The Edmonton Oilers haven't truly needed to add forward depth the past couple of seasons.
They've attempted to bring in AHL forwards or NHL players who would strengthen the bottom six. This offseason is different, however, as new general manager Ken Holland tries to fix Edmonton's biggest problems, which are mostly on offense.
Alex Chiasson led Oilers right wingers with 22 goals last season, with Zack Kassian second at 15. Ty Rattie, Jesse Puljujarvi and Jujhar Khaira filled out the rest of the right side but combined for just 11 goals. On left wing, Leon Draisaitl again took on a top-line role alongside Connor McDavid and registered 50 goals, second-most in the NHL behind Alex Ovechkin's 51.
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Second-line left winger Milan Lucic, on the other hand, finished with just six goals in 79 games. Beyond Lucic, fellow left-side forwards Tobias Rieder, who went scoreless in 2018-19, and Colby Cave (two goals) couldn't produce.
Edmonton finished 20th in the league with just 2.79 goals per game.
With Puljujarvi requesting a trade and set not to play in Edmonton next season, and with Rattie and Rieder hitting the market, Edmonton's forward depth is cause for concern.
Chiasson, who signed a two-year extension on Monday, and Kassian are currently the club's top-six right wingers, followed by Sam Gagner and Jujhar Khaira. Tomas Jurco was brought in to add more on the right side, but he hasn't played in the NHL since the 2017-18 season with the Chicago Blackhawks and hasn't yet found his scoring touch.
Edmonton will rely on Swedish signee Joakim Nygard to add scoring behind Draisaitl and Lucic on the left side immediately. He has scouted as a high-scoring winger, but it's less than ideal for the Oilers to again to rush a first-year player and set a high bar for him.
Holland knows there's work to be done.
Maroon camp shutting it down for the night, will regroup tmw. Oilers among teams still talking. EDM set on more lineup changes. They are well aware of how much improvement they need, primarily among fwds.
— Mark Spector (@SportsnetSpec) July 2, 2019
So what's next?
First, the Oilers will need to make make some trades to clear out the necessary cap space. One option, of course, could be trading Lucic, but his $6 million average annual value (AAV) isn't something that teams will jump at adding. They could ship out some of their higher-priced defensemen, including Kris Russell, but they would have to get a decent return — someone to fill in on the top four so they won't need to rely on prospects Ethan Bear and Caleb Jones. Shipping out goaltender Mikko Koskinen is also a possibility, but, like Lucic, it may be hard to move that type of contract without retaining salary.
As Holland deals with the fallout left behind by his predecessor, Peter Chiarelli, Edmonton's back is against the wall as it faces the prospect of relying mainly on youth.