“I don't see us drafting a defenceman”: Edmonton Oilers GM Ken Holland on the 2020 draft

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Holland talked about making “tweaks” to the team this offseason. His top goal was still to bring in help at goalie and third line centre.

Most likely a goalie will be brought in on free agency. “It appears there’s going to be a lot of goalie movement between now and this time next week… It looks like there’s going to be goalies on the unrestricted free agent market… We are going to have a goalie in place next week, I anticipate through free agency.”

If there are trades, he said, “For the most part on a trade, we’re probably dollar in, dollar out.”

As for the market for free agents, he said, “I think lots of players are going to do short term deals, but I think there will be some long term deals.”

Holland said there are extra costs associated to the buying team when bringing in a free agent. “It’s longer term than you’d like or higher cap than you’d like, if you want to add the player.”

My take: Holland talked here not about big moves, but about tweaks. This is in line with what OEG chairman Bob Nicholson said a few weeks ago about the team making tweaks, as opposed to any big or dramatic moves. It’s also in line with what Holland said after the playoffs were over, that his focus was on patience and continuity. There’s been plenty of talks about big moves with the Oilers, with names like Taylor Hall, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Jacob Markstrom mentioned, but I don’t expect we’ll see any big moves.

Could a free agent player like Tyson Barrie or Erik Gustafson come here? Sure maybe, especially if Oscar Klefbom is out, but I’m starting to doubt even that.