The Edmonton Oilers may have room under the salary cap, but general manager Stan Bowman says that doesn't mean another move is imminent.
The Oilers currently project to have just under $5 million in cap space after an offseason that included trading defenseman Darnell Nurse, acquiring goaltender Devon Levi, and adding Frederik Andersen, Mathieu Joseph, Colton Dach and Ryan Shea.
Speaking with Oilers reporter Bob Stauffer on "Oilers Now," Bowman explained that Edmonton's relatively quiet finish to the offseason is intentional.
According to Bowman, the Oilers are prioritizing entering the season with financial flexibility over spending every available dollar before opening night and, looking further ahead, the trade deadline.
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"This is sort of the ideal situation," Bowman said. "(Spending to the limit) was how we've been operating the first two years that I was here. We had no space at all."
Bowman acknowledged that previous seasons left Edmonton unable to capitalize when teams unexpectedly looked to move useful players during the year, as they had no room for the bulky contracts to facilitate such moves.
"We were not in a position to if a player comes available in November that makes $2.5 million that you like, but they don't want, they're just trying to shed salary, we were never even in the market for that," Bowman said. "It was impossible. But now we want to leave some money available."
Added Bowman: "Sometimes it's not even broadcast, but you talk to managers, and there's players available," Bowman said. "You probably don't even have to pay an asset price to get them, but you've got to take the contract on."
Bowman also believes that maintaining flexibility will reduce the risk of having to rely on long-term injured reserve early in the season, with the Oilers having enough room to apply fixes from outside the organization on the fly.
"We're not trying to just accrue cap space ad nauseam," Bowman said. "The team that we have to start the season is not going to be the exact same team in the playoffs."
While Bowman's comments might disappoint some fans looking for reinforcements to be in place by October, the GM's mindset suggests Edmonton's strategy for preserving cap space is all about having the strongest team by the time the playoffs roll in April.
