[FireGilbert]

I am laughing so hard at the Oilers right now. Their cap situation is so messed up they do not have enough left over to sign their best young dman. Hahahaha.



What are the options here? The Oilers either need to move salary, move Nurse, or stand firm until he signs a one year deal for $3.9M (or whatever their remaining cap space is).



I was looking at all the moves the Oilers have made to get into this cap situation and it is a comedy of errors:


1. They were so eager to lock McDavid up for 8 years they gave him whatever he wanted resulting an a $1M over payment. Then they do the exact same thing for Draisaitl.

2. Lucic contract needs no explanation.

3. RNH was overpaid by the previous regime. If he was signed to bridge deal he would be making less and have good trade value.

4. Strome was a poor acquisition from the start but instead of admitting a bad mistake and moving on he gets qualified for $3.1M.

5.Pouliot bought out and costing $1.33M for another 3 seasons.

6. Looking at the defence Sekera and Russell are both solid players but are both a little over paid. Edmonton's defence is so bad through poor drafting and trades they had to overpay these free agents.

7. Finally in free agency this year they sign Reider, Brodziak, and Koskinen. They are all low value contracts that improve the team but why are you spending money on free agents when Nurse is still unsigned? Get Nurse locked up first and then see what is left on the FA market. Koskinen is the biggest question mark. When your team is tight against the cap you do not spend $2.5M on a backup goalie.



This isn't just a couple bad contracts it is a pattern of pathetic cap management. The Oilers GMs have been crap since Lowe but Chiarelli might actually be the worst of them. The best part is I cannot see much room for improvement from here. There are only a few contracts off the books next year including Talbot who cannot just be let walk and Puljujarvi could cause bonus overages and is in line for a raise.