Oilers Defenceman Evan Bouchard Could Be Offer Sheeted
Daniel Nugent-Bowman of The Athletic: Nugent-Bowman writes that general manager Ken Holland has $6 million to play with to sign five players. One of those players is RFA defenceman, Evan Bouchard.
NHL Rumors: Montreal Canadiens and Edmonton Oilers
The best-case scenario is for Bouchard to sign a one-year deal at $3 million with the cap going up next summer. However, he is eligible for an offer sheet. And though rare, if a team were to present a significant number to the up-and-coming Oilers defenceman, that would be disastrous for the Oilers.
As Nugent-Bowman points out the Oilers should get him signed before July 1 to see what their budget is moving forward.
Oilers Want To Keep Klim Kostin But Can They
Daniel Nugent-Bowman of The Athletic: Nugent-Bowman writes the Oilers would like to keep pending RFA winger Klim Kostin but it could be an issue considering he is doing a significant raise this offseason.
Kostin is eligible for arbitration. While Ken Holland wants to qualify him, the Oilers may have to pay more than the $750,000 he was making. Kostin could potentially get $2 million and the Oilers up against the cap. If Kostin hit the market, he’d get better offers.
Devils Look To Lock Dawson Mercer Long Term This Summer
James Nichols of New Jersey Hockey Now: Nichols writes Dawson Mercer is entering the final year of his entry-level deal and is eligible to sign an extension come July 1st.
NHL Rumors: Vegas Golden Knights, New Jersey Devils, Connor Hellebuyck and Pierre-Luc Dubois
As Nichols points out general manager Tom Fitzgerald has not spoken to Mercer’s camp yet about an extension. Time is on their side. The team and player can sign the extension at any point after July 1st. As Fitzgerald notes July 1 is the starting point.
Though Fitzgerald is not in a rush given Mercer’s trajectory the ideal time to sign Mercer to a long-term extension is now while the cap is flat before his value increases even more.
