Former NHL GM Lays Out The Truth of Oilers Cap Space for Signing McDavid and Bouchard

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Ryan Hall
December 10, 2024 (8:56 PM)

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It was revealed by former NHL general manager and current insider Brian Lawton that the Oilers will have plenty of money to retain the services of Connor McDavid and Evan Bouchard for long term.

During an interview on Oilers now, host Bob Stauffer asked Lawton how the Oilers would look if the salary cap was between 94 and $95 million per year. Lawton explained that the Oilers will benefit from a raised cap and that it will be the opposite effect to what normally happened for many NHL teams.

«This is part of the planning when you're managing a club. You have to make really tough calls on this. Generally, what had happened is a lot of people made the wrong calls in terms of where the cap was going, and they spent too quickly, and that lesson is still floating around out there. But now we're in an exact opposite situation.

When you look at Edmonton, they're going to have plenty of money to sign the players they want to sign. I think they're going to be in a position to actually add (players) in the future, that the cap is going to get bumped up.» - Brian Lawton NHL Insider.

He also feels that the Oilers will have plenty of availability especially as the cap continues to rise.The Oilers will also attempt to secure their defence by taking care of Evan Bouchard and signing him long term.

Lawton explained that locking up Bouchard will be the largest decision for the Oilers as they will need to find the right deal for him considering his season is not going as well as he has hoped.

«This is going to be the single biggest decision of the season It's a massive decision. They need to find the right player, and a lot of analysis goes into that, and they need to make the right deal to bring that player home. Who it will be, nobody knows. There's a lot of other teams that are hunting for the same type of return. But this is a big decision for them, the hockey operations department.»

With the NHL swimming in money and revenues continuing to rise, it's safe to say it's about time the salary cap began to skyrocket as many teams have been handcuffed by a flat cap over the past several years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This will likely mean contracts will rise as well in terms of dollar value but as the NHLPA it's their job to find a way to help salaries rise for their members and once the Oilers signed Bouchard and McDavid, it will continue the arms race for all elite
players going forward.

It's safe to say that this coming offseason will be the most pivotal offseason in Oilers history.

POLL
DECEMBRE 10 \| 164 ANSWERS Former NHL GM Lays Out The Truth of Oilers Cap Space for Signing McDavid and Bouchard Will the Oilers lock in Connor McDavid and Evan Bouchard to long term deals?
Yes	149	90.9 %
No	15	9.1 %
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