Martinez will likely get $5mil from someone. Coleman rumours are that he wants to stay in the US.

This team looks comparable to last year.... still going to be top heavy and get very little secondary scoring.

Martinez might and you can get other comparable to coleman. point is I dont Think EDM should expect huge changes.
I think LW Depth will add scoring depth for them as they should be able to run mcdavid and dri seperatey.
Benson marody should add a couple goals as well.

This was my first thought as well - there isn't a lot of improvement to show for spending $26M (!!!) on free agents.

You're spending $26M on free agents - over 30% of total payroll - and you think we shouldn't expect much improvement?!

My thoughts exactly. We're in McDavid's prime, running in place is considered failure. This team needs to go at least to the 2nd round and give Vegas a run for the division.

I think Andersen signs for 1 year around 2-2.5 mil. I like McLeod but I wouldn't want him at 3C, he's never scored an NHL goal and that's a very important position.

yes about half of that is on players who were here last year. RNH LArsson Yamo smith and khaira.
the other half is where you hope for the improvement in the 2 left wingers martinez and anderson as a goalie to split with smith.
IT still not the huge change people in edmonton would be hoping for like a hamilton or hall or hyman krejci

I agree I dont see that happening with what has been said. saying this team needs stability and less roster movement per hollands year end conference. so I see decent players being added but not the big splash people want

I didn't count Yamamoto & Khaira, as they're RFA signings. You spent $14.25M on "outside" players and have nobody that really makes a difference:

- Coleman is a 3rd liner now playing on your 2nd line
- Goodrow is a bottom-6 complimentary player
- Martinez is a 2nd pairing guy, but 3 years for a 34-year-old when Klefbom is (likely) on the cusp and Broberg & Samorukov are pushing?
- Andersen is coming off a dismal season, you literally buried Koskinen who had better numbers in both 2019-20 and 2020-21

And in order to make all this happen under the cap you had to pencil Benson and Marody into the starting lineup, both of whom are largely untested at the NHL level.

The top-6 is about the same, the defense upgraded slightly while goaltending is worse than last year - much worse if Smith doesn't play out of his mind again. And the bottom-6 is still the Achilles heel for this team.

Coleman was a 3rd liner on a very deep team and still put up 31 pts in 55 games. pretty sure he can surpass that playing with mcdavid or dri with a couple more minutes a night....
Goodrow is a 3rd line player which is why he is slotted into that spot with a contract to match and put up a higher pts per 60 vs anyone in oilers bottom 6
Martinez is only hear if klefbom retires from injury which is what he is deciding on. and 3 years because Broberg should be in the AHL this year learning the North american game also Hollands is famous for at least a year inthe A which buys some time for him. MArtinez and Broberg Entry level deal expire the same year. so if broberg outplays martinez you use him as a 3D while broberg is cheap and then dont resign him
Anderson has a better track record of being the better goalie over his career. (also while playing behind team that has never tried to defend like the leafs) Koskinen is an ok back up but as shown this year and last his numbers might be ok but the team usually starts out behind a goal cus he left in the first shot of the game in about 15% of his starts......
AS for marody and benson yes they are young but both have played and excelled in the AHL does that mean they will have success in the NHL no. Worst that happens is you put in shore or kassian in to the line up on the 4th line... and if it really doesnt work you can recall neal as well to play on the 4th line.
Holland did this for years in det with success. Yzerman took that to TB and look at their depth brining in AHL players who spent a couple years on the farm. they develop and then give them a shot while keeping veterans around incase it does not work..

As for the buy outs you can go ahead and buy out him and neal but shows you can make a decent increase in depth while not having to give up assets to do it like the 1st this year or 2 million id dead space for 4 years while you try to compete for a cup.