Oilers could be planning for a big off-season

With high expectations on the Oilers for the 2019-20 season, they failed to live up to the hype yet again. Another season down the drain where McDavid and Draisaitl carried the team, but without the proper depth, their season ended in the qualifying round of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Chicago Blackhawks. It appears the Oilers could be gearing up for a big off-season in terms of potentially bringing in a high end free agent or going out to acquire a top four defenceman via trade.

In a Twitter thread this morning, TSN Edmonton reporter Ryan Rishaug suggested some options for the Oilers heading into next week. The big one being in net, could the Oilers be aiming for one of the bigger names on the free agent market like Braden Holtby or Jacob Markstrom? For that to happen, Rishaug points out that Edmonton would likely have to trade Mikko Koskinen. Koskinen is due to make $4.5 million per year over the next two seasons, so moving him would be tough, and he has a modified no trade clause, so any deal, depending on the team, would have to go through Koskinen first for his approval.

For the Oilers to be in any of the major goaltending free agents, a deal for Koskinen would likely have to be found. May be tough at 4.5 to move him, but just don't see them spending 5 or 6 on FA a goalie without moving him.— Ryan Rishaug (@TSNRyanRishaug) October 1, 2020

On their main roster, the Oilers have three players set to be restricted free agents: Andreas Athanasiou, Matthew Benning, and Ethan Bear. According to Ryan Rishaug, he doesn't believe Athanasiou will be qualified, making him an unrestricted free agent, and Benning is a question mark at the moment.

As was reported the other day, Oilers defenceman Oskar Klefbom could be out for a long time, and is weighing his options on whether or not to have surgery for an undisclosed injury he obtained last season. Depending on the length of Klefbom's absence, the Oilers will have to go out and actively look for a defenceman to replace the 25 minutes a night he played on average during the 2019-20 season.

One option that has been brought up is the possibility of going out and acquiring Arizona Coyotes captain Oliver Ekman-Larsson. The Coyotes are tight to the cap and only have $1.1 million available in cap space. The Coyotes also are down quite a few draft picks as well, through trades and the fitness testing scandal. They don't have a first, second or third round pick in 2020, and don't have a first or third in 2021. If the Oilers are going to make a deal to acquire OEL, it would firstly take a defensive prospect like Dmitri Samorukov, or William Lagesson, and Edmonton's first round pick in either 2020 or 2021.

Whichever direction the Oilers decide to go this off-season, it will be certainly something to watch. With two of the best players in the game in McDavid and Draisaitl, Edmonton needs to build a group around them that can finally get over the hump, and go on a deep playoff run. Addressing their goaltending and defensive core will be priorities heading into the 2020 NHL draft and free agency next week.

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