Analyst reveals Oilers trade deadline cap space, best target for move
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The Edmonton Oilers need to vastly improve the team at this year’s trade deadline to give them a better chance to win the Stanley Cup, and they’ll have the cap space to make moves.
The Oilers have been connected to numerous forwards through the year, but their biggest need may be a top-4 right shot defenceman. Unfortunately there’s almost none currently available in trade, so the forward position looks most likely to get an upgrade.
Oilers analyst reveals team’s best trade fit at this year’s deadline
According to PuckPedia, the Oilers will have $2.9M in cap space with their currently constructed roster. If they move out forward Andrew Mangiapane and his $3.6M contract, they could boost their space to $6.5M.
That’s a fair amount of cap space to be able to add a star player with salary retention. They won’t be upgrading their goaltending after re-shaping their crease already, and there’s not many top defenceman available in the market. That leaves the forward group open for an upgrade.
In a new piece for the Athletic, analyst Allan Mitchell named Ryan O’Reilly as the best fit for the Oilers’ needs up front.
Ryan O’Reilly of the Nashville Predators is a $4.5 million cap hit who covers all the bases required for Edmonton at the third-line centre position. Puck IQ tracks him facing elite competition in 45 percent of his overall minutes (a very difficult assignment) and helping Nashville play at a competitive level in those minutes.
Of all the names on the trade board, O’Reilly might be the best combination of perfect fit, affordable cap hit and achievable acquisition cost for Bowman.
- Allan Mitchell
Of all the names on the trade board, O’Reilly might be the best combination of perfect fit, affordable cap hit and achievable acquisition cost for Bowman.
- Allan Mitchell
With an affordable cap hit of $4.5M, two-way dominance, and Stanley Cup experience, O’Reilly is the best fit to man the Oilers’ third line through another playoff run.
The third line centre position is one of the Oilers weaknesses this season. There’s been discussion of breaking up the dominant top line to move Nugent-Hopkins down to anchor the bottom six.
Acquiring a star third line centre like O’Reilly would keep Nuge on the first line, and give Knoblauch a trusted veteran to run out a deep lineup in the playoffs. O’Reilly is having a fantastic year at 35 years old, scoring 56 points in 57 games on a struggling Predators team.
The biggest question for the Oilers acquiring O’Reilly would be the trade cost. They don’t have many draft picks to move, so it would come at the price of likely multiple quality young prospects. For a one-year rental of a 35 year old player, that’s a hard decision to make.
But Edmonton is in a win-now position with Connor McDavid on a two year contract. They have to be aggressive at this year’s deadline, and O’Reilly checks the boxes of making a significant upgrade to address one of their biggest weaknesses.
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