Thursday, October 21, 2021

A Different Course of Action: Part 2 - Moves to Keep


Maybe the best way to start this post is to say that I didn't love this summer for the Oilers, particularly the decisions on defense. I cannot recall a roster position where I disagreed more with Edmonton's transactions than the defense this past summer.  We will see by the end, but my guess is there would probably be only two or three of the same D between the group the Oilers chose and the group I probably would have tried to assemble.

Having said that, even amongst the fans more skeptical of Oilers management, there were three forwards most were in favor of Edmonton having signed - those being Zach Hyman, Ryan Nugent Hopkins, and Derek Ryan. The Ryan deal I have no issues with; a quality player at a reasonable rate. With Hyman and Nugent Hopkins, I would rather have seen EDM pay them more per year for a shorter term. Without question, from the outside looking in it is impossible to assess if that were possible, however, there is more than enough information to suggest I am more allergic to term with late 20s/early 30s players than is Holland.

Keeping those 3 signings leaves a depth chart and cap situation as follows: 

I have removed the Neal cap hit to reflect his buyout. In Hollands position I would have been very aggressive in trying to find a trade prior to a buyout, or working a deal with SEA. It is again impossible to evaluate what could have been done here, we simply don't have enough information, so this is a move to keep for purposes of this exercise. 




Tuesday, October 19, 2021

A Different Course of Action: Introduction and Part 1 - The Clean Slate

Some loved the moves, some hated them; there were many opinions of the transactions this past summer by Ken Holland and the Edmonton Oilers. Most fans were probably somewhere in between, picking and choosing among the signings and trades.

This series of quick posts will attempt to unwind the clock, keeping moves that are (in my opinion) reasonable enough gambles, followed by hypothetical player transactions varying in perceived degree of plausibility.

The first post exists simply to set the stage, stepping back to the time just prior to the Shore and Nugent Hopkins signings.

 


 

The cap hit for James Neal is a number used to reconstruct what would have been his cap hit had Edmonton not bought him out this summer.

For ease in the construction of the roster, I have Stalock and Klefbom on the team even though the Oilers were probably thinking there was a decent chance both would be on LTIR. As it turns out, Archibald ended up on LTIR as well, but management wouldn't have had reason to suspect that would be the case in June.


NEXT: Part 2 - Moves to Keep