Here’s how much salary cap space the Edmonton Oilers have this offseason

We are just a couple days away from the NHL Draft and the start of NHL Free Agency—the most exciting part of the offseason. Having now traded Evander Kane, the Edmonton Oilers have a little more cap room to play with than before, but there are several constraints in terms of what they can do with what they need.

Here’s how it all breaks down.

How much salary cap room do the Edmonton Oilers have?

Prior to moving Kane, the Oilers had just over $11M in room to sign Evan Bouchard, Trent Frederic, and more, which was simply not going to be enough. However, after the Kane trade, the Oilers have $16.2M in cap space going into free agency.

Here’s who the Edmonton Oilers have to sign this summer

Evan Bouchard

This is likely where the Oilers will spend the majority of their cap room this summer. The RFA is due for a big raise this summer, with estimates suggesting his next contract will come in around the $11M mark on an eight-year deal.

However, reports have suggested that the Oilers may look to bridge the former first-round pick, signing him for a shorter term at a lower cap hit. This would be good for the team in the short run, but could cause some issues in the future if he walks into free agency as a UFA and goes to a team willing to pay him more than the Oilers.

Assuming he comes in at $10M for roundness sake, the Oilers will have just over $6M in cap remaining.

Trent Frederic

The other big name that is reportedly being extended is Frederic, who will likely see a bump up from his current $2.3M cap hit. Reports suggest the former Boston Bruin could see a contract in the range of $3M to 4M.

$3M doesn’t leave the Oilers with much flexibility, and may cause concerns if the Oilers want to add more talent.

Other forwards

The Oilers also have Jeff Skinner Corey Perry, Connor Brown, and Kasperi Kapanen up front who they may want to re-sign. But with just $3M left to play with, it doesn’t leave much in the way of room to play with.

Tbe bigger concern is that the team needs to add a talented winger up front after sending Kane to the Vancouver Canucks. Without the gritty forward, the team’s forward depth looks weaker than it should for a perennial cup contender.

The team does have enough to sign depth forwards, but that probably won’t move the needle much on the goal-scoring front.

Depth defenceman

The Oilers are expected to lose John Klingberg this summer and will need a depth defenceman to fill in that seventh slot. This is a low-impact role, and can be had for the league minimum. They do need to allocate a little bit of cap space for this, but this is far from the biggest need.

The Oilers’ salary cap situation looks tight this offseason

Barring another move, the Oilers are going to be pinching every penny this offseason to get their deals done. Even if Bouchard can be had for less than $10M, it’s going to be tight to add impact NHLers to their lineup without moving other money out.

There is a good chance the team moves Viktor Arvidsson, as that fit just hasn’t worked out this season. He is going into the final year of his $4M deal, and there is likely a team out there that would trade for him, simply on his upside alone. He’s a better player than his numbers this season show.

Moving him out would help the Oilers’ cap situation immensely, but without this or another major move, it’s hard to see this team taking major strides this offseason.