The Edmonton Oilers are in a sour mood. They are just days away from losing in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final and falling just short of making NHL history. Now, the Oilers are dealing with trade rumors surrounding one of their biggest stars.
In the days following Game 7, Oilers center Leon Draisaitl has been the subject of heated trade rumors. Draisaitl is in the final year of his contract, which means that he is due for a contract extension. The lack of a deal already being done has fueled speculation of a trade.
Oilers CEO Jeff Jackson was asked about the situation and gave a short response.
“I don't feel the pressure of any date to do this,” Jackson said when asked what would happen if Draisaitl isn't extended this summer. “We've got a year to work on it.”
Jackson may not be worried, but Oilers fans are right to be a little bit concerned. One reason why Draisaitl has not signed an extension with the Oilers could be because he wants to test free agency. If that truly is his intention, then the Oilers are heavily incentivized to trade him before the start of next season. There is little sense in letting a player of his caliber play out his contract and escape to free agency, leaving Edmonton with nothing. They would much rather trade him and get a haul instead.
The Edmonton Oilers drafted Leon Draisaitl with the third overall pick in the 2014 NHL Draft. Draisaitl has previously stated that he wants to “finish the job” with the Oilers by winning in Edmonton, but it's possible that this season's failure could have changed his mind.
It will be interesting to see how this situation plays out in the coming months.
Previewing the 2024 NHL offseason for the Edmonton Oilers: how do they return to the Stanley Cup Final next year?
The Oilers could easily look like a very different team next season.
Edmonton has quite a few players who are upcoming free agents and only a projected $10 million in cap space to work with. Which player decide to come back and how the Oilers spend their cap space could determine how successful they can be next year.
The Oilers have eight forwards scheduled to hit free agency:
- Dylan Holloway – RFA
- Adam Henrique – UFA
- Warren Foegele – UFA
- Mattias Janmark – UFA
- Connor Brown – UFA
- Corey Perry – UFA
- Sam Carrick – UFA
- Sam Gagner – UFA
This is in addition to defensemen Broberg, Desharnais, and Stretcher hitting free agency along with goalie Calvin Pickard.
With so many upcoming free agents, it seems likely that Edmonton will lose some of their core players. However, they should pick a handful of players that they want to retain and get those deals done. It would be surprising if they decide to entirely rebuild their third and fourth lines in one offseason.
The Oilers don't have a full war chest of draft picks either, so they'll need to get scrappy with their limited cap space. They have a second-round pick in this year's draft as well as a handful of late-round picks.
It will be interesting to see how Edmonton approaches their free agency decisions once the league year begins next week.
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