Edmonton Oilers Cap Space: Examining the Oilers' salary in the off-season

The Edmonton Oilers are legitimate Stanley Cup contenders and have made some nice additions this off-season.

The Oilers lost in the second round of the playoffs to the Vegas Golden Knights after losing in the Western Conference Finals the year prior. Edmonton has the best player in the NHL in Connor McDavid, and even with that, they have $5.62 million in cap space.

Although Edmonton still has over five million in cap space, the Oilers still need to re-sign RFA defensemen Evan Bouchard and RFA forward Ryan McLeod. But outside of those moves, the Edmonton Oilers have had a very quiet off-season.

The Edmonton Oilers' off-season moves

Edmonton started free agency off by signing Connor Brown, who missed most of last year after tearing his ACL. Brown played junior hockey with McDavid and was his linemate, so the hope is the chemistry is still there.

Oilers General Manager and President of Hockey Operations Ken Holland spoke on the subject (via NHL.com):

"I talked to Connor McDavid two or three times since the end of the season about Connor Brown, and he's a player that hates to lose. You're bringing a guy into that locker room that's got a lot of determination, a lot of passion, hates to lose, and is a driven athlete. I'm sure he's going to drive himself to get up and running as quickly as possible.

Connor Brown spoke about his desire to win and his relationship with Connor McDavid (via NHL.com) to reporters:

"It's huge," Brown said. "I want to win, and I know Connor and I've known him for a long time, and I know he wants to win bad, and it's kind of the environment I want to be in coming off an injury and trying to get things back on track."

Outside of signing Brown, Edmonton has made minor moves as they inked Drake Caggiula to a two-way deal as well as Ben Gleason. Caggiula could be a fourth-liner while Gleason will likely be in the minors, but they also signed Lane Pederson, who will play a bottom-six role.

The Edmonton Oilers traded Kailer Yamamoto and Klim Kostin to the Detroit Red Wings to clear some much-needed cap space.

For now, the Oilers' focus is re-signing Evan Bouchard and Ryan McLeod. Once that happens, Edmonton will have their roster set.

They will look to finally win the Stanley Cup with McDavid and Leon Draisaitl leading the way, after coming close over the past couple of years.