The Edmonton Oilers have lost in the Stanley Cup Final in back-to-back years and could make some major changes this offseason.
The Oilers are facing a cap crunch as Evan Bouchard is a pending RFA, while Connor McDavid has one year left on his deal. With that, NHL insider Marco D’Amico of RG.com reports that the Oilers are getting trade interest on Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.
“Word is out that the Oilers could consider moving Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to make cap space. Nugent-Hopkins is not being shopped, but teams continue to inquire,” D’Amico wrote.
Nugent-Hopkins was drafted first overall in 2011 by the Oilers. He’s in the fifth year of his eight-year, $41 million deal with Edmonton and is a key secondary scorer for the Oilers.
Nugent-Hopkins would be highly sought after as a second-line center if Edmonton does look to trade him. But, as D’Amico reports, the Oilers aren’t shopping him, but rather are getting calls on the centerman.
Nugent-Hopkins recorded 20 goals and 29 assists for 49 points in 78 games. In the playoffs, he had 6 goals and 14 assists for 20 points in 22 games.
Nugent-Hopkins Dealt With Injuries in Oilers’ Playoff Run
Nugent-Hopkins was an impactful player for the Oilers this season, but dealt with a key injury during the playoffs.
The former first overall pick was missing practices throughout the Oilers’ Cup run. After Edmonton lost in the Cup Final to the Florida Panthers, McDavid revealed Nugent-Hopkins played with a broken hand.
“Nuge, to be able to gut it out with a broken hand and give us what he gave us, was pretty special,” McDavid said. “That was a pretty painful thing for him to go through, and it wasn’t easy to watch him go through that. Pretty amazing what he was able to do.”
Despite having a broken hand, Nugent-Hopkins had 1 goal and 1 assist in the Stanley Cup Final against the Panthers.
Oilers GM Not Opposed to Making a Big Move in Offseason
Edmonton could be a team to watch this offseason.
With McDavid entering the final year of his deal, the Oilers are looking to extend their captain. But, Edmonton is also looking to add talent to their roster, and general manager Stan Bowman is open to making some big moves.
“You never want to rule anything out, but I think if you set that as the objective, then sometimes you’re chasing something that doesn’t ultimately make sense,” Bowman said after the NHL Draft. “So we’re not opposed to that. We’re going to do our work. We’ve been planning with our group internally, and once we get to July 1, we can officially talk to free agents.
“We’re going to do that, certainly. But it’s all a function of how much cap space you have, what the term on the deal is and all those things,” Bowman added. “But I’m not opposed to bringing in a big-name player. I would say we’re not looking at it like we have to do that. You have to sort of take it as it comes and see what makes the most sense.”
The Oilers enter the offseason with just over $12.3 million in cap space.
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