Edmonton Oilers Fantasy Hockey Outlook After Connor McDavid's Signing: Jake Walman, Mattias Ekholm and More

Hey folks! Today, we are going to talk contracts, cap space, and depth for the Edmonton Oilers roster moving forward.

On the heels of Minnesota Wild's Kirill Kaprizov signing an eight-year, $136M contract, giving the Wild a $17M AAV cap hit, the best player in the world just days later hit the market back signing a very team-friendly, two-year, $25M contract, with just a $12.5 AAV cap hit.

Let's dive into the implications of this for the league, for the Oilers, and how it will impact your fantasy league next year and beyond.

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Market Implications

When Kaprizov signed for the richest contract in NHL history, given that the salary cap is going from $88M just last year, all the way up to $113.5M in 2027/2028 according to the NHL, it's no wonder there is such a big jump in salary for a franchise player.

We expected this to “reset” the market, and leave less cap space for depth players if the stars were going to take such a large jump, meaning your fantasy league team depths would be at an all-time low, leaving little room for more key pieces in lineups, and teams transitioning to being more top heavy, the the already current Edmonton Oilers.

But something nobody thought would happen then happened. With speculations being around the $20M AAV ballpark for the best player in the world, instead Connor McDavid opted to sign a short two-year contract at the same salary as his current AAV, leaving tons of money on the table, and room for the Oilers to move in pieces to help McDavid win a Stanley Cup.

Two years in a row, he has gone to the Stanley Cup Finals and has not been able to cross the finish line. McDavid took a page from the Pittsburgh Penguins' Sidney Crosby and Washington Capitals' Alex Ovechkin's playbook and re-signed for the same salary as their previous deal, on a more team-friendly move to help the franchise, the roster, and in the long term, his own potential to win.

Crosby has been making $8.7M AAV, and Ovi has been making $9.5M AAV since 2008. Does that mean McDavid will keep signing at $12.5M AAV moving forward? Likely not, but what it does do is give the Oilers two years to get him some help, and give a soft deadline to win a Stanley Cup before he considers moving to another market.

As a quick aside, Winnipeg Jets' Kyle Connor signed his eight-year extension shortly after McDavid signed, and also signed lower than anticipated at $12M AAV. He then went on to score three goals for a hat trick his first game with his new deal inked, so there's that. 

I suspect this may have a domino effect with superstars signing for more reasonable contracts in an attempt to help their teams bolster their rosters for an increased chance of going deep into the postseason giving them a better opportunity to compete.

Will everyone do this? Probably not, but McDavid has left potentially $15M over the next two years to start a trend. Keeping in mind this is the face of the NHL, and the best player in the world.

Oilers and Fantasy Impact

Over the next three years (looking at you keeper and dynasty leagues), the Oilers have $17M, $36M, and $55M in cap space per year, respectively.

They have also locked up not only McDavid for the next two years, but Jake Walman for seven years, Mattias Ekholm for three years, and Jack Roslovic for this year.

The Oilers also don't have a significant amount of unrestricted free agents over these years, and none of them will have huge chunks of salary coming off of the books. This leaves them with a lot of room to sign some free agent help, or trade for big impact players.

One notable hole in their roster is in the net. Their goaltending situation is dire at best, and both Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard's contracts are up at the end of this year, and currently they are only costing the organization $3.6M AAV combined.

The Oilers desperately need to get held in the blue paint, and they have the salary cap to help them do so.

Further, the Oilers are without Zach Hyman, Walman, and Mattias Janmark right now, which will help their depth upon their returns. Hyman especially, as he holds a spot on McDavid's wing and on the top powerplay unit.

Even so, the Oilers have always been a top-heavy team, and their production falls off significantly after the top six, and they've had year over year struggles and inconsistency in net.

A third line center, some 20-goal scoring wingers, and some physical puck moving bottom six defenseman, and a consistent starting goaltender would propel the Oilers into the next stratosphere.

That seems like a long laundry list of asks, right? Well, this team has been to the Stanley Cup Finals two years in a row without all of that. So even if they get a couple of those boxes ticked, that would shore them up at least enough for a third Finals appearance, you would think.

They've been so close, with so little. McDavid's selfless contract signing awarded him with a 30-second standing ovation at Rogers Place, and solidifies his commitment to Edmonton, the Oilers, and his desire to bring home a Stanley Cup to Alberta.

Conclusion and Dynasty Planning

It's no secret that good teams have more and higher performers than bad teams. If you look at the Colorado Avalanche, who could potentially have 10 players rostered in a deep league, vs. the Chicago Blackhawks, who might have three, you can see the comparable difference. 

Further, leagues who count +/- take it to the next level of skill for league managers, who have to try to also take the risk of goals against into account.

The point is, McDavid has left a ton of money over the next two years for the Oilers' organization to make significant additions to the roster, which will only make the team deeper. This team is already making strides in the postseason, and while that may not impact your fantasy league, adding more skilled players to surround McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Hyman, etc. will only make it easier to add players from Edmonton without second thought of who they are playing on a line with, but the team as a whole will perform better, have less goals against, more goals for, and be tougher to compete against.

Their number one concern is goaltending, so if general manager Stan Bowman goes out and shores up their goaltending situation, the value of every player on the Oilers is going to trend up.

Watch for additions to this roster, and calculate your own moves, bringing in more Oilers, with less worry throughout the next couple seasons. And for this, you can thank McDavid.