oilers conundrum: one does not simply replace 31% of team goal scoring
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the edmonton oilers’ conundrum? one does not simply replace 31 per cent of the team’s goal scoring prowess.
that is what the oilers have lost from their 2025 playoff team, 31 per cent of the goal scoring having now left town with the departures of corey perry, 10 playoff goals, evander kane, six, connor brown, five, viktor arvidsson, two, john klingberg, one, and jeff skinner, one.
you think if the oilers had abundant cap space they’d have let go of perry, kane, brown and klingberg? i don’t.
cap space is edmonton’s enemy like never before. that’s the issue.
edmonton is a threat to win the cup next year because it’s thankfully got star players in connor mcdavid, leon draisaitl and evan bouchard. next year, however, for the first time, all three star players will be earning massive salaries compared to the cap, $12.5 million for mcdavid, $14.0 million for draisaitl, $10.5 million for bouchard.
no complaints from me on the big three getting paid big time. but the fact of the matter is that every dollar a top star gets, that is one dollar less in cap space. and it doesn’t help with inconsistent d-man darnell nurse making $9.2 million.
the oilers will be ok in a few years when the cap rises to more than $113 million. but these next two years are going to be tight when it comes to cap space, making it difficult for the oilers to keep, retain and/or bring in talent.
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this is the fact. it’s the reality gm stan bowman faces. it’s no easy thing to handle, which is why edmonton, essentially, had to say good-bye to such useful veterans as kane, brown, klingberg and perry. they could not afford them under the cap.
the upside of the downside?
does this cloud of grey having any silver lining? yes, it does.
first off, bowman has proven somewhat adept at managing the cap. this coming year he’ll be counting on four low cost players — ike howard, matt savoie, noah philp and david tomasek — to step up. bowman doesn’t need all four to be world beaters. but to compete for the cup he needs at least one out of three of savoie, howard and tomasek to step up as a top 6 forward. he needs another one of those three to step up as a third line winger. and he needs philp, or some other low-cost option, to step up and be a strong two-way player in a checking role.
it would also be swell if one of vasily podkolzin or trent frederic stepped up to a new level, adding some scoring to their toughness. if one of them pots 15 to 20 goals, that will be huge, and even better if the other one can score 10 to 15 goals and also add toughness.
bowman has made a number of sharp bets. he’s done well within the confines of edmonton’s salary cap straight-jacket. he’s given his coaching staff plenty of options to try and develop into a strong attacking two-way team.
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it’s good there are so many options. it’s good there are a number of players who might pan out. because, as i said, given the cap, one does not simply replace 31 per cent of team scoring.
it’s a major chore to do so. here’s hoping bowman has been exceptional at his chores.
at the cult of hockey
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