Oiler UFA's and RFA's: Who do you keep?

[Bookker]

I hope Auvitu will be gone for god sake... and will succeed in another NHL franchise or in Europe.
Just far far far away from that dumb/asshole/moron/anything you want McLellan.

The way he managed him (others players too like JP...) this season is just pathetic.
I wish he stays just if the big clown is gone.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Nurse.

After that, maybe Drake? I dunno.

 

[MoontoScott]

I am a bit surprised by the voting here. Posters are complaining about the lack of cap space but they want to keep Strome around at $3M per season??? Given his point production why not give somebody in the AHL a shot at 700K per season?

 

[FlameChampion]

I am a bit surprised by the voting here. Posters are complaining about the lack of cap space but they want to keep Strome around at $3M per season??? Given his point production why not give somebody in the AHL a shot at 700K per season?

Well they could sign him to a multi-year contract at 2.5 million. I think thats fine for a 3C.

I just think the problem is that Strome is probably one of their better forwards. They have so many holes especially on the wings. If you get rid of Strome, you just have more holes. I think hes been ok but not great. I think too many people are comparing him to Eberle to evaluate him. Realistically are they going to get anyone from free agency whos better/cheaper than Strome?

I cant see them trading him for much considering, everyones had down years except for McDavid, Draisaitl (kinda), RNH and Khaira.

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

Keep/qualify everyone but Cammalleri and Rattie.

Lowe has been a beast in the AHL, And Auvitu has decent 7th defenseman who can move the puck and provide some skill. He's also good with just sitting, then rolling into the line up.

Qualify the rest because obviously. Just because you qualify all of them, doesn't mean they will all be Oilers next year.

Edit: Strome found his role by the end of the year, and I would bring him back because he was good in that role.

 

[McBaevid]

Lowe will get qualified because his daddy runs things here. What a joke. Guy would be lucky to be a career AHLer on other teams. The nepotism with this team is something else.

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

Lowe will get qualified because his daddy runs things here. What a joke. Guy would be lucky to be a career AHLer on other teams

This is stupid. Lowe could get qualified because he had a very good year in the minors and provides depth. You people, if you hate the organization this much, Vegas is fresh and welcoming new fans.

 

[nabob]

Which is unfortunate since Slepy has been the best of the group not named Nurse. He does all those little things right, forechecking like a demon and going all out when it comes to battling for the puck.

Now if he could do it for more than just the game after being scratched then he'd be valuable.

 

[McBaevid]

This is stupid. Lowe could get qualified because he had a very good year in the minors and provides depth. You people, if you hate the organization this much, Vegas is fresh and welcoming new fans.

Sorry to hurt your feelings, Kevin. Very good is a huge reach. By your logic, they should re-sign all those RFAs for depth reasons

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

Sorry to hurt your feelings, Kevin. Very good is a huge reach. By your logic, they should re-sign all those RFAs for depth reasons

fair enough my mistake, I was under the impression you understood how organizations work, my mistake.

 

[Lessy]

I am a bit surprised by the voting here. Posters are complaining about the lack of cap space but they want to keep Strome around at $3M per season??? Given his point production why not give somebody in the AHL a shot at 700K per season?

Agreed. If he'd be willing to take a paycut (say 2 years, 4.5M total) that would be reasonable but he's not a 3 million dollar player. If he won't take the paycut, players like him are dime a dozen. My keepers:

Strome - at a reasonable paycut (2-2.5 AAV)
Slepyshev - at QO
Caggiula - at QO
Benning - QO
Nurse - wonder if he'd take the Klefbom contract, perhaps a slightly higher AAV would be required?

 

[McDNicks17]

I am a bit surprised by the voting here. Posters are complaining about the lack of cap space but they want to keep Strome around at $3M per season??? Given his point production why not give somebody in the AHL a shot at 700K per season?

You think they could find a guy in the AHL who would take a league minimum contract and put up ~35 points on the 3rd line?

 

[MoontoScott]

You think they could find a guy in the AHL who would take a league minimum contract and put up ~35 points on the 3rd line?

Yes admittedly a bit of a stretch but in terms of his 35 points did he not get most of those playing in the top 6, some of that time with Mac-D?

Let me revise my initial post to read, o.k. to keep him at say $2M per year but I don't see how he is a $3M per season player.

 

[McDNicks17]

Yes admittedly a bit of a stretch but in terms of his 35 points did he not get most of those playing in the top 6, some of that time with Mac-D?

Let me revise my initial post to read, o.k. to keep him at say $2M per year but I don't see how he is a $3M per season player.

Inflation.

That's the price for ~30 point 3rd liners now.

Cogliano, Sobotka, Helm, Eller, Zack Smith, Boyle, etc.

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

Inflation.

That's the price for ~30 point 3rd liners now.

Cogliano, Sobotka, Helm, Eller, Zack Smith, Boyle, etc.

I don't disagree, I wonder if you could get him sub-$3M on a like a 3 (or even 4) year deal.

 

[McDNicks17]

I don't disagree, I wonder if you could get him sub-$3M on a like a 3 (or even 4) year deal.

I'd try for something like $2.5M x 2 years, ideally. See if he'll give up a little salary for the extra security of a two year deal.


In the end, I don't think this team is in a place to let NHLers(he isn't particularly great, but he's an NHL player) walk for nothing over ~$500k.

To put it in perspective, you're talking about the difference between a player taking 3.125% and 3.75% of the projected ~80M cap.

 

[Duder54]

This is stupid. Lowe could get qualified because he had a very good year in the minors and provides depth. You people, if you hate the organization this much, Vegas is fresh and welcoming new fans.

Indeed, 1 year in and already better roster depth and as many playoff appearances as the sad-sack Oilers organization has achieved in the past 12 seasons. SAD.

 

[Mr Positive]

the only poll result I don't agree with is Pakarinen. He's been a help to our PK and is a decent 4th liner. He costs very little, and we could bury him in the minors if he's bad

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

Indeed, 1 year in and already better roster depth and as many playoff appearances as the sad-sack Oilers organization has achieved in the past 12 seasons. SAD.

??? Yeah, they really hit the ground running this year, pretty much had everything that could go right go right for them. Playoffs will likely be rough for them.

 

[Aerrol]

Keep/qualify everyone but Cammalleri and Rattie.

Lowe has been a beast in the AHL, And Auvitu has decent 7th defenseman who can move the puck and provide some skill. He's also good with just sitting, then rolling into the line up.

Qualify the rest because obviously. Just because you qualify all of them, doesn't mean they will all be Oilers next year.

Edit: Strome found his role by the end of the year, and I would bring him back because he was good in that role.

Really? Don't think Rattie has shown enough to warrant another one or two year contract? He's been very, very up and down but he's shown some NHL level skill I thought.

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

Really? Don't think Rattie has shown enough to warrant another one or two year contract? He's been very, very up and down but he's shown some NHL level skill I thought.

I think "maybe" he has, but I also see the team looking at the pro ready prospects and might want to give those guys a shot. I mean Rattie had some nice moments, but I think they expected him to challenge for a roster spot more then he actually did this year. That's why I see them parting ways with him.

 

[Aerrol]

I think "maybe" he has, but I also see the team looking at the pro ready prospects and might want to give those guys a shot. I mean Rattie had some nice moments, but I think they expected him to challenge for a roster spot more then he actually did this year. That's why I see them parting ways with him.

Fair enough. I guess I just don't see enough competition coming from our prospects next year - Yamamoto and Pulju still leaves us with one top 6 LW spot open...though I guess Rattie is also an RW so maybe you're right. Better off finding another LW option.

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

Fair enough. I guess I just don't see enough competition coming from our prospects next year - Yamamoto and Pulju still leaves us with one top 6 LW spot open...though I guess Rattie is also an RW so maybe you're right. Better off finding another LW option.

That is fair as well, there really is just Yamamoto and Puljujarvi, but Safin, Maksimov, Hebig, Dudek, Vesel and Marody should all be challenging at the pro level as well. I having AHL vets to compete might be enough.

 

[YakDavid]

the only poll result I don't agree with is Pakarinen. He's been a help to our PK and is a decent 4th liner. He costs very little, and we could bury him in the minors if he's bad

I agree. For a team lacking some depth he isn't one to let go of

 

[The Nuge]

I’m apparently in the extreme minority, but I’d definitely sign Cammalleri. We just saw what happens when you have no depth up front and as much as Cammalleri has declined, he’s still capable of being a 30 point forward. To top it off, we don’t have a replacement for him coming up in the system. The defence will sort itself out. The forwards won’t. Cammalleri is our 6th highest scoring forward. We need help up front in a bad way and having another offseason where we ditch forwards isn’t going to help