The Edmonton Oilers are going to need to clear some salary cap space ahead of next season, and there will be limited ways for them to do so.
Salary resource site PuckPedia has the club $354k over the upper limit, and the team still has to sign restricted free agents Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg to extensions. As Oilers colour commentator and host of 630 CHED’s OilersNow Bob Stauffer alluded to on his Friday show, those extensions may not be coming until August.
And right after, an unprompted Stauffer referenced a potential trade of Ceci for the Oilers to get cap-compliant next season.
I also don’t believe at this time there being anything imminent regarding something like the Edmonton Oilers’ — and he’s panned out to be a pretty effective player for the team — Cody Ceci as well, but Edmonton is going to have to create about three and a half million dollars in cap space.
The reference isn’t incidental, because Ceci has one year remaining on a deal paying him $3.25-million.
The Oilers weren’t shy in insulating the right-side of their blueline in free agency, signing all of Troy Stecher, Josh Brown and Connor Carrick to varying extensions at a low dollar figure. In that order, they could all contest for NHL minutes next season.
Ceci has been a lightning rod for the Oilers over the last two seasons, struggling in a pairing with Darnell Nurse, his most common defensive partner. With Ceci on the ice at 5v5 over the last two seasons, the Oilers have outscored the opposition 114-113 for a 50.22 percent goal share, a number that is the lowest among all the teams blueliners over that time. In the playoffs, however, the Oilers have been outscored 29-19 with him on the ice.
While Ceci would be fine in a lesser role for the Oilers, he evidently is one of the most logical players to move on the roster to get cap-compliant. The other option for the team could be to place Evander Kane on the long-term injured reserve, depending on how serious his sports hernia/hip ailment is, or to trade the winger, although a no-trade clause in effect until just before the NHL’s trade deadline could halt that from happening this summer.
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@thenationnetwork.com.
