards for the league minimum, they would have $1,932,500 left to sign these right wingers. The Oilers could choose to start the season with a 22-man roster, or they could send Dylan Holloway to Bakersfield and sign a forward making less than his cap hit to create a little bit more room to go after middle six right wingers. Regardless, these two right wingers will have to total anywhere from $1.9 million – $2.5 million, depending on how the numbers shake out.

It sucks that the Oilers can’t afford to add Patrick Kane or Vladimir Tarasenko because they would be perfect fits in our top six; but there are three decent bets that could be available for peanuts in my opinion. 

Connor Brown has been linked to the Oilers for a few years now, but there’s a lot of smoke around him signing in Edmonton this time around. He’s eligible for a contract laden with performance bonuses, which would allow his cap hit for this season to be small while still being handsomely compensated. He basically missed all of last season with a knee injury, but he’s a decent bet to be able to contribute in the middle if not top six. I’ll be surprised if Brown isn’t an Oiler by the end of the day on Saturday.

Related: Oilers will target Connor Brown in free agency

Blake Wheeler was just bought out by the Winnipeg Jets. Wheeler is 36 years old, but he’s still putting up decent numbers. 55 points in 76 games is nothing to shake a stick at. The circumstances surrounding his buyout seem more culture related than performance related. Wheeler was stripped of his captaincy last fall, and he was publicly critical of head coach Rick Bowness’s assessment of the team’s performance in the playoffs. Wheeler will still be getting paid by the Jets, and he’s also eligible for a contract with performance bonuses.

Josh Bailey is another quality right winger that was just bought out. He was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday, and was subsequently bought out. The soon to be 34-year old’s performance declined last season (25 points in 64 games). He’s not eligible for any performance bonuses, so getting his cap hit down might be a tougher task. He’s also a left shot that plays his off wing, which isn’t necessarily ideal.

They could also move Janmark to right wing, where he played in the playoffs, and search for a veteran fourth line centre. Jonathan Toews carries a significant risk due to his health concerns. He’s 35 years old and is also eligible for a contract with performance bonuses. Despite his age and health issues, he still posted 31 points in 53 games on a terrible Blackhawks team last year. His leadership and his championship pedigree could be useful in the dressing room, and Duncan Keith could play a role in recruiting Toews.

I won’t go into too much detail about potential names available to fill out extra forward positions, but I’ll throw some names at you that I think could be had for the league minimum or close to it:

Sam Gagner, Luke Glendening, Matt Nieto, Zach Aston-Reese, Chris Tierney, Jayson Megna, and Devin Shore.

Gagner is a sentimental name, but he’s still got gas left in the tank. Bob Stauffer has been talking about Glendening becoming an Oiler for years now, much in the same way he talked about Derek Ryan coming here before he finally came here. Glendening has played for Holland before as well. This is purely speculation on my part, but I’ll be surprised if Glendening doesn’t sign in Edmonton.

This should give us a sense of what to expect from Holland and the Oilers over the next few days. Expect a handful of bargain bin forwards to be signed by the Oilers in the coming days. Their goal will be to find value contracts to round out the roster. I’m most interested to see how Yamamoto’s spot in the top six will be filled.