If the Frederic deal is true as rumored, they must plan to buy out or trade Henrique ($3 mill/year) although I'd be surprised if they find a taker on the trade without adding picks.
If I was the Oilers I would be worried about the wonder twins. They've massively overplayed them over the last 9 years, and it could be the reason why they vanished ovr the last few games of the finals. And they're not super young anymore. a 23 to 25 year old you can play them constantly. You've put a lot of wear on McDavid's and Draisaitl's tires. They might find next year that they can't play them for 30 minutes a game in every situation, and when that happens with a strong lack of anyone else stepping up in a significant way could spell trouble for the senior citizen's club up the road.
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If I was the Oilers I would be worried about the wonder twins. They've massively overplayed them over the last 9 years, and it could be the reason why they vanished ovr the last few games of the finals. And they're not super young anymore. a 23 to 25 year old you can play them constantly. You've put a lot of wear on McDavid's and Draisaitl's tires. They might find next year that they can't play them for 30 minutes a game in every situation, and when that happens with a strong lack of anyone else stepping up in a significant way could spell trouble for the senior citizen's club up the road.
Those two players are elite enough to handle the minutes, and they didn’t really have a choice with the rest of the team makeup but to play them that much. Those two dragged the Oilers to pretty close to winning the last two years in spite of the flawed roster behind them. I’m not putting any expectations on McDrai regressing anytime soon. The team around them seems destined to be worse but it won’t be due to regression from them for quite a few years if I were a betting man.
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Those two players are elite enough to handle the minutes, and they didn’t really have a choice with the rest of the team makeup but to play them that much. Those two dragged the Oilers to pretty close to winning the last two years in spite of the flawed roster behind them. I’m not putting any expectations on McDrai regressing anytime soon. The team around them seems destined to be worse but it won’t be due to regression from them for quite a few years if I were a betting man.
“Oh Homer, you’ve ruined a perfectly good jacket.”
“Incorrect Marge, two perfectly good jackets.”
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Future historians will celebrate June 24, 2024 as the date when the timeline corrected itself.
Cap space: $12.5M - $3.5-4M for Frederic = $8M...which will certainly be eaten by Bouchard's contract at minimum.
I have no idea who Viljami or Samanski are, but they are on the depth chart as placeholders. After seeing the reported contract for Frederic and what could be expected for Bouchard, I can't imagine there will be any cap left for anyone other than replacement level players.
They are still only paying $3.6M TOTAL for their goaltending...and getting results in accordance. I wonder if that will change.
That's a whole lot of guys that are past their best before date. Even their top 2 guys are probably post apex at this point, but we shall see. It doesn't bode well for them long term, so even if they're a playoff team this year, I think they're in serious trouble after that as almost nobody is signed beyond next year right now.
Man I hope they sign McDavid to a $16M contract (15% of proj. cap when his deal starts, hes @ 14% right now). That team will be ####ed with an aging, expensive core. They're going to look like Chicago & Pittsburgh after they won their cups - just without the cups.
2026/27 Season when his extension kicks in:
$104M Cap
$16M - McDavid (30)
$14M - Draisaitl (31)
$10M - Bouchard (27)
$9.25M - Nurse (32) $49.25M - 47% of the cap
$7.0M? - Walman (31)
$5.5M - Hyman (35)
$5.2M - RNH (34)
$3.8M - Fredric (29) $20.5M - 21% of the cap
So you're looking at $31.7M(Campbell buyout) for 4 top 9 wingers, a #1D and 2 Goalies. They have no one in the pipeline, there's no one coming to help. They're going to have to fill out their lineup with more Skinners and more Arvidssons.
I think their windows slams shut once Ekholm leaves. They have no assets and will be built like a team who went all in. Pittsburg, Chicago, LA & Tampa had prospects coming in while they were constantly competing, Oilers have nothing in the pipeline and no assets. They don't have any avenue to improve their team aside from trading McDavid, but even then the return won't turn your franchise around.
I think their windows slams shut once Ekholm leaves. They have no assets and will be built like a team who went all in. Pittsburg, Chicago, LA & Tampa had prospects coming in while they were constantly competing, Oilers have nothing in the pipeline and no assets. They don't have any avenue to improve their team aside from trading McDavid, but even then the return won't turn your franchise around.
I know one of the young guns some are clamouring for is soon to be 27 year old Noah Philp
They asked him multiple times in that interview about his contract, and he never once said I love playing in Edmonton and want to continue to be in Edmonton.
