Unrestricted Free Agents

• LD Nikita Nikitin (current cap hit: $4.5 million). Big (6’4”, 217 pounds) Nikitin can make a pass and kill penalties, but mobility has been a major issue and he’s spent most of the year in the minors because he gets eaten alive in transition.
• RD Eric Gryba (current cap hit: $1.25 million). A big (6’4”, 228 pounds), physical stay-at-home defenceman, Gryba was effective in a third-pair role for Edmonton this season before injury. He turns 28 next month and is a veteran of 218 NHL games.
• LD Adam Pardy (current cap hit: $1.0 million). The 6’4”, 227-pound Pardy turns 32 later this month and is an established No. 6/7 option at the NHL level. I wrote about him in more depth yesterday.
• LW Rob Klinkhammer (current cap hit: $725,000). A 6’3”, 214-pound winger, Klinkhammer has 11 goals in 19 AHL games this season. He struggled badly in the NHL over 14 games after missing a big chunk of the year to injury. He turns 30 in August.
• RW Andrew Miller (current cap hit: $630,000). Realistically, the writing is on the wall for the small, speedy Miller; he’s been loaned to Carolina’s AHL team. He’s a good scorer in the minors.
• LD Brad Hunt (current cap hit: $600,000). An undersized offensive specialist, Hunt has 137 points over 173 games with Edmonton’s AHL teams over the last three seasons. He has had three points in 21 NHL games and has generally been a liability at even-strength in the majors.
• LW Ryan Hamilton (current cap hit: $600,000). A 6’2”, 219-poind winger who turns 31 next month, Hamilton saw his scoring drop-off in the AHL this year. Footspeed probably killed his chances at an NHL career; if he stays in North America I would guess it’s on a minor-league rather than two-way deal.
• RW Adam Cracknell (current cap hit: $575,000). A 6’2”, 210-pound energy winger, Cracknell has put up 10 points over 50 games this season between Edmonton and Vancouver. He turns 31 over the summer and has a pretty decent record as a scorer in the AHL. His 50 NHL games this year is a career-high.

Restricted Free Agents

• RW Zack Kassian (current cap hit: $1.75 million). This would be a no-brainer if the qualifying offer for Kassian wasn’t his current salary of $2.0 million. Even so, he’s 6’3”, 217 pounds, just turned 25 and has a decent history as an even-strength scorer in the majors.
• RW Iiro Pakarinen (current cap hit: $925,000). A 6’1”, 215-pound winger, Pakarinen has nine points in 55 games this year and adds a physical element and ability on the penalty kill. He turns 25 in August. I wrote about him back at the end of January. Coming off his entry-level deal, his qualifying offer for next year will actually be less than $900,000.
• LD Jordan Oesterle (current cap hit: $925,000). Undersized but fast, Oesterle is waiver exempt for another season and is eligible for a two-way qualifying offer. He turns 24 this summer.
• G Niklas Lundstrom (current cap hit: $848,000). The goalie prospect who came back in the Anders Nilsson trade, Lundstrom is 23 years old and a fringe AHL goalie at this point.
• LD David Musil (current cap hit: $833,000). The 6’4”, 203-pound rearguard was a second round pick in 2011. His waiver exemption expires next season, though he’ll be only 23 next month and seems to be on the cusp of NHL duty. He’s big, physical and smart but footspeed has been the issue all down the line.
• LW Luke Gazdic (current cap hit: $800,000). The big enforcer can skate, fight and has improved as a player, but will likely only be back if Edmonton feels the need for a designated fighter, something which hasn’t been the case for most of this season.
• RW Tyler Pitlick (current cap hit: $761,000). Pitlick has caught a lot of breaks over his pro career, but all of the injury kind. He’s played 31 AHL games this season, recording a very respectable 20 points, and plays a physical two-way game. He’s played more than 50 games in a season just once as a pro, in his rookie year (2011-12).
• RD Adam Clendening (current cap hit: $760,000). I’m curious as to the reaction here. Clendening isn’t big or particularly fast, but he’s a smart right-shooting defender with some untapped offensive potential.
• LW Kale Kessy (current cap hit: $718,000). Kessy turned 23 in December, and has yet to get an NHL recall. He has 12 points in 48 games in the AHL, though he’s also attractive because of his size (6’3”, 212 pounds) and physical dimension. It’s important to remember that it isn’t his fault that Steve Tambellini traded Tobias Rieder for him.

The List

• Yes (re-sign): Kassian, Pakarinen, Oesterle, Musil
• No (walk): Nikitin, Miller, Hunt, Hamilton, Cracknell, Lundstrom, Gazdic, Pitlick, Clendening, Kessy
• It depends (on contract details): Gryba, Pardy

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