What I would do to fix the Edmonton Oilers
By Zach Laing
2 years agoAll signs point towards Zach Hyman becoming an Edmonton Oiler. Now, there are rumours that the Oilers could be a dark horse candidate for the services of Dougie Hamilton.
I dove into the MyGM tool from our friends at PuckPedia and this is what I came up with:
*a quick note: PuckPedia doesn’t allow players to be moved to LTIR, but the Oilers would be cap compliant based on this roster*
First off, the Oilers buy out the contracts of both James Neal and Mikko Koskinen to free up cap space. The team also traded Zack Kassian to the New York Rangers in exchange for Julien Gauthier, a 2021 3rd round pick and a 2022 2nd round pick. This helps free up some much-needed cap space.
I signed Zach Hyman to a seven-year deal worth an AAV of $5-million as I think that’s the range the deal will come in. I also signed Dougie Hamilton to a seven-year deal with an AAV of $8.5-million. Tomas Tatar joins the Oilers on a one-year, $3-million deal.
These moves are fairly straight forward and add a very new, very dynamic element to this Oilers roster. Hyman will be a great add to the Oilers top line for at least four or five years, and Hamilton is one of the best defencemen in the NHL.
In net, the Oilers re-sign Mike Smith to the rumored two-year, $2-million AAV deal. The team also adds Linus Ullmark in net on a two-year, $3-million AAV deal.
The Oilers also re-sign a number of players, too. Kailer Yamamoto gets a two-year, $2.5-million AAV bridge contract. Dominik Kahun is back on a two-year, $1.1-million AAV deal. Slater Koekkoek signs a one-year, league-minimum deal at $750k. Alex Chiasson returns on a one-year, $1.25-million deal. Jujhar Khaira returns on a $975k on a one-year deal.
On top of that, it also includes signing Darnell Nurse to an eight-year extension worth an AAV of $7-million. Ken Holland has been making a point of giving term to lower AAV’s, and this is what happens here.
In conclusion
In my eyes, this roster makeup makes the Oilers a much better team. Hyman and Tatar add lots of flexibility for the Oilers upfront.
Hyman – McDavid – Puljujarvi
Tatar – Draisaitl – Yamamoto
Kahun – Nugent-Hopkins – Gauthier
Archibald – McLeod/Khaira – Chiasson
Tatar – Draisaitl – Yamamoto
Kahun – Nugent-Hopkins – Gauthier
Archibald – McLeod/Khaira – Chiasson
Nurse – Hamilton
Keith – Bear
Russell/Lagesson/Koekkoek – Bouchard
Keith – Bear
Russell/Lagesson/Koekkoek – Bouchard
Ullmark
Smith
Smith
Hyman – McDavid – Puljujarvi
Nugent-Hopkins – Draisaitl – Yamamoto
Tatar – McLeod – Kahun
Archibald – Khaira – Gauthier
Nugent-Hopkins – Draisaitl – Yamamoto
Tatar – McLeod – Kahun
Archibald – Khaira – Gauthier
Draisaitl – McDavid – Puljujarvi
Hyman – Nugent-Hopkins – Yamamoto
Tatar – McLeod – Kahun
Archibald – Khaira – Gauthier
Hyman – Nugent-Hopkins – Yamamoto
Tatar – McLeod – Kahun
Archibald – Khaira – Gauthier
What do you think of this roster makeup?
Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@oilersnation.com.
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