Insider claims Oilers declining offer sheets signals exciting new strategy for front office

According to a new report from Elliotte Friedman, the Oilers most important reason for the declining the offer sheets was to keep salary cap flexibility to address their weaknesses in-season.

What this really means is that the Edmonton Oilers are planning to be much more aggressive in future trade deadlines, especially including this season. The Oilers saved nearly $7M by not matching both offer sheets, and were given three draft picks in compensation as well. With these assets and salary cap space, the Oilers will be able to trade for high-end rental players at the trade deadline.

Under the new front office of Stan Bowman and Jeff Jackson, this could be the new strategy moving forward for building out the Oilers roster. Lock down the core to long-term contracts, fill out the rest with short-term, cheap contracts, and be aggressive at the trade deadline when they have a chance to win it all. It's a strategy similar to what the Toronto Maple Leafs have done in recent years, but hopefully the Oilers can actually pull it off.

After losing Cody Ceci, Philip Broberg, and Vincent Desharnais, the Oilers blueline is looking to be the big weakness on the roster this year. The Oilers should be targeting the best available defenceman in trade this season to play with Darnell Nurse on the second pair. So far, a few trade candidates for the Oilers include Rasmus Andersson, Justin Barron, Henri Jokiharju, and Artem Zub.

Heading into the playoffs with a chance to win the Stanley Cup and expecting a major trade, this year's trade deadline will be exciting to watch as an Oilers fan. With the right moves, hopefully the Oilers can address their final weakness and put them over the top toward the first Cup in the Connor McDavid era.