The Oilers are still waiting on answers from veterans Mike Smith and Duncan Keith as free agency approaches.
GM Ken Holland said he’d like a decision about the futures of both players by July 10, three days before the start of the signing season.
Holland has spoken with Keith three times and met with Smith in Kelowna, B.C., on Thursday. The expectation remains that Keith will return, whereas Smith’s playing status is much less certain.
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Keith has one season left on the 13-year contract he signed with Chicago in 2009. The second-pairing defenceman turns 39 this month. He has a $5.5 million cap hit but is scheduled to make $1.5 million in salary in 2022-23. If Keith retired, the Oilers would get a $5.5 million savings against the salary cap.
Smith has one season left on the two-year contract he signed last July. The 40-year-old goaltender has a $2.2 million cap hit and would make $2.5 million in salary if he plays in 2022-23. Because of the injuries sustained throughout the course of last season, it appears more likely that Smith would go on LTIR than retire if he doesn’t continue his career.
If that happens, Smith will join defenceman Oscar Klefbom on LTIR. Klefbom’s career is considered over because of a shoulder injury. He has one more season left on his $4.167 million AAV contract.
Jack Campbell, Ville Husso, and Darcy Kuemper are expected to be free agent targets for the Oilers if Smith isn’t back with the team.
The Puljujarvi conundrum
Though right winger Jesse Puljujarvi’s days appear numbered with the Oilers and that very well could be the case, perhaps the brakes should be pumped a little bit.
Holland said Puljujarvi has not asked for a trade out of Edmonton. Neither the club nor the player was pleased with how the final few months of the season went for the Finnish forward. Assessments on the situation are still ongoing.
“He’s doing it and the club’s doing it,” Holland said.
In asking around, the sticking point appears to be Puljujarvi’s role with the team. It sounds like he’d like to return to the Oilers as a top-six winger. Following an injury and an illness, Puljujarvi’s role diminished in the playoffs to the point where he was mostly a bottom-sixer and seldom appeared on the power play.
A consideration is putting the 24-year-old on the third line next to Warren Foegele and Ryan McLeod — who is now considered a top-nine player — but that doesn’t appear something to which he’s agreeable. However, because Puljujarvi is a restricted free agent (albeit with arbitration eligibility) and the Oilers control his rights, they could try to encourage him to start the season on such a line and let him work his way up the lineup.
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The Oilers ideally need to determine if Puljujarvi is a top-six forward again. Clearly ahead of him are Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Zach Hyman. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins might take shifts as the third-line centre, but he’s perceived as part of that group – which makes sense given the minutes he plays. The organization has slotted Kailer Yamamoto ahead of Puljujarvi on the depth chart.
That’s five players without signing or replacing Evander Kane. The odds are against Puljujarvi here.
If the Oilers and Puljujarvi are headed for a divorce in the form of a trade, a team source indicated the return will be a player that can help the club now. A second-round pick or later doesn’t accomplish that.
Add it all up, and there’s a chance Puljujarvi will still be an Oiler by the fall.
“I’m not going to give him away,” Holland said.
Coaching and scouting changes
As reported Thursday, Jay Woodcroft’s coaching staff is rounding into form.
Dave Manson has now signed on to continue running the defence and penalty kill. Glen Gulutzan’s contract still needs to be finalized and he’s officially a free agent, but the expectation is he’ll return to guide the forwards and the power play.
Brian Wiseman confirmed Friday he’s leaving the organization. Wiseman, hired by Dave Tippett in 2019, was the third assistant and served as the skills coach. Faceoffs were a key area of focus.
The staff still needs to be finalized, most notably with Wiseman to be replaced.
Also, as first reported by Sportsnet’s Mark Spector on Thursday, head pro scout Archie Henderson is stepping down from his role after the draft.
Holland said the travel associated with the job has become too taxing for Henderson, 65, especially now with limited flight options and difficult connections. Henderson is welcome to stay on in a part-time capacity and Holland said the veteran scout might become a regional scout in the west.
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“I do believe he’d like to work in a reduced role,” Holland said.
Holland will have to find a new pro scouting director in the coming weeks.
Odds and ends
Winger Zack Kassian’s name has been out there a ton in terms of a possible trade or buyout. That makes a lot of sense given the need for the Oilers to open more cap space paired with Kassian’s declining performance over the last two seasons. On the former point, the player that keeps coming up in terms of a trade is Tyson Barrie. The defenceman has two more seasons left on his $4.5 million AAV deal. It sounds like the Oilers would prefer to keep him but don’t think they can afford to do so.
Pending free agent defenceman Brett Kulak remains a target for the Oilers. Depending on if Barrie is moved as a salary dump, Kulak could be a cheaper option with a different skill set.
As long as Keith returns, a Barrie contract dump and a potential Kulak signing could be the only tinkering to the Oilers defence. Top prospect Philip Broberg, a 2019 first-round pick, is being pencilled onto the roster. He has a spot to lose for next season. In the running at training camp barring a trade as well are Markus Niemelainen, Vincent Desharnais and Dmitri Samorukov.
(Photo of Jesse Puljujarvi: Perry Nelson / USA Today)
