Spector Wonders: “Could they move him in a package deal for a goalie?”

Coming from an Edmonton Oilers point of view, BLH provides you with the latest NHL news, rumors, and speculation from all of the internet’s best sites including Spector’s Hockey, The Fourth Period, NHL Trade Talk, The Hockey Writers, Sportsnet, The Athletic, TSN and more!

From NHLRumors.com

Six players the Edmonton Oilers will need to make decisions on

Mark Spector of Sportsnet: The Edmonton Oilers moved Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to left wing. Even if they are able to re-sign him, they’ll still need to add a left winger. If they can’t re-sign him, they may be looking to two top-six left wingers.

The Oilers have some decisions to make and some salary cap space to work with this offseason. They do have some free agents they may look to re-sign.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – His next contract should start with a five. GM Ken Holland could save on RNH and let him go to free agency and use that cap space to try and find two left wingers. He’ll likely want six years at $6 million with offering five years at $5.6 million per.

BLH’s Thoughts: If Nuge walks, is Zach Hyman the intended target for Holland? Because I’d argue that if they let RNH go for nothing, they could be looking for three forwards, not just two left wings, if the kids can’t fill in two of those spots.

My feeling is that they’re going to give Tyler Benson and Dylan Holloway a real shot to make the team next year and both of these young men can play LW.

Now, I’d like to see Holloway spend some time in Bakersfield but if he’s ready, he’s ready and some are thinking that Tyler Benson has done all he can do at the AHL level and now it’s time for him to show his worth in the NHL.

So, best case scenario, if we give those two the benefit of the doubt and they’re good to go, one could play on the third line and one might get a shot in the top six. Meaning, the Oilers might only need to sign one major piece on forward and you can argue if that’s Hyman, Philip Danault, Gabriel Landeskog, Tomas Tatar, Jaden Schwartz, or Nugent-Hopkins.

But if we look at different scenario and the blue chippers aren’t ready AND Nuge walks, then I think they’re looking at three signings, potentially all on LW, which I’m fine with too if done right.

For example, could you foresee an offseason where the Oilers bring in Tatar, Blake Coleman, and Barclay Goodrow at a price points that range from $1.5-$4M? That would give you a LW depth chart that looks like this,

Tatar
Coleman
Goodrow
Shore
Benson
Holloway

Throw in Neal if he’s not traded or bought out too if you’d like.

Either way, it’s not that bad. Personally, I’d love to see Hyman ahead of Tatar, Coleman, and Goodrow but I don’t see Edmonton having that kind of luck unless they’ve got a leprechaun living in Ken Holland’s wazoo. Also, it’d mean they would’ve blown all that cap room on LW and saved very little for the other positions.

I dunno, what do you think? Would you rather have a proper top-six winger and elite special teams artist like Nuge come back for close to $7M/yr or would you be one to spread the wealth out a little bit?

Adam Larsson – He wants to stay and they may not need to give him a raise. Would offer him four years at $3.75 million per.

BLH’s Thoughts: If he would accept less than what he’s been making on the contract that’s about to expire, great deal for Edmonton. But if he wants a shade more, what then? Surely he watched the Toronto Maple Leafs fall apart without Jake Muzzin and think to himself, “Man, players like us are kind of important to our teams… Maybe we should get ours when it comes to free agency…”

I can’t imagine how fragile the Oilers defense would be if The Iron Swede takes his services elsewhere. I suppose they could see what David Savard wants if that sort of outcome were to play out…

Tyson Barrie – Took a one-year deal and will be looking to cash in on a long-term deal. Some GMs could offer seven years and $45 million. The Oilers may let him walk.

BLH’s Thoughts: If he returns, he’ll get a raise and he deserves it. But it won’t be the kind of raise he’d get if he signed for another team. That’ll put him in Torey Krug/Justin Faulk territory.

Mike Smith – The Oilers should bring him back on a two-year deal at $1.75 million per and transition into a backup. They need to find a younger starter. Options could be Chris Driedger, Joonas Korpisalo and Elvis Merzlikins.

BLH’s Thoughts: Two years seems a bit much in my mind. I think I get where Spector is getting that number from though. If it’s only a single year deal, maybe that $1.75M is more like $2.5M.

But see those names getting tossed around. I told you we’d be hearing Driedger’s name more and more and we’ve been reading and hearing about Columbus’ goalies for a solid year now.

I don’t expect anything to quiet down with regards to these three names until they’re traded or signed either.

James Neal – He carries a $5.75 million cap hit for two more years. A buyout would cost the Oilers a $1.92 million cap hit for the next four years. Ideally, they would be able to trade him while retaining half his salary. Could they move him in a package deal for a goalie? Could they convince the Seattle Kraken?

BLH’s Thoughts: It’s my belief that when Holland acquired Neal, it was under the impression that he’d buy him out at some point in the future because he wasn’t able to do that with Milan Lucic and with the news that the salary cap is going to be fixed at $81.5M for the next five years or so, I don’t know if there’ll be many teams looking to take on these bloated contracts in sweetened trades.

Mikko Koskinen – A year left at $4.5 million. A buyout would cost the Oilers $1.5 million for two years. Could the Oilers find a trade partner while retaining salary? Burying him in the minors would save them $1.125 million off the cap.

BLH’s Thoughts: Can the Oilers buy out both Neal and Koskinen and have close to $3.5M in dead space on their books for the next couple of years with the aforementioned flat cap? Maybe it’d be better for the club to find a trade and pay the cheapest they can to get rid of Koski’s ticket.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments section below!