The Edmonton Oilers took care of a little business today as extended qualifying offers to restricted free agents Jujhar Khaira and Jesse Puljujarvi, while also letting Rieder, Rattie, Larkin, Vesel, and Norell walk away as UFAs.

In his second full(ish) season with the Oilers, Jujhar Khaira played in 60 games, recording three goals and 15 assists for 18 points while averaging 12:34 in time on ice. In 154 career NHL games over four seasons, the former third-round pick out of Prince George has produced 15 goals, 27 assists and 105 penalty minutes in an Oilers uniform. According to PuckPedia, Khaira carried a $675,000 cap hit in 2018-19 and will likely receive a low-to-moderate pay bump.

As for Puljujarvi, the 21-year-old is coming off a difficult season where he finished with only four goals and five assists in 46 games before being shut down due to hip surgery in late February. In 139 NHL games played over three seasons, the former 4th overall pick has amassed 17 goals and 20 assists for 37 points while averaging a mere 12:28 in time on ice. This qualifying offer allows the Oilers to maintain Puljujarvi’s rights while trying to figure out what the hell to do with the beleaguered forward. As we all know, Puljujarvi’s camp has been very outspoken about wanting a trade out of Edmonton and it will be interesting to see whether or not Ken Holland bows to his request or lets him disappear to Europe for the year.

As we learned last week, the Oilers would not be tendering qualifying offers to either Ty Rattie or Tobias Rieder, which makes sense given the seasons they had and the cap space it frees up, and today, three more players were added to that list. After spending their respective seasons in the minors with varying levels of success and output (I’m being generous), it was reported that none of Colin Larkin, Tyler Vesel, and Robin Norell will be back with the organization. All three of those guys were long shots at best to ever turn into more than what they are now, and it makes sense for the Oilers to free up those contracts for other prospects that will need a place to turn pro.

Looking at the five players that will be moving on, I could see both Tobias Rieder and Ty Rattie finding landing spots with other organizations that are willing to give them a chance based on a need for depth on a low-cost gamble, but the other three guys are anyone’s guess.