Oilers On Free Agency Eve

In about 26 hours, teams around the NHL will begin signing free agents as the league celebrates its version of New Year’s Day, flipping the calendar from the 2016-17 season to the 2017-18 campaign. Will the Oilers be involved in the madness? As recently as this time yesterday, I was leaning towards no. After it was discovered that Benoit Pouliot is getting bought out? Something may just be up here.

Following Pouliot’s buyout, the Oilers are down to just 13 forwards that we can pencil onto the NHL roster. Most teams carry 14 forwards, so it is safe to assume at least one player will be added to this roster in the next few weeks. The Oilers bottom six is also extremely young, and I noticed that it lacks any real veterans outside of Mark Letestu and Zack Kassian.

The team is also down scoring on the wings. Jordan Eberle had a tough season last year, but still scored 20 goals and 51 points and that will be hard to replace on a budget. Outside of Leon Draisaitl, there really is no sure thing for the Oilers on the wing….heck, he may even end up playing center.

I think Milan Lucic eases the pain of that hole and has a better 2017-18 season, and if he plays with McDavid again then Patrick Maroon should be able to score 20 goals for a second straight season. Other than that? The Oilers will be relying on players like Jesse Puljujarvi, Drake Caggiula, Anton Slepyshev, Zack Kassian and Jujhar Khaira to provide offense from the wings. That is risky.

With Pouliot gone, as I wrote yesterday here, the Oilers could be signaling that they will be more active than we think tomorrow. They certainly have holes to fill.

The Depth Chart:

So, what does the Oilers depth chart currently look like? Where do we stand heading into the final major date in the off-season prior to the summer lull? Let’s take a look, shall we?

Patrick Maroon – Connor McDavid – Leon Draisaitl

Milan Lucic – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jesse Puljujarvi

Anton Slepyshev – Ryan Strome – Drake Caggiula

Jujhar Khaira – Mark Letestu – Zack Kassian

Iiro Pakarinen

Oscar Klefbom – Adam Larsson

Kris Russell – Matt Benning

Darnell Nurse – Eric Gryba

Mark Fayne

Cam Talbot and Laurent Brossoit

Edmonton doesn’t have an obvious 14th forward to slot in here, but re-signing Tyler Pitlick or Justin Fontaine could take care of that right away. I also don’t think Todd McLellan would be comfortable with Mark Fayne as the 7th defender on the roster, it is quite clear he is not confident in him.

Dillon Simpson could fill that role, but adding a depth defender certainly seems like an option for the club as well.

What Must Be Added?:

The obvious holes have already been touched on, the club needs a 14th forward and another defender to fill a depth role. Personally, I think the team also needs to add a veteran scoring winger like Patrick Marleau or Radim Vrbata to help with secondary scoring. Michael Stone could be a target for the club as well, as a depth defender.

Regardless, the Oilers now have some cap space to play with and could use it to bolster the roster just days after we thought it would be a quiet July 1st.

The Ideal Look:

I’m not Peter Chiarelli, but I’m still going to give my .02 cents on what the club should do. I’d sign Cody Franson to a one-year contract to play on the third-pairing and help the Oilers on the powerplay. He could come cheap and would provide great cover when Sekera returns around Christmas time.

I’d also sign Patrick Marleau to a deal and slide him next to Ryan Strome to start the season, knowing that Marleau could rotate up into the top-six when needed and could be a solid winger for Leon Draisaitl if/when he returns to center.

If the Oilers can add a scorer and a depth defender of some substance this weekend, this depth chart would look a lot stronger than it currently does.

Now….we wait.