Happy Halloween weekend everyone! I hope you all had a great time and stayed safe during this COVID holiday! Edmonton Oilers fans, do you think you’ve got time for one more scary story?
Since we’ve started adding NHL speculation to our daily roll-out of hockey posts I’ve noticed on multiple occasions league insiders suggesting the idea that a team like the New Jersey Devils throwing out an offer sheet on someone like Mikhail Sergachev or the Nashville Predators with a high-end center like Mat Barzal for instance.
The suggestions are not far-fetched or out of the realm of possibility, but if you’re a team with a very good young player who is still under club control (meaning still in their RFA years), why shouldn’t your player be subject to speculation of an offer-sheet from another team?
“Nothing doing on the Ethan Bear front. The pending RFA Bear has been qualified, but so far when it comes to an extension all’s quiet on the Western Front. I know fans of his want the kid to get paid. Bear’s excellent 2019-20 (5-16-21 in 71 GP, 21:58 TOI/night) would normally have put him in a much better negotiating position. But in the middle of the harsh economic realities of a flat COVID cap, any player lacking arbitration rights is not in a strong negotiating position. Next year, even if the cap remains flat, will be much friendlier to him. In the meantime just remember that this is a business.” – Kurt Leavins, Cult of Hockey (source)
So, I’m thinking Mr. Leavins is saying that “this is a business” to quell any thought that there’s a hold-up in the negotiations and a deal will get done at some point.
That said, the Oilers aren’t in the greatest of shape cap-wise (974k available) and need to get Bear and William Laggesson under contract in addition to adding another left-winger and/or another defenseman. Assuming Oscar Klefbom’s LTIR money will take care of that, the Oilers will be in good shape (more or less) come day 1 of the 2020-21 season. Unless…
Unless a team who is in need of a top-4 defenceman and is willing to pay a 1st and a 3rd round draft pick to get it. Let’s say the New Jersey Devils since they seem to be the team most speculate will use an offer-sheet on a player.
The Devils have PK Subban, Connor Carrick, and Damon Severson on the right-side of their defence and I’d be willing to bet that they’re looking to move the Subbanator. A player like Ethan Bear would slide right on on NJ’s defence and the Devils could offer him a 7yr deal worth $5-6M which would put the Edmonton Oilers in one helluva predicament. Keeping $22M of cap-space available helps their cause too.
Another team that could do it is the Nashville Predators. The right-shot defencemen they have signed up for next season are Ryan Ellis, Matt Benning, and Dante Fabbro and they have over $17M in cap-space. This is also a club that has had a history of having a fantastic group of blueliners and coming into next year, they’ll need an even better group to help insulate an eroding Pekka Rinne and not-quite-ready-yet Jusse Saros.
I don’t necessarily think this scenario will come to reality because by all accounts Bear loves being an Edmonton Oiler but I do feel it’s worth talking about. Ethan Bear has the potential to be a top-pairing defender in the NHL if his development continues to trend north. It’s not easy to find players like this in the mid-to-latter parts of the draft and if the cost to acquire one in his early 20s is only a 1st and a 3rd round pick, I can see some teams out there considering this; and not only that, Bear has to look out for himself and his own family during these unpredictable times. Wouldn’t you?
What do you think?
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