The Edmonton Oilers went into the summer with a clear plan: don’t pin themselves right up against the cap ceiling, keep roughly $5 million in room, and give themselves flexibility for later in the season. A chunk of that space came from the Darnell Nurse trade, and the idea was to use it when needed.
Now, that cushion is doing the heavy lifting much earlier than expected.
A recent PuckPedia breakdown lays out why the Oilers’ cap picture has gotten tight in a hurry. The key problem is simple: injured players on one-way contracts still count against the cap, and they can’t be waived. That has put Edmonton in a bind before the season has even opened.
“The Oilers are a good example. We heard all summer about how much cap space they would have this season.
Then, back in late August, they announced that Mattias Janmark, Matt Savoie, Alec Regula and Freddie Andersen weren’t expected to participate in training camp. That’s four players eating up cap space while the Oilers need four more healthy players to replace them.”
The situation got worse when Jason Dickinson was also injured, adding another $4 million AAV contract to the list of cap complications.
Regula’s case is a little different, but it still stings. As the article explains, “In Regula’s case, he’s on a two-way contract, but because he was on the Oilers roster for more than 50 games last season, his full cap hit counts against Edmonton’s cap while he’s injured.
Given he’s ninth or so on their defensive depth chart, I’m pretty sure he was a candidate to be waived and sent down. Instead, he now represents another $850,000 of space gone.”
What looked like a comfortable reserve has shrunk fast. “At one point, the Oilers were projected to have almost $5 million in cap space. Now they’re down to about $1 million, and one or two more injuries could force them to start the season with a short roster.”
That’s a far cry from the flexibility Edmonton expected to have when camp opened. The hope was to bank space and build even more of it as the season went along. Instead, the club is now trying to patch together a roster while managing a much tighter cap sheet.
If Dickinson is ready in time for the season, that would ease some of the pressure. If Regula gets healthy enough to be waived, that would help too.
But if those pieces don’t fall into place, Edmonton may need to make another move before Tuesday’s regular-season opener. A defenseman like Spencer Stastney could be in trouble, and even Ty Emberson could be in play.
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