The Edmonton Oilers have been fighting the salary cap this off-season, and their activity on July 1 was a prime example of that. 

Edmonton took a big hit in terms of its personnel and depth on Tuesday. Because of how close they are to the cap, several players signed new contracts with other teams as UFAs.

Some of the team’s biggest losses are Corey Perry to the Los Angeles Kings, Connor Brown to the New Jersey Devils, John Klingberg to the San Jose Sharks, as well as Viktor Arvidsson and Evander Kane in cap-dump trades to the Boston Bruins and Vancouver Canucks, respectively.

In addition, left winger Jeff Skinner is a UFA who is unsigned by the Oilers and likely headed out, too.

After Edmonton’s season ended, Connor McDavid was asked about his contract situation. The Oilers captain is entering the last year of his current contract and is eligible to sign an extension as of Tuesday.

"If I feel that there's a good window to win here over and over again, then signing is no problem," McDavid said about his future in Edmonton. 

The 28-year-old is coming off an eight-year deal worth $12.5-million per season. It’s expected that he will receive a healthy raise from that contract, likely surpassing Leon Draisaitl’s $14-million average annual value. 

GM Stan Bowman has lost plenty of pieces from Edmonton’s back-to-back finals appearances. After what went down on Tuesday, the Oilers didn’t make any moves that they could call improvements. If anything, the roster is weaker than it was in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup final.

According to PuckPedia, after Tuesday’s signing of forward Andrew Mangiapane on a two-year, $3.6-million per year deal,  the Oilers have just $175,834 in cap space to make improvements and convince McDavid that this team has a competitive window to continue to compete for a Stanley Cup.

It’s worth noting that Bowman got some internal business done, including the extensions of center Trent Frederic, right winger Kasperi Kapanen and defenseman Evan Bouchard.

Nonetheless, this summer should answer any doubts or concerns that he might have about this team and their chances of winning a Stanley Cup in the near future.

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