The Oilers need to decide on Evan Bouchard.

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Ryan Hall
June 21, 2023 (1:06)

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The Oilers have a fascinating offseason ahead of them with general manager Ken Holland having to make several important decisions regarding his roster construction and how he will navigate his cap crunch.

He currently has $5.9 million in cap space to work with. He has six free agents that will need to be decided sooner than later.

One free agent happens to be Oilers defenseman, Evan Bouchard. Bouchard has become an elite defenseman for the Oilers with great numbers.

The 23-year-old defenceman played all 82 games with the Oilers, scored eight goals with 32 assists for 40 points and was a + 6. He shone the most during the playoff run, where he played twelve games, scored four goals with 13 assists and had 17 points with 15 power-play points.

Standing at 6 foot 3 and 194 pounds also shooting right makes Bouchard a commodity the Oilers cannot let go of. What's upsetting though, is that Holland will need to find a way to make a contract work for him as he is a restricted free agent with arbitration rights.

With back-to-back 40-point seasons and playoff numbers that are amazing, there is an argument that he could receive $6 million a year. Will the Oilers cap crunch it's going to be near impossible for them to do this unless they move a key player out of the roster to make room for him.

Due to financial troubles, he may move if a deal can't be reached. I feel that Holland will do whatever he can to keep this player as he will become an asset to work with Mattias Ekholm as he will be with the team for at least three more seasons.

Oilers fans will need to wait and see how the team will handle this as they approach the draft on June 28th.