The Oilers just finished signing a last minute pending UFA last week and then picked up their pick skilled center at the draft and a handful of draft prospects who may or may not ever see the light of day in the NHL. You can take a closer look here at my draft analysis on the Oilers.
With free agency coming up they still have to either trade or land a few more players. Who is left? Who are you OK with? What would you attempt if you were GM of the Oilers? These can be difficult decisions for management. The team is extremely under the microscope now so every move they will be careful to feel like they have made the fans happy without sacrificing the future. I listed the player in red that I would at least entertain if gotten for right trade and/or price. Without going into detail on every player feel free to comment your thoughts.
Who can they trade for?
Vincent Lecavalier C
Braydon Coburn D
Brayden Schenn C
Sean Couturier C
Ben Lovejoy D
Martin Hanzel C
David Moss R/L
Keith Yandle D
Bryan Bickell L
Jamie McGinn L/R
Kyle Clifford L
Dwight King L
Jordan Nolan L/R
Patrick Marleau C
Johnny Boychuk D
Tyler Myers D
Eric Staal C
Jordan Staal C
Rene Bourque L/R
Josh Bailey C
Who can they sign as a UFA?
Danny Heatley LW
Thomas Vanek LW
Brad Richards C
Dan Boyle D
Paul Stastny C
Jerome Iginla RW
Mike Cammalleri LW
Mike Ribeiro C
Martin Havlat RW
David Legwand C
Ryan Malone LW
Olli Jokinen C
Ville Leino LW
Milan Michalek LW
David Booth LW
Christian Ehrhoff D
Andrej Meszaros D
Kyle Quincey D
Sami Salo D
Brooks Orpik D
Willie Mitchell D
Dave Bolland C
Stephane Robidas D
Matt Moulson L
Radem Vrbata R
Jussi Jokinen L
Mikhail Grabovski C
Devin Setoguchi R
Steve Ott C
Nikolai Kulemin R
Steve Downie R
Lee Stempniak R
Matt Niskanen D
Dustin Penner L
Vernon Fiddler C
Daniel Winnick L
Marcel Goc C
Anton Stralman D
Brian Boyle C
Mark Fayne D
Brendan Morrow C
Mason Raymond L
Michal Handzus C
Peter Regin C
The list is plentiful so there will be no shortage of availability. If you strike out at the top end guys, wait a day to a week and you get the bargain prices. Who would you consider giving a contract to and for how much term and or dollars? My biggest point is there is lots of players available and many will be a upgrade in the bottom 6.
So your the GM, what's your offer? Do you continue waiting or step in and swing for the hills or offer short term but overpay on a 1 or 2 year contract?
In the meantime and in between time that's it for another edition of Jambalaya hockey discussion.
P.S. #follow me on twitter for some recent updates of possible UFA signing info or possible trades. Sometimes I get some good heads up in advance but to be fair most often I do not. I prefer to not use blog for those type possibilities#