Ken Holland signed three key pieces on the first day of free agency, signing Jack Campbell for five years and re-signing Brett Kulak and Evander Kane for four years. Kulak ($ 2.75 million AAV) and Kane ($ 5.125 million) look like excellent value contracts, while Campbell is the league’s average salary for a starting goalkeeper. Campbell’s $ 5 million AAV tied him with Linus Ullmark, Robin Lehner, Juuse Saros, Thatcher Demko and Cal Petersen in the 14th highest paid goalkeeper. Essentially, these seven are the highest paid 14th-20th goalkeepers.
Ken Holland paid $ 12.875 million for a starting goalkeeper, a front-line left-back and his second defender. Very good value for money for three key positions.
Kulak has not been a D-man of the second pair for long periods of his career, but when asked to dedicate more minutes to the stretch and the playoffs he had a good performance. If he continues with this strong play, he will have excellent value similar to Cody Ceci with $ 3.25 million. Edmonton didn’t have to pay Kulak as a regular defender in the top four, but he will start the season with second-pair minutes and clashes, and as he gets into the best of his career, that signing could be fantastic. Even if he is only an excellent defender of the third pair, the salary is solid.
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Kane has scored 30 goals twice in his career and scored 22 in 43 games after joining the Oilers in late January. I would score it to score 35 goals, and if it stays healthy, 40 seems realistic. The Oilers could become the third team in ages with three 40-goal scorers. Tampa had three in 2019, when Steven Stamkos made 45 and Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov scored 41 each. Last season, the Calgary Flames had Elias Lindholm and Matthew Tkachuk at 42 and Johnny Gaudreau at 40. Tampa was the first team since 1996 to have a trio of 40 scorers.
The Oilers are the only franchise in NHL history to have three 50-goal scorers in the same year. Glenn Anderson, Jari Kurri and Wayne Gretzky scored 50 goals in 1984 and again in 1986. No team has had two 50-goal scorers since Mario Lemieux (69) and Jaromir Jagr (62) with the Pittsburgh Penguins on 1996. If the Oilers had two 50-goal scorers next season, it would be amazing. Re-signing Kane gives the Oilers a realistic chance to have three 40-goal men.
The only potential concern about signing Kane is how he interacts with his teammates off the ice, but now the Oilers ’core is signed for the next three seasons.
Leon Draisaitl and Cody Ceci have three years left on their contracts. Kane, Kulak and McDavid have four. Campbell has five. Zach Hyman was six. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is thirsty. Darnell Nurse has eight.
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Holland and the Oilers had a really good day of free agency, and Holland told me it wasn’t over. “The answer is yes,” Holland said yesterday when I asked him if he wants to add his last six and another depth defender. “I don’t think it’s happening today, as other teams have room for the cap, but when the dust dries we’ll see what’s there.”
WHO IS AVAILABLE?
Holland made good value signings on the first day, usually the second, third day, and then that’s where teams can get a great return on their investment. The Oilers still need to sign Ryan McLeod, Jesse Puljujarvi and Kailer Yamamoto. The three will come in around a total of between $ 6.2 million and $ 6.8 million. Suppose they sign for $ 6.8 million, which would place the Oilers at $ 80,718,333 with 12 forwards, six D-men and two goalkeepers and with Oscar Klefbom and Mike Smith in LTIR.
Forwards would be McDavid, Draisaitl, Nugent-Hopkins, Hyman, Kane, Puljujarvi, McLeod, Yamamoto, Warren Foegele, Devin Shore, Derek Ryan and Dylan Holloway, with Nurse, Ceci, Kulak, Evan Bouchard, Tyson Barrie and Philip Broberg. the posterior end.
Edmonton doesn’t have much space. Shore could go to minors without the limit, while Ryan could be sent down and only have $ 125,000 against the limit. Ryan is likely to be on the opening night’s roster, but Edmonton can sign a few players for $ 1 million and shuffle guys together if they want to. Edmonton currently have 37 contracts, so they have room to sign 13 more players with one- or two-band deals. Obviously, they will not sign 13 players, but the total number of contracts is not a concern.
As we get deeper into July, players will likely grab less money. Nazem Kadri and John Klingberg will still have high salaries, but for the six strikers who want to sign with a competitive team there won’t be many pay days.
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The Calgary Flames have plenty of room for the cover due to the departure of Johnny Gaudreau, but they still have to sign Matthew Tkachuk, Andrew Mangiapane and Oliver Kylington. These three will eat a large portion of the Flames ’$ 18 million in maximum space. Not many other competitive teams have room for caps. The Islanders did, but last year they lost the playoffs.
The coming weeks present a great opportunity to find good price deals. Evan Rodrigues is very intriguing, but he will command more than a million dollars AAV.
Players like Dylan Strome, Danton Heinen, Sonny Milano, Calle Jarnkrok and Mattias Janmark will likely suffer salary cuts, and in some major cases, from last season.
Edmonton’s last six currently have Foegele, McLeod, Puljujarvi, Holloway, Ryan, Shore and Brad Malone fighting for places. I think the fourth line is wide open, and Holland could try to move one of his sides to create more head flexibility.
Strome has skill, but can he play at the pace the Oilers want? His main assets are his intelligence and vision and he can move on to the top six if injuries occur. Would he sign Edmonton knowing he would probably start on the third line?
Heinen scored 18 goals and 33 points with the Penguins last season. He was not qualified because they were concerned about what he would order in arbitration. They didn’t have the maximum space to sign him at $ 3 million. I could see him looking for a multi-year contract and some stability after playing on three teams the last three seasons. It would be a solid addition to the six bass, but it could be too expensive for the Oilers.
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Milano bounced back last season with 14 goals and 34 points after playing eight games, between the AHL / NHL, in 2021 due to injury. Last season was the most consistent so far, but Anaheim chose not to qualify after earning $ 1.8 million last year. There he could re-sign. Milano played mainly with Trevor Zegras and had solid possession numbers. It could be one of the first six complementary sides, but in a competitive team it is a third player. It doesn’t kill penalties, though, and if you’re among the last six in Edmonton and it doesn’t kill penalties, it’s hard to get a lot of ice time. He averaged 2:08 / game in the PP to ANA, but they split their two units equally. This is not the case in Edmonton. Is he a skilled player, but like Strome, does he play a role in Edmonton?
Jarnkrok has scored 30-35 points in each of his last seven seasons and has scored 10-16 goals. It’s a straight shot that can play center or end and has been posting solid possession numbers for years. He just finished a six-year, $ 2 million AAV contract, so maybe he’s just looking to go for the highest bidder, but he’s a person I’d love to. Would you sign for $ 1.4 million?
I mentioned Janmark before free agency, and it would still be an option, but I like Jarnkrok’s ability to play center and face off. It has 50.3% over the past five seasons, including 51.2% last year split between Seattle and Calgary.
DEFENSE…
The Oilers have Dmitri Samorukov, Markus Niemelainen, Vincent Desharnais and Slater Koekkoek ready to fight for No. 7 spot. Samorukov and Koekkoek require exemptions, while Niemelainen and Desharnais can be reassigned without risk of being claimed. With Broberg probably starting in the top six, I’m not sure the Oilers want a rookie at No. 7, so I could see them looking for a veteran D-man. However, they could only wait until near the trade deadline to add a blue line. The Oilers will be a playoff team next season, and Holland don’t have to add all the pieces this low season.
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Holland was about to acquire Connor Brown of Ottawa, but could not agree on a final price. Brown’s $ 3.6 million maximum success would have forced Holland to move one, possibly two, ends. Washington acquired Brown for a second-round pick in 2024. Brown is a 20-goal double scorer and a very versatile player. It illustrates how little commercial performance the Oilers could get for Jesse Puljujarvi. Holland have no problem bringing Puljujarvi back to the field, instead of moving him to a draft selection, but I wonder if there will be an agreement closer to the training camp. I keep hearing that Puljujarvi wouldn’t mind starting over. Many players feel this way sometimes, some are spread out and others come back and play well. So we’ll see what happens this summer, but anyone expecting a big return from Puljujarvi should readjust their expectations.
PRESENTATION…
When you look at the Pacific division right now, the Oilers are the favorites to win the division. Calgary lost Gaudreau, Vegas gave away Max Pacioretty and Dylan Coghlan for nothing just so they could meet the limit, and they’re not sure if Robin Lehner will be ready to start the season. Vegas will still be competitive, especially if they stay healthy, but they are not the favorites to win the division as they have been in recent seasons.
Vancouver added Ilya Mikheyev to $ 4.75 million and added former Oil Kings player Curtis Lazar. I heard Edmonton offered him a similar contract, but he chose Vancouver because he felt there were more opportunities to play there. The Canucks should be better. They can’t start much worse than last season, and I hope Elias Pettersson has more than 15 points in the first 30 games.
Kevin Fiala gives LA a solid first six, and if Drew Doughty stays healthy, they will be competitive. Mike Grier and Doug Weight are …