Five Edmonton Oilers The Team Should Say Goodbye To This Offseason
The Edmonton Oilers need to make some moves this offseason to get their team to the next level. Whether it be trading players away or letting them walk in free agency, the Edmonton Oilers need to be active to improve their team for the future.
The Oilers lost out on the Andrei Kuzmenko sweepstakes. That has got to hurt for the Oilers as he was going to be a good top-six forward this team could add to their lineup on a very good cheap deal.
The Oilers finished the 2021-22 season with a record of 49-27-6 good for second in the Pacific Division. They had their first taste of true playoff success with Connor McDavid getting to the Western Conference Final only to be swept by the Colorado Avalanche, a team looking like one of the best ever.
Edmonton definitely needs to make some moves this offseason, but doing so is not going to be easy considering a lot of their money is tied up to a few players with movement clauses.
Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Zach Hyman, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Darnell Nurse and Duncan Keith all of those players have no movement clauses affecting the Oilers’ ability to do moves.
In fact, those six players make up 56.3 percent of the Oilers’ salary cap. That is a lot of money for six players on a team, especially when considering Keith is 38.
With the majority of the team’s salary locked up within those six players, Edmonton is going to have to think outside of the box when it comes to bringing in talent and pooling a good team around their core group of McDavid and Draisaitl.
Here are a few players the team will have to let go this offseason to make their roster better in the future.
1. Evander Kane
In 43 games this past season, Evander Kane put up 22 goals and 17 assists good for 39 points during his limited time on the ice. He was eighth-best in Edmonton in points and was third in the e postseason in points with 17.
Kane led the Oilers in the postseason in goals with 13 and was definitely someone the team could rely on in all types of situations whether it just be to create some energy or score a big goal.
Kane is going to be asking for a bigger contract this summer. The cheap deal Edmonton got him on this past season is not going to be replicated, despite Kane’s off-ice issues, some team is going to give Kane a big pay raise.
A part of Kane’s success this past season has to be rooted in playing alongside stars like Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, with that in mind, Edmonton cannot overpay to keep Kane around. They can find another good player to pair with McDavid and then all of a sudden the team will have another breakout star on their hands.
2. Zack Kassian
Another two seasons of Zack Kassian making 3.2 million is definitely something the Edmonton Oilers are going to want to move this offseason, even if it does cost them a draft pick or two along the way.
Kassian played in all 16 playoff games this postseason putting up two goals and two assists during that time. He played an average of 8:07 a night, the least amount of ice time for a player who played in more than three postseason games.
Kassian is a role player making a bit too much money. Every dollar counts for Edmonton to pool together a championship roster for next season, and moving Kassian to a team like Chicago or Arizona could work.
Kassian scored six goals in 58 regular season games putting up 19 points during that time. His best season came in 2019-20 when he put up 34 points in 59 games playing alongside Connor McDavid.
3. Mikko Koskinen
Mikko Koskinen is the first player on this list who is already out the door from Edmonton. Koskinen signed a deal overseas to play for the Swiss club HC Lugano.
Koskinen signed a 13.5 million dollar deal in January of 2019. The contract gave him 4.5 million a year for three seasons and it just concluded this offseason with the team. Koskinen also had a 15 team no-trade list, this is one of those great Peter Chiarelli moves for sure.
Koskinen played in 45 games this past season putting up a record of 27-12-4 during that time. His goals-against average was above three at 3.1 a game. Edmonton just found a way to outscore their poor goaltending this past season and that is why they found themselves in the playoffs.
Despite Mike Smith’s struggles this postseason, the Oilers never chose to give Koskinen a start during any of their games. During his limited ice time in the postseason, Koskinen put up a .897 save percentage giving up six goals on 58 shots over the course of three games.
Clearing up Koskinen’s cap hit is definitely going to be a big relief for Edmonton, although they do have a big Darnell Nurse extension kicking in this offseason to subtract from that cap relief.
4. Mike Smith
Mike Smith is 40 years old and is scheduled to make 2.2 million this upcoming season backing up the Oilers to victory every night in the net.
Edmonton needs to bring in a new starting goalie and in doing so they might want to move Smith’s contract for some salary relief. With the big stars, this team has locked up with no-movement clauses, any salary relief this team can add helps. That is why moving on from Smith is a necessity.
Smith played in just 28 games this past season putting up a record of 16-9-2 during that time. His save percentage was at .915, not bad for a goalie of his age, but still not great considering the team’s playoff aspirations.
Edmonton saw how important their goaltending is during the playoffs when goals do not come as easily as they do during the regular season, and if they go into another year with Mike Smith as their starting goalie then I think we could see some stars ask for a trade to go to a different team down the line.
This is supposed to be the prime of guys like Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, and Ken Holland has Mike Smith in the net to backstop their playoff runs.
5. Jesse Puljujarvi
The longer the Oilers went into the playoffs the more it seemed like Jesse Puljujarvi might not have a future in Edmonton. While he started off the season playing alongside Connor McDavid, he ended the year in the bottom six.
Puljujarvi had two goals and an assist in the playoffs and was only average ten minutes a night. He is a restricted free agent who still probably cannot ask for a big pay raise after the season he just had.
This is a player who desperately needs a fresh start on a new team. Despite being drafted fourth overall in 2016, he is not an elite forward this franchise needs.
Puljujarvi could definitely be used in a trade to get rid of some salary for the Oilers, he could be the sweetener in a deal getting rid of Kassian’s contract, and then the team can start fresh with a different young forward they want to try out in their top six.
The Edmonton Oilers have a busy offseason ahead, and it will be interesting to see what their roster ends up looking like when October 11th comes around.