NHL 2022 Offseason Guide: The Edmonton Oilers
Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl posted two of the best postseason performances ever seen as the Edmonton Oilers reached the Western Conference Finals this past season, before ultimately being swept by the Colorado Avalanche. It should also be noted that they logged the most minutes of any player not named Mike Smith, and it wasn’t even close. McDavid logged 41 minutes more over 16 games than third-place Zach Hyman and nearly 44 minutes more than leading defenseman Cody Ceci. What I’m saying is those two are not the problem in Edmonton… even if Connor can’t have comments on his Instagram posts anymore.
The Roster
You have two of the top ten players in the world with McDavid and Draisaitl. If you are General Manager Ken Holland, it’s all about building around that foundation. Evander Kane, despite off-ice woes, was a fantastic addition and one I’m sure the Oilers would like to make permanent, depending on the outcome of the grievance filed on his behalf by the NHLPA. If his previous team, the San Jose Sharks, win, Kane would be a free agent eligible to sign for any team, but if they lose it’s not totally out of the equation, he becomes a Shark again and the Oilers would have to trade for his rights at his original $7 million AAV. Can the Oilers afford to pay that for Kane at this point?
The Edmonton Oilers also have a budding defenseman in the name of Evan Bouchard. The Ontario native is entering the last year of his ELC and was supposed to have been sheltered last season by being paired with Darnell Nurse and Duncan Keith. The reality of it is both those partners faired worse without Bouchard and the only two defensemen with CF% above 50 with Bouchard as a partner were Tyson Barrie, the person fans are calling for Bouchard to replace, and UFA Brett Kulak. Given these were on very small sample sizes.
Team Needs
With Darren Dreger announcing on TSN’s Insider Trading that goaltender Mike Smith is expected to go on LTIR for the remaining year of his contract, it would seem the need starts there. It appears Holland has eyes on UFA’s Jack Campbell (Toronto) and Ville Husso (St. Louis) and was also in on Darcy Kuemper the last offseason before the Avalanche finally traded for him. Kuemper is also a free agent this summer after hoisting Lord Stanley. With Mikko Koskinen also moving on, it would seem Stuart Skinner will become a backup after some stellar performances last season when called upon.
There is also a need for depth behind McDavid and Draisaitl. Hyman was a nice addition as a free agent last offseason and his line with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Draisaitl had a spark in both the regular season and playoffs. This leaves the conundrum of who plays top-line minutes with McDavid, whose most common forward line-mate last season was RFA Jesse Puljujarvi. After that, it was a mixture of Hyman and Draisaitl, showing the lack of depth available.
Cap Situation
With Smith joining Oscar Klefbom on LTIR the Edmonton Oilers are looking at about $13 million in cap space. This is without Brett Kulak, Evander Kane, Jesse Puljujarvi and Kailer Yamamoto signed. Neither Campbell nor Husso mentioned above is going to come cheap if that is the road the Oilers decide to go down. Then you also have to ask yourself are you willing to let Puljujarvi go and become an analytic darling somewhere else? It seems so.
The cap situation isn’t being helped by years of mismanagement which sees over $4 million going towards buyouts or salaries for Milan Lucic, James Neal, and Andrej Sekera. The good news is there’s relief on the way. Forward, Xavier Bourgault had a fantastic season in the QMJHL with Shawinigan Cataractes scoring 36 goals in 43 games and putting up 75 points. He didn’t slow down during the playoffs either, with 22 points in 16 games. He will start his ELC next season and should be pushing for a place out of camp. Other names to watch for are Dylan Holloway and Carter Savoie, who just won the NCAA Tournament with Denver.
The Draft
Holland was insistent on not giving up his first-round draft pick for any sort of rental in a trade this past season. Whether that would have changed the season’s outcome will never be known, but it does mean on July 7 he will walk up to the podium with the 29th overall pick selected for the Edmonton Oilers. He’ll then go off the grid for a while as their next pick isn’t until the fifth round at 158.
At 29, they could have the option of defenseman Lian Bichsel. Having already played in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL) Bichsel is acclimatizing himself to the men’s game. While not offensively explosive, Bichsel is a good shutdown defenseman who could partner with someone like Bouchard well in the future, freeing him up to take more offensive risks. Bichsel still needs a lot of work though with his skating and with the league copying the Stanley Cup Champions that could see his stock fall as he’s not the most agile.
Conclusion
The Oilers have work to do. Enough is coming up through the pipeline to start building that depth but it is important that the coaching staff put trust in this process and not keep throwing out McDavid and Draisaitl every time they fall behind as they have been known to do.
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