NHL Free Agency Live Blog

3 years ago

Happy free agency day, Nation! Here we are to start off the NHL’s shopping season and break down the decisions that NHL general managers get to make with their owner’s money. It’s a timeless tradition really, and one that we’ll jump in on regardless of how busy the Oilers actually end up being. My friends, it’s time for the free agency live blog.

Coming into free agency, our beloved Oilers have about $7 million worth of cap room to work with and that will be a challenge for Ken Holland to navigate as he works to upgrade the roster. As we saw on far too many occasions last season, a lack of scoring depth means that the big boys are far too heavily relied upon to get things done, and that’s a problem that will need to be solved without having the juice to go whale hunting. Needless to say, Holland and co are going to have to get creative in both finding players that can contribute on value deals while also trying to shed salary without having to give up too many assets to make it happen. That’s a hefty to-do list regardless of how you break it down.

Put it another way, if the Oilers are going to improve the roster, Ken Holland is going to have to use every minute of his experience as GM to wheel and deal to free up some cap space, and I’ll be very interested to see how he approaches the half-built house that is this team as its currently constructed. I don’t think I’m talking out of school when I say that Ken Holland has some pressure on his shoulders to make real improvements here, and I am endlessly curious about how he’s going to make that work given the circumstances. At this stage of the infinibuild, Old Dutch needs to make moves and acquisitions that will help this team take a tangible step forward and I’ll be day drinking and waiting to see how many such things happen today.

Feel free to join in on the conversation, talk a little puck, and see if you can match up to how day drunk I get as I’m pretending this is still going down on Canada Day. Deal? Deal. Happy shopping to the NHL teams and happy silly season to the rest of us!

THE SUSPECTS

Without much cap room left to play with, the Oilers’ options are limited but this is still our free agency list and for that reason, we’ll treat it like it’s a beautiful princess. Listed below, I’ve put together a some of the names that have been mentioned here at the Nation and by varying media members as potential fits for the Oilers, and we’ll have to see how many, if any, get crossed off the list.

The Potentials

Tyson Barrie (2019-20: 70GP – 5G, 34A – 39 points) – Barrie is a name that’s come up a lot lately as a potential option for the Oilers on the right side, and given his ability to produce offence from the back end, I can certainly understand why they’d be interested. I could see this happening, but I could also see him signing a bigger deal elsewhere that ends up being a blessing.

Jacob Markstrom (2019-20: 43GP – 23-16-4, 2.85 GAA, .919 save%) – There’s been a lot of smoking going around over the past few days about the Edmonton Oilers and Jacob Markstrom as basically every insider on every network is matching the two sides up on a long term deal. That said, I think he’s going to get some big smoke on this next contract and that could be enough to push the Oilers out of the running unless Uncle Ken finds a way to clear some serious space on the books.

Thomas Greiss (2019-20: 31GP – 16-9-4, 2.74 GAA, .913 save%) – If Ken Holland isn’t able to secure a goalie that he expects to have for the longterm, I could see him going for a guy like Thomas Greiss as a reasonable 1B behind Koskinen. The contract would likely be shorter, cheaper, and would still be a decent bet to provide steady goaltending.

The Golden Years Guild:

Mike Smith (2019-20: 39GP – 19-12-6, 2.95 GAA, .902 save%) – Ken Holland has already talked about Mike Smith being an option to bring back next year, but I’m hoping he’s more of a Plan C or D kind of idea than a front runner. That’s not to say that Smith played horribly last year, he didn’t, but I do think there are better fits for this team that are available.

Mikko Koivu (2019-20: 55GP – 4G, 17A – 21 points) – Mikko Koivu has expressed the desire to play at least another year and I think he would be a solid fit for the Oilers as their 3C. Not only would he bring a wealth of experience along with him, but he would also be a nice mentor for the newly re-signed Jesse Puljujarvi.

The ‘I Hope So’ collection:

Taylor Hall (2019-20: 65GP – 16G, 36A – 52 points) – I know that the Oilers are rumoured to be interested in Hallsy, a move that I would fully support provided that they can make the math work, but I just don’t see it happening. It’s fun to dream, but my bet would be on him signing a short-term deal in Colorado or something.

Anthony Duclair (2019-20: 66GP – 23G, 17A – 40 points) – With news breaking that Anthony Duclair would be testing free agency rather than re-signing with the Ottawa Senators, his name jumped out as a guy I think would be a nice fit on the left side. I have no idea how much money he’d be looking for, but this is a player that would certainly be able to bring in some of that scoring depth we’ve been talking about.

Alex Pietrangelo (2019-20: 70GP – 16G, 36A – 52 points) – I mean… I’d love it but it’s never gonna happen, ya know? Moving on.

THE RUMOURS…

In this section, I’ll be dropping in rumours that I find on Twitter to try and spice things up a little bit. If I see a media member talking about a player in connection to the Oilers, I’ll toss their tweet in here to give us something else to argue about in the comments section.

THE UPDATES…

9:00 am MT – Rise and shine, people! We’re here to kick off the NHL’s annual shopping day and ready for our beloved Oilers to get some work done. First signings kick off in an hour.
9:10 am MT – Looks like Lundqvist is going to Washington for only $1.5 million. Not sure how numbers are already out seeing as teams aren’t supposed to talk to UFAs until 10 am, though? *wink face emoji*
9:12 am MT – Bob McKenzie just said on TSN that he could see the Oilers offering Jacob Markstrom a max-term deal. Buckle up, friends.
9:44 am MT – Darren Dreger just said that it’s expected that Oscar Klefbom could be out for a “long long time” which could lead to them going hard after Tyson Barrie.
10:10 am MT – Tyler Johnson is on waivers! What?
10:20 am MT – Bob McKenzie is suggesting that the Oilers have offered Markstrom max term at an AAV around $5 million.
10:31 am MT – Does anyone else think it’s hilarious that OEL gave the Coyotes a hard deadline that they didn’t mean? Awkward family dinners are incoming.
10:56 am MT – Insiders are saying that the Markstrom sweepstakes could come down to Edmonton or Calgary. Not sure that I really like the idea of a bidding war.
10:58 am MT – Tom Gazzola reporting that the Oilers and Kyle Turris’ camp have made contact about coming in as the 3C.
10:59 am MT – Jason Gregor tweeted that the Oilers have signed Kyle Turris to a two-year contract. No update on numbers just yet.
11:02 am MT – Two years with a $1.65 AAV for Turris.
11:06 am MT – Oilers have signed (C) Seth Griffith to a two-year deal with a $725K AAV. He spent last year with the Manitoba Moose. 58GP: 21G, 20A – 41 points.
11:12 am MT – Oilers have signed Alex Quine to a one-year contract with a $750K AAV.
11:20 am MT – Bob McKenzie just said on TSN that the Oilers are out on Markstrom.
11:36 am MT – Gregor is reporting that the Oilers are in on Mike Hoffman.
11:54 am MT – The Anton Forsberg signing is interesting. Has to be a depth goalie, right?
12:00 pm MT – Mike Futa just said on Sportsnet that the Oilers are keen on bringing back Ennis.
12:32 pm MT – “I felt they were a team moving in the right direction, with two of the best players in the league and a great coach.” -Turris on signing with Edmonton
12:38 pm MT – Pierre LeBrun reporting that the Oilers have interest in Tyson Barrie but may not be able to make it work.
12:40 pm MT – LeBrun also reporting that the Oilers are sniffing around Thomas Greiss but that his ask may be too rich.
12:42 pm MT – The Oilers just announced that they’ve re-signed Tyler Ennis to a one-year contract. No word on money yet.
12:43 pm MT – $1 million for Ennis.
1:03 pm MT – Pierre LeBrun tweeting out that the Oilers have also checked in on Corey Crawford as a potential goaltending option.
1:16 pm MT – Benning just signed a two-year deal in Nashville at $1 million per season.
2:55 pm MT – Oilers are reportedly kicking tires on Mike Hoffman, but so are a bunch of other teams so I don’t necessarily expect anything here. We shall see.

Nation Takes

Oilers Talk