The Edmonton Oilers' run to the Stanley Cup Final hasn't been good news for Warren Foegele or his agent, as the forward was out of the lineup for their comeback in the Western Conference Final. Foegele's poor play in the playoffs may have hurt his free-agency options, but you never know what players are dealing with in the playoffs. Teams will still line up to sign the middle-six forward, who recorded 41 points in 82 regular season games. Foegele has just three points in 16 playoff games thus far, with a -8 rating.
The Oilers are up against the salary cap, and as much as they'd like to keep Foegele, his regular season production may have taken him out of the Oilers' price range. It'll be interesting to see the market for Foegele in the offseason, so let's look at the best destinations if he leaves the Oilers in free agency.
Utah Hockey Club has money to burn
The Arizona Coyotes were known as a team worried about the salary cap floor rather than the salary cap itself. The Coyotes owners weren't willing to spend much money on contracts, but that will be the opposite with the franchise's new owner. Ryan Smith is ready to use the $43.5 million of cap space, and his forward group needs one or two more forwards to upgrade their depth.
Utah has no defensemen from last season with contracts going into 2024-25. The RFA contracts of Sean Durzi, JJ Moser, and Juuso Valimaki will be the priority. However, that will still leave plenty of cap space to upgrade a forward group that could use a middle-six forward. They have Logan Cooley, Clayton Keller, Nick Schmaltz, Barrett Hayton, Dylan Guenther, and Nick Bjugstad. They also have players like Josh Doan and Matias Maccelli in their top nine. Warren Foegele would be a perfect addition to shore up the group.
Montreal Canadiens need more forward depth
The Montreal Canadiens have a multitude of defensemen at their disposal. They have nine defensemen that could be in their opening night lineup, but they lack depth at forward. The rumor mill is swirling that the Canadiens could move a defenseman to add a star forward like Martin Necas or Trevor Zegras. If that does pan out for the Canadiens, they could still use another forward to add to a top nine, possibly featuring Josh Anderson, Rafael Harvey-Pinard, and Jake Evans.
The Habs would look better with some combination of Foegele, Zegras, or Necas in their top nine. That move would push two of Evans, Harvey-Pinard, and Anderson onto the fourth line, increasing their depth and helping them match up with high-powered teams in their division.
Boston Bruins finally have some cap space
The Bruins pieced together a bottom-six made up of one-year, $1 million contracts in 2023-24. The moves paid off, helping them advance to the playoffs' second round. However, they have $21 million in cap space this upcoming season. The Bruins need to sign Jeremy Swayman after his performance in the postseason, but they'll still have room to sign some forwards. Boston's defense looks set, with Mason Lohrei and Parker Wotherspoon offering them some value with lower-end contracts.
Foegele doesn't completely solve the Bruins' goal-scoring issues, as they'll need to bring in a player to help out the top six. Foegele would be an acceptable replacement for Jake Debrusk if he walks in free agency, and it could be a defacto trade if Debrusk heads to Edmonton and Foegele takes his spot in Boston.
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