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If you are already looking for ways to replace Evan Bouchard or Ryan McLeod on the Edmonton Oilers roster…do not waste your time.
At least not in the short-term.
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Both players are coming back, and on deals that the club is capable of stick handling around for 2023-24.
Details on those two outstanding Oilers RFA’s and more in this edition of…
9 Things
9. Video Coach Jeremy Coupal is leaving the organization after more than a half-dozen years with the club. You could count on one hand the number of NHL teams where the fan base could name anyone in this position.
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8. I have it on fairly good authority that Raphael Lavoie was offered a handsome (by AHL standards) sum on the minor league end of a new, 2-way contract from the Oilers. But as we all know by now, Lavoie instead took the qualifying offer made to him which is his right.
7. Oilers legend Charlie Huddy has been inducted into the Alberta Hockey Hall of Fame. I have written in the past how Huddy should be a frontrunner to the new Edmonton Oilers Hall of Fame. He is one of only seven Oilers to have played for all five cup winning teams, after all.
6. Tomas Nosek has inked a 1-year, $1m deal in New Jersey. The Oilers had interest in him as well, for close to the same money. Nosek may see the opportunity for more ice-time with the Devils. I still think Edmonton will sign a 4C, but both the fit and the money need to be right. More on why, in a minute…
5. Speaking of legends like Huddy, Leon Draisaitl will in all likelihood pass a couple of them this season on the all-time franchise assists list. Draisaitl goes into 2023-24 with 438 helpers in Oilers colors. Just ahead of him are Oilers legends Paul Coffey (460) and Glenn Anderson (489). Both Leon and Connor McDavid (547) are chasing Jari Kurri for 3rd on the all-time list (569).
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4. I had a communication with Bob Stauffer this week who reports that a number of his big name, insider guests will indeed return to Oilers Now in its new late afternoon/early evening timeslot come Fall: Elliotte Friedman, Frank Seravalli and Brian Lawton, as well as Edmonton icon Louie DeBrusk. That should be welcome news to the sizeable listening radio audience that stretches from Red Deer north.
3. One thing the Oilers have managed to do this off-season is significantly improve the roster at AHL Bakersfield. Ben Gleason and Noel Hoefenmayer are welcome additions on the blueline along with relative newcomer Cam Dineen, and veterans Drake Caggiula and Lane Pederson up front (who may be able to help at the NHL level, but I expect both to be in the AHL). And all of the Oilers top prospects are back. Just like all prospects, while not all will progress in a straight line. But it is reasonable to expect an over-all up-tick with an extra year of pro experience under their collective belts.
2. The Ryan McLeod contract watch continues. The speedy Center’s arbitration date is scheduled for August 4th, which is quickly sneaking up on us. But a member of the organization said to me recently, and emphatically: “It’ll get done.” I expect it will be a 2-year deal, with an AAV close to $2m. McLeod is pretty much written into the 3C slot in pen. He is a highly effective 5v5 performer, his wheels and smarts make him an excellent PK man. And he can probably pick up a few more shifts here and there on a seldom-used 2nd PP Unit. And after taking a very club-friendly deal last season I do not expect the organization to grind McLeod excessively. They need him.
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1.In fact, logic dictates that both Ryan McLeod and Evan Bouchard and the Oilers are “close,” and that both will be sewn up with new contracts long before training camp hits. I do not think that the recent Vince Dunn deal is as much of a leading measure for a Bouchard contract in the short term, at least not as much as the one signed by Bowen Byram (for an AAV of $3.85m). Like McLeod, I expect Bouchard to ink a 2-year deal. That is probably in the interests of both the player and the club. But I would not be surprised if Bouchard’s pay-day came in a notch higher than Byram…awfully close to $4 million.
You may not like the numbers for those two deals. With a combined AAV of (let us say) $6m, you may think there would not enough left to sign the legit 4C that I mentioned earlier in that article. And if Edmonton were to go with a traditional roster, I think you would be right in your concerns.
But unless something really breaks strongly in the Oilers favor, I expect they are planning to go with 22 or (even more likely) just 21 players on the big club. With border restrictions a thing of the past, an extra set of legs is just a plane ride away.
What that scenario does do, however, is make that 21st slot one that a reliable, well-rounded, multi-purpose player needs to fill.
Now on Threads @kleavins. Also, find me on Twitter @KurtLeavins, Instagram at LeavinsOnHockey, and Mastodon at KurtLeavins@mstdn.social
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