Speculation increasing regarding McLeod's arbitration case with Oilers

Not having a contract in place as we near August isn’t new territory for Edmonton Oilers forward Ryan McLeod.

The 23-year-old was forced to sit without a contract in place until September 22 last year, mainly due to the challenging position the Oilers were in from a cap perspective. This offseason is more of the same, as Ken Holland has just $5.61 million to re-sign both McLeod and Evan Bouchard. While McLeod was fine with signing a cheap, one-year deal worth $798,000 last offseason, he won’t be doing the same this time around.

McLeod recently decided to file for salary arbitration. While he and the Oilers still have time to work out a new deal, the two sides have yet to figure out anything. In fact, according to Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli, re-signing McLeod could put the Oilers in a very difficult spot.

“The team that’s hurting the most from this is the Edmonton Oilers trying to get Ryan McLeod done, because I think they were trying to wedge him in just south of two million bucks or just south of two million bucks, and now that number is sadly like 2.5,” Seravalli said on The DFO Rundown.

If McLeod were to earn $2.5 million as Seravalli is suggesting, that would leave roughly just $3.11 million for Bouchard. Given that Bouchard is coming off a playoff run in which he led all NHL defencemen with 17 points, that likely wouldn’t be enough money to get him re-signed.

This is far from an ideal situation for the Oilers, as they are counting on McLeod to be their third-line centre entering the 2023-24 season, but also need Bouchard to help man their power play. Both sides still have some time to hammer something out, but the clock is ticking.

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