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The Edmonton Oilers cleared some much-needed cap space on Wednesday, trading Evander Kane — along with his $5.125 million salary — to the Vancouver Canucks. That will help make some room for star defenseman Evan Bouchard's next contract, which will be an exponential raise from the $3.9 million AAV he's made each of the last two seasons.
As The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun reports, there's “genuine mutual desire” between Bouchard and the Oilers to hammer out a new contract and avoid any drama. But as the hockey insider wrote on Wednesday, negotiations between player and club are unlikely to be straightforward.
“For my money, it’s one of the most interesting offseason negotiations in the league. The Edmonton Oilers are tight against the cap but hope to sign Bouchard before next week, when other teams can reach out to the restricted free agent,” wrote LeBrun.
“I think all options are on the table as far as different types of contracts, but I believe what may end up making the most sense is something around the four-year range. Think Auston Matthews in Toronto — same agency firm at play here (Wasserman Hockey). A four-year deal would give Bouchard, 25, a healthy raise and allow him to have his next negotiation at 29, when he’s still at the peak of his career and the salary cap will have skyrocketed. A four-year deal also would not cripple Edmonton on the cap compared to what the AAV would look on an eight-year deal.”
Oilers need to shed more salary cap space
With Kane no longer in the picture, the Oilers have just over $16 million in cap space to work with this summer. It's assumed that Bouchard's next contract — whether a short or longer-term deal — will come in at around a $10 million AAV.
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Edmonton also has six unrestricted free agents on the roster, including Corey Perry, Kasperi Kapanen, Connor Brown, Jeff Skinner, Trent Frederic and John Klingberg.
Of course, superstar Connor McDavid should be getting a massive contract extension as he is in the last year of his deal. It won't kick in until next season but can be signed as soon as July 1.
All that to say, Kane might not be the last player on his way out of Alberta this offseason. LeBrun believes the Oilers will look to trade Viktor Arvidsson and his $4 million contract next.
“It's not just making room for Evan Bouchard raise from his expiring $3.9M cap hit, but Leon Draisaitl is jumping from $8.5M on the cap to $14M,” LeBrun wrote on X. “So combined, Oilers needed another $10M to $12 million in cap space between those two players alone on next year's cap. Kane trade helps, but Oil will try to move Arvidsson ($4M) as well.”
The Oilers are almost certainly not done making moves, and it wouldn't be surprising if both Bouchard and McDavid had a new contract before training camp — likely at the expense of a few more roster players.
