Exploring Oilers' potential cap casualties this offseason

The Edmonton Oilers are riding high right now, having been the NHL’s best team since December 15 with a 29-8-3 record.

For now, general manager Ken Holland can kick his feet up, sit back and watch as his team aims to win the sixth Stanley Cup in franchise history. Once their season wraps up, however, the 68-year-old will have plenty of work to do.

The biggest question this offseason will be surrounding Leon Draisaitl and his future with the Oilers. The 28-year-old has just one season remaining on his contract, meaning extension talks can get underway this summer. With it appearing likely he will hit the 100-point mark for the fifth time in his career this season, the Oilers will need to be prepared to offer him a very lucrative deal.

Making matters even scarier for the Oilers is that the very next summer, they will find themselves in the same position with Connor McDavid. The Oilers captain has been the best player in the league for several years and is likely to once again get the highest-paying contract in the league. In order to make the necessary room, Holland will have to move some money from his current roster beginning this summer. Here are a few players that could be headed out the door.

Evander Kane

When on his game, Evander Kane is a serious threat to opposing teams. He has great goal-scoring abilities and a physical presence that causes opponents to have their heads up every time he hits the ice. The issue, however, is his consistency.

Kane has had four separate stretches this season where he has failed to score a goal in five or more consecutive games and currently finds himself in a 15-game goal drought. While he has proven he can help this team when at his best, the inconsistencies in his game make him a player the Oilers could look to part ways with this summer.

That said, moving Kane could prove to be difficult, as he has a full no-movement clause in place until the end of the 2024-25 season. If he wants to stay in Edmonton, Holland will have no choice but to abide. That said, if he is willing to go elsewhere, the Oilers could potentially free up his entire $5.125 million cap hit, which remains in place until the end of the 2025-26 campaign.

Cody Ceci

After a solid first season with the Oilers in 2021-22, Cody Ceci has turned into a whipping boy for a large chunk of the fan base. The 30-year-old is a fine defenceman but is best suited for a third-pairing role and has, at times, found himself exposed while playing a top-four role in Edmonton.

Ceci has just one additional season remaining on his contract with a $3.25 million cap hit. With how high demand is for right-handed defencemen in the NHL, this is a deal the Oilers should be able to move out this summer to help provide some much-needed cap relief.

Jack Campbell

Jack Campbell’s five-year, $25 million contract with the Oilers has been an outright disaster. After getting supplanted by rookie goaltender Stuart Skinner as the team’s number-one option last season, the 32-year-old appeared in just five games in 2023-24 before being placed on waivers and assigned to the Bakersfield Condors.

Though Campbell has fared quite well with the Condors, the Oilers have little option but to buy him out this offseason. There will be no market value for a player who still has three extra seasons on his contract, and it is impossible to imagine the Oilers bringing him back for a third chance in 2024-25.

A buyout for Campbell would see his cap hit drop to $1.1 million for the Oilers in 2024-25 and then increase to $2.3 million and $2.6 million in the following two seasons. It would then drop to $1.5 for three additional years, coming off the books at the end of 2029-30. It’s far from an ideal situation, but with Skinner locked in as this team’s starter for two additional seasons with a cap hit of $2.6 million, it is one that makes sense.

Several pending free agents could be gone

Players with term won’t be the only ones the Oilers may move on from this summer, either. They have several throughout their lineup who are set to become UFAs this offseason, including Warren Foegele, Mattias Janmark, Connor Brown, Corey Perry, Vincent Desharnais, and Calvin Pickard.

A player or two on that list could be brought back on cheap deals to help fill out the roster, but a player such as Warren Foegele, who is in line for a raise thanks to a very good season, seems very unlikely to re-up in Edmonton.

All three of the Oilers’ trade deadline additions, Adam Henrique, Sam Carrick, and Troy Stecher, are also set to become UFAs this summer. It has been reported that they would like to work out extensions with Henrique and Carrick. Whether they are able to move others on this list to create the space to do so remains to be seen.

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