What assets can the Oilers use to improve?

The Edmonton Oilers are in a weird spot. They’re at the bottom of the standings in a year where many assumed they’d not only be good but Stanley Cup contenders.

The Oilers are likely better than where they currently stand, but they need to upgrade their roster to improve.

They must add multiple scoring wingers who can skate. Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins give Edmonton centre depth unparalleled around the league. The latter two can’t turn water into wine like McDavid can with ordinary wingers. Pittsburgh and Toronto have comparable centre depth but have significantly better talent on the wing. Any of Phil Kessel, William Nylander, Mitch Marner, and Patric Hornqvist would be amongst the best winger conversation in Edmonton.

Their blue line isn’t good enough compared to Western Conference teams like Nashville, Anaheim, Winnipeg, or St. Louis. The need for a right-handed defenceman who can move the puck is still there, as it was last offseason. They already have $20 million committed to defence next season. Darnell Nurse, Matthew Benning, and Brandon Davidson need new contracts.

Cam Talbot can be reasonably expected to bounce back, but they need a backup that can play more so Talbot isn’t run down. New acquisition Al Montoya has a history of being a capable backup.

So to recap, the Oilers need:

What can they use to acquire these players?

Edmonton’s strength is at centre and left shot defence. Those are tough positions to deal away.

McDavid and Draisaitl aren’t going anywhere. Could Ryan Nugent-Hopkins return a scoring winger or puck-moving, right-handed defenceman? Perhaps, but Peter Chiarelli hasn’t shown the ability to extract good value for a star player very often, if ever. The Oilers would have to be very confident Draisaitl is a centre long term before making such a move.

Logic dictates moving a left-shot defenceman for a right-shot helps balance Edmonton’s top four. Andrej Sekera’s and Kris Russell’s no-move clauses complicate that theory. Dealing either young blueliner, Oscar Klefbom or Darnell Nurse isn’t ideal. Nurse has stepped up and played well in bigger minutes. I’d be concerned what the Oilers look like without Klefbom’s passing even with his struggles this season.

Dealing draft picks or prospects isn’t an option for Edmonton. Jesse Puljujarvi or Kailer Yamamoto are the Oilers’ most notable forwards prospects, trading them would be risky. They’d be dealing from already thin prospect pool and trading draft picks could be catastrophic given the Oilers’ position. There’s no forward prospects of note in Bakersfield. The defense prospects worth anything just entered professional hockey.

Free agency can help fill a couple of these holes, but the Oilers already have 13 players signed for $60 million next season. The good thing is over half of that is pledged to McDavid, Draisaitl, RNH, Klefbom, Larsson, and Sekera. They should be able to find a fourth-line center and a speedy, depth winger at a reasonable cost.

It’s hard not to pin this on Chiarelli as most of Edmonton’s problems are self-inflicted

Edmonton’s cap situation isn’t great. Coming into Edmonton in 2015 there wasn’t many egregious contracts. The worst offenders were Mark Fayne and Benoit Pouliot. Fayne’s contract ends this season and has been buried in the minors since the 2016-2017. Pouliot’s had four years left, but the buyout last offseason carries a $1.33m strike for the next three seasons.

McDavid and Draisaitl’s contracts aren’t the problem, even though Draisaitl’s deal is a bit of a premium. It’s the buyout-proof Milan Lucic contract and the Kris Russell overpay and no-move clause that make life difficult for the Oilers.

Add that to the significant value lost in deals involving Griffin Reinhart, Taylor Hall, and Jordan Eberle, and it’s easy to see why they have so few assets.

The good news for Oilers fans is Edmonton already has the elite talent at the top of the roster.

The Oilers have less holes compared to Chiarelli’s arrival, but there’s still significant pieces needed and even less assets to use. He can’t have another trade where he’s giving up serious value and taking the lesser piece. The problem is you develop a past. Chiarelli has a history dating back to Boston of making these kinds of deals.

The Oilers’ wingers are the lowest scoring group in the league. The salary cap will go up next season, but so does the price of Connor McDavid, and by a lot. They’ll have to add key pieces without a wealth of tradable assets, with a general manager that has a history of overpaying and giving up value currently at the helm.

There next big move has to be a win.