Get Out The Shovels, Oilers Need To Fill Holes!

hat price is too much? Can any team really waste this opportunity?



Cap Problems:

And speaking of the cap, the Oilers will also have to wrangle their cap problems in order to fit any new players in.

They currently have $9.294 million in cap space, which may seem like a whole bunch until one factors in that they're missing a No. 1 goalie and have a plethora of RFAs to resign (D Ladislav Smid, D Denis Grebeshkov, and one or two of C Gilbert Brule, C Robbie Schremp, and C Ryan Potulny).

Not only that, but they also hope to add a top-six forward, a center, and a shutdown defenseman.

Basically, it comes down to making cap room. As much as the Oilers would like to trade LW Dustin Penner and his $4.25 million contract, it's not likely. This means that they'd have to trade players with value.

This is why a large number of rumors keep popping up with Gilbert and Souray in the mix. Both players have large contracts and are worth something to other teams.

Shutdown Defenseman:

The last piece to add becomes less important if the Oilers have signed a faceoff winning center, but a shutdown defenseman has been on the Oilers' off-season to-do list for some time.

However, I believe that if you give Theo Peckham a chance to play in that sixth spot, he might surprise the Oilers brass.

The other option would be to play Smid more in a shut down role. Allow him to focus on shutting down the elite players in the league, and he can improve his skill set. Of course, they shouldn't send him out against the NHL elite without a veteran at his side, so I'm sure he will be paired with Steve Staios, as per usual.

If the Oilers decide to go the free agent route, players like Greg Zanon, Paul Mara, and Mike Komisarek should be top of the list. All three are decent shutdown defensemen. Zanon would be a likely candidate because he would be relatively cheap, hovering around the $1 million range.

All in all, the Oilers need to make many changes. How those changes present themselves is still up in the air.

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