Can Sharks Take Advantage of Oilers’ Offer Sheet Drama?

The Edmonton Oilers are in trouble, can the San Jose Sharks take advantage?

The Oilers, already pretty much at the $88 million salary cap limit, were ambushed on Tuesday by offer sheets to their last two RFAs, defenseman Philip Broberg and winger Dylan Holloway.

The St. Louis Blues inked Broberg to a two-year deal at $4,580,917 AAV and Holloway to two years at $2,290,457 AAV. Edmonton has a week to match, or they lose the pair, both important members to their 2024 Stanley Cup Final run.

The Oilers do already have two cards to play that will help them become cap-compliant by the beginning of the season: First, they can operate at 10 percent over the cap during the off-season. So they have no issue with matching the Broberg and Holloway offers right now, and dealing with the overage by opening night.

Second, Evander Kane and his $5.125 million AAV is likely headed to LTIR to start the season.

However, that figure doesn’t account for the entirety of Broberg and Holloway’s joint cap hit (about $6.87 million).

Also, unless Kane is sitting the entire season, Edmonton will have to account for his AAV at some point.

So how can the San Jose Sharks swoop in?

The Oilers have two expensive defensemen who might be considered expendable, Cody Ceci, $3.25 million AAV for one more year, and Brett Kulak, $2.75 million AAV for two more years, both with no trade protections.

Of course, these blueliners appear to have been available all summer, and the defense-poor San Jose Sharks (or any other team) haven’t bit. But perhaps Edmonton, under the gun now, might make a deal more favorable for the Sharks to dump a contract.

Could that mean adding a high draft pick on top of the player as a sweetener?

Right-hander Ceci is probably a more desirable trade target than left-hander Kulak. Sources have told SJHN that San Jose has wanted to add a veteran right-handed defenseman.

Ceci (19:22 ATOI) had a bigger role than Kulak (16:30) last playoffs and also has a reputation for being fantastic in the room, no small thing for a younger San Jose Sharks squad.

Sharks Need Another Top-4 Defenseman, Who Might Be Available Via Trade or Free Agency?

Ceci’s contract is also shorter-term, though conversely, the Oilers might be willing to trade more to get rid of Kulak.

Ceci is a defensive defenseman, and the Sharks probably could use more puck-moving, but beggars can’t be choosers.

He could be a passable addition to the San Jose blueline, especially if right-hander Matt Benning, coming off hip surgery, isn’t fully healthy.

This group isn’t winning you a Stanley Cup, but it’s got some promise and leadership and should be marginally better than last year’s last-place group:

Mario Ferraro-Ty Emberson
Jake Walman-Cody Ceci
Henry Thrun-Jan Rutta
Shakir Mukhamadullin-Matt Benning
Marc-Edouard Vlasic

Walman is an upgrade, Ceci might be, and youngsters Emberson, Thrun, and Mukhamadullin have real potential.

So is there a trade worth it to the San Jose Sharks to take on Ceci’s contract?