General manager Ken Holland said he was still looking for a fourth-liner center after Day 1 of NHL Free Agency. While the Edmonton Oilers will be bargain-bin shopping and it may take a few days for someone to present themselves based on what other teams are willing to offer, there are some potential buy-low options that Holland may want to look at.
As free agency rolls along, the longer these free agents sit to the side, the more likely it is that Holland can get them for a song, potentially selling the idea of playing for a contender and upping their stock on an offensively-loaded team as a bargaining chip.
Evan Rodrigues was a candidate, but he signed in Florida on Sunday. There are other names that fit the bill and here are a few:
Paul Stastny: 1 Year, $775K Plus Bonuses
The Carolina Hurricanes made some noise on Day 1, signing Michael Bunting, Dmitry Orlov, Frederik Andersen, and Antti Raanta. They spent a good deal of money and have around $2.3 million left in cap space to add more. One of the things to watch is how much truth there might be to rumors the Hurricanes are exploring an Erik Karlsson trade. If they are, that will eat up any cap space they have left, and then some.
Stastny signed on with the team last summer for $1.5 million. He’s not afraid to take a team-friendly deal if it means possibly winning and he’s played in Canadian markets like Winnipeg, so playing in Edmonton wouldn’t scare him off. He scored nine goals and 22 points in 73 games for the Hurricanes last season. The year prior, he had 21 goals and 45 points with the Jets. He’s certainly worth exploring as an option if the Oilers can sign him to a one-year deal for the league minimum with bonuses. At the age of 37, the Oilers can structure that contract to pay out next summer if he produces.
Erik Staal: 1 Year, $900K
Speaking of teams that spent to the salary cap ceiling, the Florida Panthers are actually above it according to CapFriendly, and that’s after trading Anthony Duclair as a cap dump to the San Jose Sharks. Eric Staal, who just finished a one-year deal with the Panthers at $750K scored 14 goals for the team and produced 29 points, along with 5 points in 21 playoff games.
He doesn’t help the Oilers when it comes to a right-shot centerman, but he’s a solid depth option that could be signed for cheap and doesn’t require bonuses to get him near the league minimum. He consistently over-delivers on the contracts he signs with teams and Edmonton could do worse than to see if the 38-year-old has one more solid run in him with sheltered minutes.
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Staal spent the second-most time on the penalty kill for the Panthers when it came to their forwards. Averaging 2:29 seconds per game in that role, he could offer some assistance there, especially with Nick Bjugstad now gone. One concern might be his faceoff percentage as he was under 50% in every category except when 5-v-5.
Jonathan Toews: 1 Year – $775K Plus Bonuses
Jonathan Toews might be too rich for the Oilers, especially if it costs more to get an Evan Bouchard bridge deal done than people are expecting, but he might be the best of the three options if he’s healthy and ready to return next season. He’s the youngest of the three centers listed here, but he’s still eligible to sign a bonus-structure contract that would keep his cap hit down.
He posted 15 goals and 31 points in 53 games for the Chicago Blackhawks last season and if he gets into 65 games for the Oilers, he’s got a real shot at producing at least that many points again. More than that, he’s a leader and a well-respected veteran who could have the same kind of locker-room impact on the team that Duncan Keith did when he came over. Not to mention, it would be Keith who would be instrumental in getting Toews here if it all worked out that way.
Imagine someone like Kailer Yamamoto signing a cheap deal to return to Edmonton in a bottom-six role and then giving him a center like Toews. It’s an intriguing combination, to say the least.