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Psyblast · 04-24-2011, 02:03 AM

Oilers announce signings, prepare for July 1st
Edmonton has plenty of cap room to explore the open market

June 30, 2011

EDMONTON, AB - The second the re-signing period started, Brian Kudron went to work.

And he worked very efficiently, as the Edmonton GM's no-nonsense way of business continued to shine. The Oilers signed all 10 of their draft picks to 2-way contracts, making sure their rights remain in Edmonton's possession for the foreseeable future.

The two most prominent of those picks, of course, are Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Adam Larsson. Being from Europe, Larsson - along with later round picks Murray Harrison, Valeri Grebeshkov, Mika Kultanen, Juraj Roznik and Patrik Parkkonen - is eligible immediately to play in the minor leagues in Oklahoma City, and the Oilers are free to bring them back and forth as they please. Their other picks, however - Nugent-Hopkins, Tyler Hansen, Graeme Craig and Jean-Laurence Beauchemin - are still in junior hockey in Canada, so the Oilers will not be able to shuttle them to OKC; they'll have to either call them up to the Edmonton roster and keep them there during the season, or leave them in juniors and not have them available until 2012/2013.

Kudron addressed this very simply, however.

"Ryan will be up with us immediately," the Oilers GM said. "He's like Taylor (Hall) last year, he has the talent to contribute at the NHL level right away, and we anticipate he'll be able to hold his own from the start. The others, I expect we'll keep them in juniors for the upcoming season, barring any surprises."

In addition to their rookie draft picks, the Oilers also re-signed a couple other young players still in their system, and also tendered qualifying offers to six of their unrestricted free agents: Zack Stortini, Theo Peckham, Andrew Cogliano, Ryan O'Marra, Matt Marquardt, and Taylor Chorney. Others they decided to let go, and they also did not offer new deals to unrestricted free agents Jim Vandermeer or Jason Strudwick.

All in all, this leaves the Oilers with a little over 15 million dollars of open cap room to use on the open market in free agency (slightly less with the offers tendered to their RFAs). And Kudron intends to spend.

"We've got the budget for it," the GM said. "If there's a player or players out there that fit what we're trying to build, we'll absolutely jump into the race. Too often this franchise has been hamstrung by the small market, unable to offer top dollar to the big names on the free agent market. That's not going to be the case anymore."

04-24-2011, 02:03 AM	#31
Psyblast 2023 National Champions OVR: 43 Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: OS Midwest Office Posts: 42,558	Re: Edmonton Oilers (NHL 11, Be A GM) Oilers announce signings, prepare for July 1st Edmonton has plenty of cap room to explore the open market June 30, 2011 EDMONTON, AB - The second the re-signing period started, Brian Kudron went to work. And he worked very efficiently, as the Edmonton GM's no-nonsense way of business continued to shine. The Oilers signed all 10 of their draft picks to 2-way contracts, making sure their rights remain in Edmonton's possession for the foreseeable future. The two most prominent of those picks, of course, are Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Adam Larsson. Being from Europe, Larsson - along with later round picks Murray Harrison, Valeri Grebeshkov, Mika Kultanen, Juraj Roznik and Patrik Parkkonen - is eligible immediately to play in the minor leagues in Oklahoma City, and the Oilers are free to bring them back and forth as they please. Their other picks, however - Nugent-Hopkins, Tyler Hansen, Graeme Craig and Jean-Laurence Beauchemin - are still in junior hockey in Canada, so the Oilers will not be able to shuttle them to OKC; they'll have to either call them up to the Edmonton roster and keep them there during the season, or leave them in juniors and not have them available until 2012/2013. Kudron addressed this very simply, however. "Ryan will be up with us immediately," the Oilers GM said. "He's like Taylor (Hall) last year, he has the talent to contribute at the NHL level right away, and we anticipate he'll be able to hold his own from the start. The others, I expect we'll keep them in juniors for the upcoming season, barring any surprises." In addition to their rookie draft picks, the Oilers also re-signed a couple other young players still in their system, and also tendered qualifying offers to six of their unrestricted free agents: Zack Stortini, Theo Peckham, Andrew Cogliano, Ryan O'Marra, Matt Marquardt, and Taylor Chorney. Others they decided to let go, and they also did not offer new deals to unrestricted free agents Jim Vandermeer or Jason Strudwick. All in all, this leaves the Oilers with a little over 15 million dollars of open cap room to use on the open market in free agency (slightly less with the offers tendered to their RFAs). And Kudron intends to spend. "We've got the budget for it," the GM said. "If there's a player or players out there that fit what we're trying to build, we'll absolutely jump into the race. Too often this franchise has been hamstrung by the small market, unable to offer top dollar to the big names on the free agent market. That's not going to be the case anymore."