Three Edmonton Oilers make list for top free agents this offseason
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The Edmonton Oilers have a good portion of their roster locked up for next season, but they'll have to make some tough decisions with players who have been named to the top 50 free agent list.
The Oilers have their top nine forwards and top six defenceman signed through next season already, but some tinkering is always expected through the lineup.
Three Oilers land on top 50 free agent list
Of the Oilers pending free agent forwards, three made Frank Seravalli's new list of the top 50 free agents for this offseason: Trent Frederic, Jeff Skinner, and Corey Perry.
Seravalli also projected the salary demands of each forward. Trent Frederic's deal is estimated at $4.1M over 4 years, Jeff Skinner at $2.4M for 1 year, and Corey Perry at $1M for 1 year.
At these numbers, it looks like the Oilers would only retain one player. They would likely be trying to re-sign their trade deadline acquisition Trent Frederic - especially after paying so much to acquire him.
It's hard to imagine Skinner re-signing after Knoblauch's usage of the player this season. Corey Perry could be willing to come back for his 22nd pro season at 40 years old, but retirement is an obvious possibility - and probably influenced by the Oilers playoff results.
Other free agents to consider for the Oilers this offseason
PuckPedia currently has the Oilers entering this offseason with around $13.5M in cap space, so they will have to move money out to retain all players.
RFA Evan Bouchard should command the highest salary, and the Oilers should commit to their star defenceman on a long term deal. That will cost the Oilers between $10-11M, eating up a vast majority of their offseason cap space.
Then, they'll have decision to make on a number of other veteran UFAs: Connor Brown, Derek Ryan, John Klingberg. Ty Emberson as an RFA is likely to stick around too, in the range of $1-2M.
To get Bouchard signed to a long term deal, retain Trent Frederic, and fill out their fourth line and positional depth - the Oilers will need to clear out a few million in cap space this offseason.
It will be a slight budget crunch this offseason, but the Oilers should have the space to retain their best talent and run back an even more improved squad next year.
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