This summer is an important one for Edmonton Oilers GM Craig MacTavish. The team hasn’t been to the playoffs since 2006 and being the team that’s become the butt of jokes about failure is never fun.
One thing MacTavish and many other GMs know is the free agency pool isn’t exactly deep as he told Terry Jones of the Edmonton Sun.
“This year there are not so many top free agents available,” MacTavish said. “The guys who would normally be secondary targets are now the primary targets. It’s a good year to be a UFA.”
MacTavish said he’d ideally like to add two or three players through free agency and one or two more through trades. One area they need a lot of help is on defense where most of their high-end talent is very green.
With guys like Oscar Klefbom and Darnell Nurse on the horizon and Martin Marincin already having made a splash, getting them swamped in the NHL as kids isn’t ideal. Now you know why Braydon Coburn’s name has come up again in trade rumors.
One thing is for sure, MacTavish and the Oilers can’t afford to slip up. The playoff drought has become a bit much to bear up north.