This is the established roster for the Edmonton Oilers in July 2022. Every player who made the opening night roster is here save Ryan Murray. Does the current Oilers depth chart contain the starting lineup on opening night?
THE ATHLETIC!
- Lowetide: The Edmonton Oilers and their dilemma at centre
- Lowetide: NHL teams that are best positioned to take advantage of the 2024 free-agent watershed
- Lowetide: New Oilers CEO Jeff Jackson promises innovation. What will it look like?
- Lowetide: The 5 best pro hockey players not in the NHL
- Lowetide: What Blackhawks can learn from Oilers about winning with a generational talent
- Lowetide: For Oilers in 2023-24, a more aggressive in-season approach is likely
- Lowetide: Why skating ability has such an impact on NHL Draft scouting and success
- Lowetide: What Oilers’ Jeff Jackson hire could mean for front-office’s future
- Lowetide: The 5 most impressive NHL offseason moves and what they mean for 2023-24
- Lowetide: Oilers sign forward Ryan McLeod to 2-year extension: What it means for Edmonton
- Lowetide: Connor McDavid, the Art Ross and challenging Wayne Gretzky’s record
- Lowetide: How Oilers’ pro scouting upgrade helped elevate team in 2022-23
- Lowetide: Projecting Oilers defenceman Evan Bouchard’s points for 2023-24
- Lowetide: Oilers’ graduate a strong group of prospects to pro this fall
- Lowetide: Oilers’ late-summer options intriguing with cap crunch and lingering UFAs
- Lowetide: What are the Edmonton Oilers’ keys to success in 2023-24?
- Lowetide: How Oilers’ veteran roster, cap issues could impact Raphael Lavoie
- Lowetide: What the Oilers are getting in 2023 NHL Draft pick Beau Akey
- DNB: The Oilers roster is improved but evolution must continue into next season
- Lowetide: Edmonton Oilers top 20 prospects, summer 2023
- DNB: 10 questions with director of amateur scouting Tyler Wright
PROJECTED 2023 FALL ROSTER (43)
I have Evan Bouchard on the roster because it’s too late baby, it’s just too late for anything else. Now that I’ve jinxed it for you, let the chaos begin. The Brandon Sutter PTO is a fascinating move, adding Sam Gagner would be, too. I haven’t added the AHL only contracts, we’ll look at them in a minute. We also have the invites for rookie camp, and we’ll have a lash at them as well.
Many many players are flying in for very very few available jobs. This train is buond for glory.
OILERS AND AHL CONTRACTS (52)
The AHL players I could see signing NHL deals are Ethan DeJong, Dimo Kambeitz and Alex Peters. DeJong by far the most likely. One point: I’m not mad at Carl Berglund, just forgot to move him up when inserting the AHL lineup.
THE NON-ROSTER INVITES
- Preston Lounsbury LC 18 5’11, 163 QMJHL 58 11-17-28. He was a 54 percent outscorer at even strength last season, the team 46 percent when he was off the ice. Information I’m reading says he’s a smart player who can be effective with or without the puck. Offense seems shy.
- Josh Van Mulligen RD 18 6’2″, 181 WHL 68 1-8-9. Big defenseman, can move the puck.
- Noah Van Vliet LD 19 6’2″, 205 OHL 61 3-12-15. Good size, rugged, decent rookie OHL season.
- Nate Misskey RD 18 6’2″, 190 WHL 65 5-9-14. Called rugged, tenacious and skilled. I like his size at that age.
- Brady Stonehouse RW 19 5’10”, 194 68 37-20-57. I had him No. 116 on my final 2023 draft list. He’s a smaller forechecking demon with skill. He is a goal scorer but more than that he’s an effective player without the puck. I think he would be an excellent candidate for the Oilers to sign out of this camp.
- Jake Sloan RW 19 6’4″, 214 58 20-35-55. Playmaker, fine passer, he has a chance. Good size, RLR had him No. 104 overall in the 2022 draft, saying “massive winger not yet the sum of his parts” and Sloan would be a fine player to sign for this organization.
- LW Antonin Verreault, 19 5’8″ 162 38 10-19-29. Playmaking winger. Great passer. I had him No. 101 on my 2023 final list.
The Athletic: The Edmonton Oilers and their dilemma at centre
https://theathletic.com/4776456/2023/08/16/edmonton-oilers-centre-dilemma/
Elks win! Elks win! Do you believe in miracles?
The miracle may be that there are any fans left that even care at this point.
Mike Harrington
@ByMHarrington
BREAKING: It is my sad duty to report that Hall of Fame broadcaster Rick Jeanneret, the legendary play-by-play man of the #Sabres, has died this evening. The team has confirmed the news.
One of the best.
So we have some quality young fellas that are pushing to make the team. I don’t focus solely on producing but more if they will contribute on their line or usage to GF%. Good young players for sure so that’s exciting
I am not excited that Ken says what he’s going to do and it’s not much. His son even thinks he’s too conservative. He will sit with the same group because it worked in Detroit ~16 years ago
Vegas will have the same team. But they are filled out with the right coach and just won the Cup. It concerns me that they aren’t recognizing what many people who know hockey say when they deep dive into stats and tracked stats. There are guys in key roles not performing. It is chalked up to being injury but the success is like Yama had, one stretch and below needs otherwise
Why are they always so injured in the playoffs. Two in a row and couldn’t beat the team that won the Cup. There is something in that, but you have to beat any team to be Champ and the other guys don’t have Connor
Jackson mentioned injuries. It’s not that complicated. Overplay your top players all season and guess what? Other teams have mentioned it’s a bad idea that the Oilers do it. You have to build a team, not rely on a couple of guys
Have a coach that has a high skill team and ask them to bang and crash like it’s olden times. Cap bell is self imposed. I always say and we see again a strong GM can get things done. Montreal ditches Hoffman for nothing and gains assets. It happens every year, just not from our team. A decent 2 pair guy playing top pair who can’t pass and isn’t fast with a guy who isn’t a strong passer, what could go wrong?
Ill never bet against Connor dragging them over the top, but my hockey cockles tell me it’s not going to be until Holland stays upstairs and Jackson picks the right guy who is a modern GM with some skills other than being able to see decent hockey players and knows skating matters a lot
The recipe is to play 4 balanced lines and strong defensively. Bang on when it comes to Ken. I believe he has done well in general with his moves, but has lacked creativity in finishing off the job.
We have enough depth now to make the playoffs by balancing the ice time more in the regular season. That and never playing Leon and Connor together at 5×5. If the coaching staff sticks to that in the regular season it will pay dividends in the playoffs.
https://www.prohockeyrumors.com/
In an ongoing legal battle with Diamond Sports Group, the parent company to Bally Sports, the NHL is reportedly seeking emergency relief funds if negotiations are not settled quickly. Currently, 12 organizations have their media rights held by Bally Sports, and with a Texas judge extending DSG’s reorganization deadline to September 30th, the NHL is seeking a contract break well before that date. On March 14, 2023, DSG filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, holding responsibility for a reported $9B in debt, with the inability to pay.
Sheldon Souray speaks.
https://dailyhive.com/edmonton/sheldon-souray-tumultuous-edmonton-oilers-stint
Oh wow, Souray signed a contract even though he was hurt and tried to fight Tambellini at one point. ESH on this one
The more that comes out from players who were around, the more pathetic the Lowe-MacTavish duo becomes with regard to players who weren’t precisely their type. Damn the consequences for the hockey team.
The C squad never should have been allowed near the steering wheel.
By chance, I happened to be in the same room while Souray was talking to his agent on the phone.
What he said today wasn’t even the half of it.
The Lowe/McTavish cabal was an arrogant, toxic mess.
Sure but this is one side of the story from a pissed off former employee. I would expect nothing less tbh. Also, it’s been how long and the ex-player is still talking about this in interviews. At some point you need to let it go for your own peace of mind. Lowe and MacT certainly made a mess on a lot of fronts, but I’m in the camp that MacT is a very bright guy and has likely continued to learn from his mistakes like this (which Souray kind of alludes to). Everyone needs to move on and look forward.
There’s probably going to be some pretty good players going on waivers during camps around the league. Likely better than we’re used to, due to to many teams being so close to the cap. Edmonton is in no position to capitalize, but that’s life as a contender.
Although I think the Habs did well in the transactions related to Karlsson, I felt like the teams with cap space right now would be holding the other teams over a barrel way more than we’ve seen this summer. I don’t know if they’re waiting for the deadline or what, but these teams don’t have the upper hand very often, and I thought they’d be putting the teams they’re helping right through the ringer.
Someone is about to get a good deal on a ’23 Parise! There isn’t really a team that is in huge trouble capwise right now. Toronto is over the cap but will have options just like everyone else. Because of the way cap rules are structured teams are almost never in a situation where they have to pay a big premium to become cap compliant.
They will do it to stay competitive but often teams in cap trouble aren’t top five teams anyways and thus aren’t forced to make a move and teams with cap space who want to become competitive again either don’t want contracts longer than a year or have an internal budget anyways.
Toews
https://twitter.com/gregboysen/status/1692213888958312541?s=46&t=y77uNJ4xa7Lqwp0rn92pKw
Am I missing something? Where does it say he’s taking the year off and coming back for the 24-25 season.
Yeah, the statement doesn’t address his future at all, just a thank you to Chicago.
Here’s another interpretation of Toews’ statement:
Oiler Alert@OilerAlert·20m
Interesting that Toews doesn’t specify whether or not he’s retiring.
Bergeron: “Today I am announcing my retirement as a professional hockey player”
Krejci: “After 15 full NHL seasons, I have decided to retire from the best league in the world”
Based only on Toews statement, it sounds like he’s thanking Chicago because he’s not playing there again. Since he doesn’t also announce his retirement, I’d expect he’ll land with another team shortly.
Then I saw this on nhl.com: “I’d like to announce that I am not fully retiring, but I am taking time away from the game again this season.”
https://www.nhl.com/news/jonathan-toews-thanks-chicago-blackhawks-in-social-media-post/c-345614870
How nice would both Toews and Kane added in to our forwards.
I’m not so sure Brandon Sutter would be attempting a comeback to the NHL if deep down inside, he didn’t believe he could beat out Lane Pederson as a fourth line center.
He doesn’t necessarily have to beat out Pederson though. Even if the Oilers don’t sign him he has the opportunity to show the league he still has something left.
Wining a job with the Oilers is the first step, no?
No, because he can also sign with any other team if he impresses in pre-season. See Versteeg, Kris as an example.
Damn you Versteeg! You should have stayed here.
He may truly believe that but it doesn’t change the fact that he was barely hanging on to an NHL career 2-3 years ago and is now 34, has dealt with two-years of lingering health issues and not played an NHL game in that time.
Don’t get me wrong, I hope the 2014/15 Brandon Sutter comes to camp but I’m not holding my breath.
Still, kind of classy of us to give him a shot. If he can contribute fantastic, if not he’s tried and we’ve had the benefit of a veteran working with the young guys through camp.
Maybe he signs a deal in Bakersfield? I get that Pedersen possibly fills that veteran mentor centre role, but we could do worse than have Sutter there if he’s willing and able.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m fine with him coming to camp and seeing what happens. I just remember him barely hanging up pre-Covid and after years of struggling with injuries, now 34, having battled long-Covid for two years and not played hockey in that time…… that’s a lot to overcome to play on a team with SC aspirations.
No issues with him in Bako, of course, although they are already very veteran heavy and may need to scratch some older players due tot he max vet rule – Sutter would add to that.
This year and next before the Drai contract expires are peak Oilers. Now or never.
Yes.
No.
Maybe not ‘never’ but teams only get so many shots in a capped league and the Oilers wasted a number of them for a list of reasons we all know.
For sure, but Crosby, Malkin and Letang were all on their 3rd deals when they won in 16 and 17, for instance. Winning definitely gets more difficult, but it’s not like the window slams shut the moment Draisaitl gets a raise.
Yup. Notice the pause between #1 and #2 though.
You mean 09 to 16? The Oilers already missed their 09 unfortunately.
Yup. We will never know how much that sip from Stanley contributed to Sid sticking around but it took them some time to get the pieces together necessary for the next ascent.
Yes, though that may be unfairly downplaying the role of luck in which years they won. Their regular seasons didn’t give much/any indication of when Stanley would arrive, or show any impact of the various contracts.
Year/Points
07 105
08 102
09 99 (Cup)
10 101
11 106
12 108
13 123 (pro-rated 48 game season)
14 109
15 98
16 104 (Cup)
17 111 (Cup)
18 100
19 100
Crosby got ‘paid’ in 08-09, Malkin in 09-10 and Letang in 13-14 (though to be fair, all of those were extremely reasonable deals for players of their quality).
Well, I am the only person I know who thinks that the contracts Chiarelli handed out to McDavid & Draisaitl are a big reason why the Oilers didn’t get their ’09’ cup since it put too much pressure on the cap to allow for the signing of the free agents needed to make the team a legitimate contender.
And, yes, I know that subsequent events (continued managerial incompetence, covid etc) make the length of the contracts look like the right move but that is as much historical revisionism as it is accurate.
And, again, I know I am the only person on the planet who believes this so no need for anybody to jump in and explain to me why I am wrong.
I was so sure at the time of the signings that I walked away from all Oiler internet talk for several years because I knew it was just going to be a clusterf*ck of anger over the on ice results so I doubt any explanation anybody here has to offer as to why I am mistaken will convince me otherwise.
And that is my rant for the summer. 😎
Hehe, were bridge deals as unpopular in 2017 as they are today? 🙂
Crosby’s second contract, inked in the summer of ‘07 one year before his ELC expired, was 17.3% of the cap. It was for 5 seasons buying only one year of his UFA status. McDavid’s 2nd contract was also signed one year before his ELC and was for 16.67% of the cap and it bought 4 seasons of his UFA years. McDavid’s contract was cheaper in cap percent and cheaper because he contracted for 3 additional seasons, which for young stars typically drives up the AAV cost.
Malkin’s second deal was also signed after his second season (he is older than Crosby but stayed in Russia for the strike year and one more season) in 2008, but it didn’t come into effect till the month after they won their first cup. It was also a 5 year deal at 15.34% of the cap.
So Pittsburgh had over 32.5% of their cap committed to 2 players before they had won the cup, though they signed Malkin’s deal after losing to Detroit in the final.
Leon didn’t have near as much success on his ELC as Malkin had in his first 2 seasons, so Leon got 11% of the cap. So Connor and Leon combined were 28% vs Sid and Geno at 32.5%.
Because Sid only signed for 5 seasons, he was able to re up for a 12 year deal, and took advantage of lower salary in the last few seasons to keep his AAV at the same $8.7 million, which was now only 14.5% of the cap. Geno was up for renewal the next season after the 2012 lock out, so he was limited to only an 8 year renewal and took 14.77% of a slightly higher cap.
The most unfortunate part for the Oilers in all this, is that in the 6 years since McDavid and, soon after, Leon signed those deals, the cap has gone up a total of $8.5 million or about 12%. That was not predictable in any way. During Crosby’s 5 year deal, the cap went up almost 30% (then a short hiccup in that growth due to the lockout) then climbed again. By the time they won the cup in 2016, the cap had gone up $21 million or 42% from when first Crosby signed up for $8.7 million a season and which he was counting against the cap.
Bylsma was an inadeqate coach. The teams that won under Sullivan were worse than most of Bylsma’s teams.
Hyman 33
Kane 34
Nuge 32
Ekholm 35
Campbell 33
Good thing Holloway, Lavoie, Bourgault, Petrov, Savoie, Brogerg, Neimielinen & Kemp are on the horizon. The wheels haven’t fallen off those 30 somethings yet. There’s still time for the 20 somethings to develop.
Is there a top 6 forward or top pairing D among those players?
Perhaps Broberg but the others aren’t trending that way.
The only person on your list that came out of the Oilers drafted prospects is Nuge. The rest were acquired in FA – Campbell, Kane, Hyman – or the one trade so I am not sure you have made your point.
My point is that they will be old and replacements for them are not evident at this time.
Of course, they can be replaced in free agency but by the time all those contracts expire, the Oilers will be labouring under massive retirement contracts for Leon an Connor.
They may be able to dodge the bullet the way Dallas did with exceptional drafting but they could also devolve into purgatory like San Jose.
A reminder that’s it’s been awhile since Pittsburgh won a playoff series so it will be fascinating to see how Last Chance Texaco turns out under Dubas. There some absolute beasts standing in their way.
Yeah, I understood your point and even agree with a lot of it. I was just pointing out that your reasoning did not support your conclusion. 🥸
What does Vegas’ prospect pool look like? Any big names to fill in for Stone and Petriangelo as they age out?
Broberg is trending fine and right on schedule. They just have to play him, preferably with Nurse. Woodcroft has to find an imagination.
Seems more logical to play Broberg with Ekholm than Nurse.
Woodcroft is not the only person lacking imagination.
Hah!
And how old will Kopitar, Doughty, Stone and Petriangelo be??
Thing is, the Kings have young players in the pipeline to replace both in the future as those vets take on a lesser role.
You may recall the VGK just won a cup BEFORE those players aged out.
On a side note, it was revealed yesterday that Stone played the last game of the final after sustaining a broken wrist in the 3rd period.
He had a hat trick.
So LAK magic beans are certain success, EDM magic beans certain failures.
Got it.
Nothing is certain but projections are certainly worth paying attention to.
At only 20 years of age, Quinton Byfield already has 99 NHL games on his resume, most of that on the Kings first line and even after an illness that cost him 20 pounds and weeks of lost time compounded by a broken leg. Do the Oilers have a prospect of that nature?
Brandt Clarke is considered one of the top D prospects in the league and is expected to make his full time debut this season. There is a very good chance he will be the Doughty replacement with Doughty himself acting as his mentor,
Nothing is certain except you acting like a petulant child desperately seeking attention….of any kind. Your constant derailing of this fine place says a lot about your character or lack therof. Take a break for a while, you need it…. and we need it more.
Just noticed this morning that Turcotte will be 23 mid-season. He’s just spinning his wheels developmentally.
Byfield doesn’t look like he’s ever going to fill Kopitar’s shoes and Clarke will – at best – replace Doughty 1-for-1.
I really don’t think the cavalry is going to arrive in LA before Doughty and Kopitar age out.
Holland won cups with a 34 year old, 35 year old and a 37 year old goalie…..
A very different time and a bevy of first ballot Hall of Fame players assembled before there was a salary cap.
The game now is much younger, faster and much less forgiving of old legs.
I didn’t realize the current Oilers don’t have any first ballot hall of famers on the team…..oh wait…..
None of them, save Campbell, are on large cap hits relative to value and likely won’t be any different with the cap going up in a couple years. Ekholm will be almost done his deal and all of Ekholm, Kane and Campbell are likely tradeable at that point.
All of them have variations of no trade contracts.
Easier said than done.
Viktor Arviidsson 30
Phillip Danault 30
Anze Kopitar 36
Drew Doughty 34
Cam Talbot 36
Arvidsson and Talbot only have this coming season left on their deals.
Seguin – 31
Benn – 34
Pavelski – 39
Duchene – 31
Dadanov – 34
Suter -38
Pavelski is a beauty but the odds he runs straight into a wall are high at 39. Hinze is at Peak and on year one of a Boat Anchor.
Every other player has already ran into multi-year offensive walls. Slumping to 3rd line status. A Dead Cat Bounce does not upset a long term trend.
They’re all in this year. And they aren’t good enough. Just like all those Jets teams they’ve emulated.
Jason Robertson 24
Roope Hintz 26
Wyatt Johnson 20
Ty Dellandrea 23
Sam Steel 25
Miro Heiskanen 24
Thomas Harley 21
Nils Lundqvist 23
Jake Oettinger 24
While Seguin, Benn and Pavelski (one year contract) play out their contracts (Benn two years left) the new core is already in place and they have a couple of highly regarded prospects about to join the party.
Elite #1C✔️
Elite #1W✔️
Elite #2C✔️
Elite #1D✔️
Elite #1G✔️
All 26 and under.
They have four players… Four players and Magic Beans with NO NHL experience.
They’re the Canucks, open your eyes and at least go cheer for a winner instead of a group of near retirees 😉
What a rude twit you are. Somebody should slap you on the head after you make these purposely antagonizing comments.
It’s year 5 for Holland who was gifted pocket Aces plus a stable of D prospects. That first move of buying out Sekera was a strange one. All will be forgiven if Holland can ink Leon then Connor to extensions.
If Leon isn’t resigning next summer and makes it crystal clear he’s moving on the prudent thing would be to hold a auction next off-season. This could be Leon’s last year in Oiler silks.
Everything is trending towards him re-signing by all accounts.
It would be very surprising if he didn’t re-sign at this point
That’s what the entire city thought about Wayne and in a blink of a eye chaos ensued. Leon’s tied for my favourite Oiler all-time his long backhanded passes are the best ever and a pleasure to watch. Every great player has his special skill like Gretzky behind the net. Messier busting down the wing with the leg kick seeing eye snap shot. Anderson with bringing completely out of control yet completely in control. Leon has a skill I believe no one will ever duplicate which is rifling the puck from the end line and cashing in. How does the opposition on the PK defend that the answer is they can’t.
Didn’t Gretz recently say if someone like Katz had owned the team back then, he never would have been traded?
Times have changed my friend.
Stauffer tells the Gretzky quote/story like twice a week – I guess what Wayne said was something along the lines of, if Katz is owner, there would be no issued paying and doing whatever it takes to keep the stars long term.
Nah peak Oilers is when McDavid and Draisaitl re-sign and Broberg and Bouchard and Nurse and Skinner are rocking and rolling.
It’s funny that there was talk of Vegas’ young, big and fast 4th line being the new template, and there’s a chance the Oilers’ 4th line opening night could be Janmark-Ryan-Gagner.
4th line in Edmonton doesn’t play anyhow except at garbage time.
I don’t think you can construct a fourth line like the Vegas group in one summer. IF Berezkin develops that’s one piece, but there are three tenacious checkers with skill and good speed who also hit like thunder on the VGK No. 4 line. Outscorers who play that style are blue rare.
More just pointing it out than criticizing management. It’s a salary cap thing for sure as I think both Bjugstad and Kostin would be back if the money was there.
I understand, and agree.
I think we had a chance for that if the cards had been played differently. Kostin-Holloway-Lavoie would have been a very good 4th line.
We still have, like, two of those guys….plus Janmark will likely repeat his 11 goals but Kostin’s 20% shooting percentage will not be back.
Janmark is not what I call physical but it is what we have.
I agree, but the decision to keep Foegele dashed the idea.
I would have moved Foegele & Kulak regardless of whether or not they wanted to keep Kostin.
Teams get a little too complacent if the same bodies show up year after year & this was a year when there was always going to be good players available for 3rd line or 3rd pair duty for less money.
Given Foegele was 5th in most goal scoring metrics last season (5 on 5), showed a real nice ability to play with Drai for short-term fill-ins and has developed really nice chemistry with McLeod (including against elite comp), I’m just fine with bringing Foegele back in his contract year.
You have no imagination.
I am currently imagining what Foegele in a contract year looks like…..
Yep.
Good teams upgrade their weakest links every offseason.
Tampa Bay is legendary in this regard.
Hence adding Glendening and Archibald this off season. Legendary.
I’m not sure what a conversation about Foegele has to do with weakest links – a 3rd liner, injured for much of the year (bad wrist) that was 5th in goals at evens.
Considering the weakest link at forward was the 6F/2RW position and Yamo has been replaced with Brown….
I was rolling in to post about his wrist – glad you beat me to it!
He was looking so engaged the second half of last year and doing everything but putting the puck in the net, the wrist injury being made public post playoffs explained a lot to me. I’m more than happy to have Foegele back again this year to see what he can do.
All the annoyance of hard cap decisions is worth watching Connor and Leon. I just need to remind myself of that sometimes.
There is also the possibility of Janmark-Holloway-Lavoie or Foegele-Holloway-Lavoie on opening night this year, with Berezkin (as LT mentions) and/or Grubbe potentially also options down the line.
Does the current Oilers depth chart contain the starting lineup on opening night?
Injuries aside, 20 of the 21 player opening night roster is set, in my opinion, with the only question being who the 12F will be – as of now, the battle is among Lavoie, Pederson and Sutter.
Of note: Stauffer mentioned Lavoie as an option (in passing by expressly noted) yesterday for one of the first times.
I don’t see any last minute material trades (i.e cap out to bring in Henrique or something like that) that will change the plan.
There is likely an additional forward added to the group to battle with Lavoie, Pederson and Sutter, be it Comtois or Gregor or ZAR or Gagner or whoever.
I do see a vet d-man added on a PTO and maybe a contract to start in the AHL.
I can definitely see them bringing in another 4c to compete with Sutter & Pederson who isn’t named Sam Gagner.
I can see a 13th forward which would be great but only if Bouchard signs for 1 year at 3.4M.
I would definitely NOT be in favor of only getting Bouch for 1 year (and losing a second year of a massive value deal) in order to shoe-horn in a league min player for 13F.
In fact, even if they had the room for a league min 13F, I’d prefer to have that player in the AHL until needed and accrue the daily portion of the $775K.
This will be it. They have 20 regular players and then extras. There won’t be a rotation of the extra players without it being injury coverage.
I know it’s a pain to only get 1 year, but we need the room to call up for injuries. Then do another 1 year at maybe 5 M. Then sign him long term.
If he stays healthy this year and is on a one-year deal, we are likely looking at $8MM for next season.
I’d spend the extra $300K-$400K this season even if it precludes a 22nd player on the cap to start.
The massive value for 2-years is more important than the ability to call up Drake and have him play 6 minutes.
I suspect Stauffer & Co have heard a summer update on those players with camp less than a month away and Lavoie has likely trained as hard as he ever has and is in good health so would be a decent bet for 12F