The Edmonton Oilers need to sign both Connor McDavid and Evan Bouchard to long-term deals this summer, but could they also fit in Mikko Rantanen?
After being shipped off by the Colorado Avalanche to the Carolina Hurricanes in a massive trade last week, the focus is slowly starting to shift to his free agency plans. Rantanen is set to become a free agent at the end of the season and he is expected to get a very lucrative, long-term extension wherever he signs.
Putting the Oilers on the list of potential suitors sounds ridiculous at first, but The Athletic’s Andy Strickland says it could be a very real possibility IF the Hurricanes can’t sign him first.
“This is not just speculation — it’s informed speculation,” Strickland said on the latest episode of the Cam and Strick Podcast. “You know where Mikko Rantanen is gonna end up? Edmonton, he’s going to Edmonton.
“There is some belief they can make that happen [cap-wise].”
Andy Strickland has been hearing that if not re-signed by Carolina, Mikko Rantanen may be headed to the Edmonton Oilers in the offseason saying there’s “a belief they can make it happen” cap wise. Rantanen also shares the same agent as Leon Draisaitl.#letsgooilers #raiseup pic.twitter.com/6w40qi1g0H
— John Puck (@johnpuck1992) January 28, 2025
Rantanen and Oilers superstar Leon Draisaitl share the same agent in Andy Scott, and there is no question that Edmonton could be a desirable place for a player looking to win another Stanley Cup.
The issue, then, is exactly how the Oilers would be able to afford a guy like Rantanen on the open market. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported over the weekend that the Avalanche were willing to make the Finn the highest-paid winger in the NHL before he was traded.
That means he could have a cap hit at a minimum of $11.7 million on his next deal, potentially one that comes close to Draisaitl’s $14 million that kicks in next season.
When you add that onto the fact that the Oilers will probably have to dish out around $15 million to McDavid this summer, Bouchard will likely be in the $8 to $10 million range, and that Draisaitl’s massive contract goes into effect, Edmonton suddenly has a lot of expensive contracts on the books.
It certainly helps that the NHL’s cap limit is set to surge to around $95 to $97 million next season, but fitting all those contracts and continuing to maintain strong depth would be a herculean task for the most competent of GMs in this league. It would effectively tie up $50 million (or just over 50% of a $95 million cap) in four players.
There are ways for the Oilers to open up additional cap space to potentially make enough space, but they would be major ones. With Rantanen becoming the Oilers’ best winger, one would think the team could look to trade out Ryan Nugent-Hopkins’ $5.125 million cap hit. The same could be said for Evander Kane, who has an identical cap hit. Those two moves would open up around $10 million in additional space.
Intense surgery would have to be performed on the current roster to fit in a massive Rantanen deal and keep the team competitive at the same time. When you look at the possibility, it seems very unlikely that this will happen, but if Oilers GM Stan Bowman is committed to it, there just might be a path.
Adding Rantanen and keeping all their top players would effectively make the Oilers a superteam in the NHL and give them, by far, the best offence in the entire league.
It remains a pipedream, but with Strickland talking about it, there is a hint of credibility to it now.