So your dream is losing Mika, Fox, Kakko and eventually Laf and Miller. We don’t have the cap space to get Eichel.

Oilers could have interests if they strikeout in the UFA market, not sold that Georgie’s is a starter

$17M probably gets you Zibanejad and a bridge contract for Fox. If you swap Blake Coleman with Morgan Barron then you should be able to get them plus Kakko. Trading for Eichel definitely guarantees no Kravtsov by 2022-23 but that’s really it IMO.

This would be the single biggest mistake we could make. I guarantee this would prevent us from ever contending long term cause of the ensuing cap problems and inability to build a proper roster with quality depth.

Um, I didn’t say I would want to pull the trigger on Eichel (he’s going out west anyway), but I think you’re overreacting about future salary cap complications.

Flat cap and another huge contract (whoever that may be) would be catastrophic. Next thing we know we’ll be like the Leafs with overpaid players who’ve done nothing of note in the league.

Okay relax lol. You’re acting a little dramatic.

Not dramatic if it’s a very realistic potential outcome. Drury’s decisions the next 2-3 years will shape the next 5-10 years.

you're being very dramatic. trading for Eichel means they can't sign ANY of their free agents in the next offseason, including the RFAs??? ALL the RFAs you listed aren't even arbitration eligible, get real. Right now Fox is the only one that's going to get a big bridge deal. The other need to earn it, you don't just throw money at your own RFAs because of their potential. MIller isn't even a RFA next season, he's got two more to go.

Plus on top of $23.7 in cap space this year, they have another $23.2 available next year on top of what isn't spent this season. relax

Giving QO's to players who can't file for arbitration would do wonders for fighting the salary cap, but then it's a hold-your-breath situation with potential hold-outs.

The two of you guys are just brain dead if you don’t think needing to have money to sign the young guys is important.

you think they need more than 23 million next year to sign 4 RFAs?? talk about brain dead......

You’re talking Fox, Kakko, Kravtsov, Mika after Shesty, Chytil, Buch this year. Fox is gonna get $8-9 mil. Kakko and Kravtsov are another $5-6 mil, provided they don’t break out. That’s more than half. Mika is somewhere between $8-9.5 mil as well. There goes the entire $23 mil. Then we’d have to pay Laf and Miller who will be another $8-10 mil on bridge contracts. Adding a $10 mil Eichel limits the depth we can put around our stars. If you’re solution is to let Mika walk then we need a 2C unless Chytil has stepped up by then. Create an agm for 22-23 or 23-24 with Eichel to show what the cap looks like since you’re so adamant about it not being detrimental to resigning our RFA’s.

The point you're missing with all this is that to get Eichel, 2 of these guys are going in that trade Krav/Kakko/Chytil. There's "5-6mil", adding strome into that deal or different deal, is another $4.5 mil coming off the books. Eichel's AAV fits snuggly into that hole created. So now you're talking about $23 mil next year for Miller, Laf, Fox and whoever isn't in the Eichel trade. Once again, these guys aren't arbitration eligible, they have no leverage. Fox is the only one who they could give a big contract right away.

Even though, not a fan of him at all.