The Oilers currently have (for this season and next)
A 1st line centre and 1st line winger (McD/Drai)
An average #2 centre on a weak team or a good #3 centre on a strong team (Nuge)
An average #2 defenseman on a weak team or a good #3 on a strong team (Klefbom)
An average #3 defenseman on a weak team or a good #4 on a strong team (Larsson)
An average #4 defenseman on a weak team or a good #5 on a strong team (Nurse)
So because Edmonton has little top-end talent, players are forced to play above their skill levels. They realistically have about 6-8 major flaws as they need to acquire more top-end talent to push guys down the lineup where they belong, and then more depth talent to go along with it. Also a stable backup for unproven Koskinen.
For 2019-2020 the Oilers currently have 13 contracts and 8.5 million in cap space (according to capfriendly). Make that 11.5 million with the increase and they have on average $653k to spend per player for 8-10 players
