After losing in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final to the Florida Panthers last June, the Edmonton Oilers are poised to make another deep playoff run this season, which will hopefully culminate with their sixth Cup in franchise history. They are one of the hottest teams in the NHL right now, as they have won seven out of their last eight games, and are now tied with the Vegas Golden Knights for the top spot in the Pacific Division with 61 points. This is the last season they will have Leon Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard on team-friendly deals, and Connor McDavid has one more year left on his current contract. Therefore, the time is now for Edmonton, and they need to take advantage of it.
The Oilers have been without power forward Evander Kane for the entire season, and it doesn’t look like that will change anytime soon. In September, Kane had surgery to repair two torn hip abductor muscles, two hernias, and two torn lower abdominal muscles stemming from his nagging sports hernia injury last season, which ultimately kept him out of the lineup for the final five games of the Stanley Cup Final.
Related: Oilers Have a Huge Decision to Make When Evander Kane Returns From Injury
Then, it was announced that the 33-year-old had successful knee surgery on Jan. 9 with a 4-8 week recovery time. So, it was stated that he would pause his abdominal rehabilitation for a few weeks before proceeding. Kane also stated that he is looking to play again in 2025, but has not skated since his September surgery. Therefore, Kane and his $5.125 million cap hit have remained on long-term injured reserve (LTIR).
With this recent news, it doesn’t look like he will suit up during the regular season. With that said, the Oilers have the ability to dip into his LTIR money in order to improve the roster, while hopefully getting him back healthy for their inevitable playoff run.
Oilers Need to Follow the Lightning & Golden Knights Playbook
The Oilers won’t be the first team to circumvent the salary cap ahead of the playoffs. It’s well-known that the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Vegas Golden Knights have taken advantage of the loophole in the collective bargaining agreement in recent years, and they both have Stanley Cups to show for it. So, if you can’t beat them, join them, and that’s exactly what the Oilers need to do.
The Golden Knights used LTIR for Mark Stone and his $9.5 million cap hit in each of the last three seasons. Last season, they were able to acquire major pieces in Noah Hanifin and Tomas Hertl with that extra cash, and when they won the Cup in 2023, they acquired Jonathan Quick, Teddy Blueger, and Ivan Barbashev while giving up very few quality assets. Meanwhile, in 2021, the Lightning were able to acquire David Savard midseason because of the cap flexibility they had resulting from Nikita Kucherov’s LTIR stint. The Russian winger returned for the playoffs after hip surgery and became the leading playoff scorer, which resulted in a Stanley Cup championship.
However, the Oilers’ situation is a bit different, but the idea is the same. Tampa Bay and Vegas placed arguably their best player on LTIR with matching $9.5 million cap hits. Stone and Kucherov are difference-makers, while Kane is a good complementary piece. But, Edmonton will be able to use that money to upgrade their blue line, like Tampa did with Savard during their second-straight Cup run. Like Tampa and Vegas a few seasons ago, Edmonton is on the cusp of greatness, so effectively using LTIR will put them over the top.
Oilers Can Use Additional Cap Space as Leverage
The Oilers are currently dipping into their LTIR pool with the call-up of Noah Philp and the recent signing of John Klingberg. However, if they place Josh Brown and Derek Ryan on waivers in the coming days, they will once again be under the salary cap and able to accrue ahead of the Trade Deadline. Then, general manager Stan Bowman can use this additional salary cap as leverage. According to PuckPedia, the Oilers have just over $3.14 million in LTIR cap space, but once subsequent roster moves are made, they will have their entire LTIR pool to work with.
Signing Klingberg has allowed Edmonton to be patient and wait until closer to the March 7 deadline to really improve their top-four defence, because the player they want might not be available yet. The closer you wait until the deadline, the more desperate some teams will be to unload salary, and Bowman should take advantage of that. Having this extra cap space can allow management the opportunity to take on the full contract of a player, rather than give up more assets for salary retention. That’s extremely beneficial for an Oilers team with limited assets to deal with. Dipping into LTIR will also give them the opportunity to upgrade their bottom-six forward depth if they choose to do so. This cap flexibility is incredibly valuable, and the Oilers need to take advantage of that and go all-in in hopes of bringing Lord Stanley North of the border.
This is an important Trade Deadline for this Oilers team, so what should they do, and how should they approach it? Keep following The Hockey Writers for all your NHL news and rumours as we gear up for trade season.
