The Edmonton Oilers are targeting Ilya Mikheyev in free agency, per Elliotte Friedman and Bob Stauffer Monday. A deal could come Wednesday.
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Mikheyev is a fast, reliable winger who fits a specific need in Edmonton's bottom six.
He's not a point-per-game player, but he's durable, defensively responsible, and can skate with anyone in the league.
That's exactly the profile GM Stan Bowman has been looking for after a season where the Oilers finished 41-30-11, fourteenth overall with 93 points, then lost to Anaheim in six games in the first round.
Edmonton scored 282 goals this season but allowed 269. The offensive firepower was never the issue.
Connor McDavid posted 138 points. Leon Draisaitl added 97. Evan Bouchard contributed 95 from the blue line.
Depth that can play without McDavid on the ice is the real gap. Mikheyev provides that. He won't need a top-six role to be effective.
Oilers need proven wingers after Kapanen's likely exit signals a gap
Kasperi Kapanen appears to be leaving, with his wife posting "Last Days in Canada" on Instagram this week. He scored 4 goals and 6 points in 6 playoff games before Edmonton was eliminated.
Losing that kind of cost-controlled depth without replacing it is not a plan. Bowman clearly knows it.
Mikheyev's speed changes how a line functions without the puck.
He's a forechecking threat that forces opposing defensemen into quick decisions, which opens space for whoever is playing behind him.
Vasily Podkolzin posted 37 points in 82 games this season at just $1,000,000.
Matthew Savoie added 37 points as well. The young depth is there, but neither player profiles as a veteran presence who can be trusted in a close game in April.
Mikheyev fills that exact role. He's been there before.
Whether the price fits Edmonton's cap situation with Darnell Nurse's $9,250,000 still unresolved is the real question.
Bowman is juggling multiple files at once heading into Wednesday, and not all of them have clean answers yet.
Should the Oilers prioritize signing Ilya Mikheyev over solving the Darnell Nurse situation first?
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