The Edmonton Oilers will have a number of decisions to make in the next two hours. At 5:00 pm est, NHL teams will have hit the deadline for extending qualifying offers to pending RFA’s.
Don’t get too comfortable…
6/27: Qualifying Offers due
6/28: RFAs can meet w/ teams
6/30: 1st buyout period ends
7/1: Free agency opens— General Fanager (@generalfanager) June 25, 2016
The Edmonton Oilers already have solved three questions with pending RFA’s. The team traded D Justin Schultz to Pittsburgh at the trade deadline, while F Tyler Pitlick and D Jordan Oesterle were both re-signed to one-year deals in the last two weeks.
Those three decisions leave Edmonton with five pending RFA’s, three at the NHL level and two in the AHL. Iiro Pakarinen, Luke Gazdic and Adam Clendening are on the big club, while Kale Kessy and David Musil reside in Bakersfield.
The Lowdown:
Last week, I took a look at each pending UFA and RFA in the Oilers system and gave my prediction on if they would stay or go. Today, we take another step toward finding out the answer.
I think the team will qualify three of the five pending RFA’s. Iiro Pakarinen, as a I wrote last week, is a complete lock and is likely to make the NHL club in the fall. Bob Stauffer has been mentioning how the Finn is likely to sign soon, meaning a QO is guaranteed.
Oilers housekeeping. RFA Iiro Pakarinen has Arb rights. Don’t be surprised if he is signed to 1-way, 1-year deal within couple of weeks
— Bob Stauffer (@Bob_Stauffer) June 22, 2016
I also expect David Musil and Adam Clendening to get extended QO’s today. Clendening didn’t blow the doors off of his audition at the end of the season, but he did do some things well. Bruce McCurdy had a really good look at the player and made a case for bringing him back here.
Musil, meanwhile, has emerged as a legit AHL defender. He needs waivers this fall, but I don’t think he is at a big risk to get claimed. That said, he is too good of a prospect to just let walk for free. I can see the Oilers trading him later this summer, but they won’t let him walk for nothing.
As for Kessy and Gazdic, I think the writing is on the wall for them. Kessy simply did not progress during his three-year entry level contract with the organization and he isn’t trending well at all. He simply cannot post enough offense to be a prospect of note and he is taking at-bats from prospects like Patrick Russell, Drake Caggiula, Mitch Moroz and Anton Slepyshev.
Gazdic is no longer a prospect and is well-known as a player. At the NHL level, the bruiser will never be anything more than a fourth line enforcer. He seems like a great guy and I’m actually a fan of his, but I don’t think he is good enough to make the NHL club and the Oilers need their AHL lineup to produce talent for the NHL team. From a numbers perspective, Gazdic does not make sense to comeback.
I’ll update this post with the official word once it comes down later this afternoon.
***UPDATE: The Oilers, according to the team’s official website, have signed F Iiro Pakarinen to a one-year contract. The deal will pay the Finnish forward less than $1 million for the 2016-17 season. Full thoughts on the signing will be up later this afternoon.***
***UPDATE: The Oilers qualified only one of the four remaining RFA’s. D David Musil, who played in the AHL with the Bakersfield Condors last season, received a QO.
F’s Kale Kessy and Luke Gazdic, along with D Adam Clendening, did not receive offers and will be UFA’s on Friday. No surprise on Gazdic and Kessy, who both appear limited as players. I’m a little surprised on Clendening, only because he is a RHD and his strength is moving the puck.
Goalie Niklas Lundstrum, who signed in Europe recently, also was not qualified.***
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