Cheap Role Players (cont'd): RFA List 2009

The Oilers will probably try to find cheap role players to fill holes this season by more than just the UFA route. One such alternative is trading for RFA's or making offer sheets. Though the latter approach is more risky considering the compensation involved (see Penner) and less likely to be successful (see Backes), one can always acquire them and resign them afterwards (see Lupul).

I was going over this season's RFA list and found the following RFA's of interest:

Erik Christensen, C/LW
2008-09 Salary: $750,000

Kari Lehtonen, G
2008-09 Salary: $3,000,000

Colby Armstrong, RW
2008-09 Salary: $1,200,000

Matt Hunwick, D *1
2008-09 Salary: $775,000

Martin St. Pierre, C *2
2008-09 Salary: $500,000

Drew Stafford, RW *3
2008-09 Salary: $984,000

Cam Barker, D
2008-09 Salary: $984,200

Ben Eager, LW
2008-09 Salary: $650,000

Kris Versteeg, RW
2008-09 Salary: $490,000

Olle-Kristian Tollefsen, D *4
2008-09 Salary: $750,000

Jason Bacashihua, G
2008-09 Salary: $708,092

Kyle Cumiskey, D
2008-09 Salary: $475,000

Mark Fistric, D
2008-09 Salary: $650,000

Jiri Hudler, F *5
2008-09 Salary: $1,150,000

Ville Leino, LW
2008-09 Salary: $875,000

Steve Eminger, D
2008-09 Salary: $1,200,000

David Booth, LW
2008-09 Salary: $675,000

Dan Fritsche, C
2008-09 Salary: $875,000

Benoit Pouliot, C
2008-09 Salary: $850,000

Josh Harding, G
2008-09 Salary: $750,000

Christopher Higgins, C
2008-09 Salary: $1,900,000

Tomas Plekanec, C/LW
2008-09 Salary: $1,800,000

Kyle Chipchura, C/RW *6
2008-09 Salary: $860,000

Matt D'Agostini, RW
2008-09 Salary: $508,000

Travis Zajac, C/RW
2008-09 Salary: $984,200

Blake Comeau, RW *7
2008-09 Salary: $735,000

Sergei Ogorodnikov, C *8
2008-09 Salary: $600,000

Brandon Dubinsky, C
2008-09 Salary: $635,000

Scottie Upshall, LW
2008-09 Salary: $1,250,000

Enver Lisin, RW *9
2008-09 Salary: $850,000

Marcel Goc, C
2008-09 Salary: $775,000

Thomas Greiss, G
2008-09 Salary: $725,000

Tomas Plihal, LW *10
2008-09 Salary: $500,000

Jeff Woywitka, D *11
2008-09 Salary: $725,000

Roman Polak, D *12
2008-09 Salary: $475,000

Matt Lashoff, D *13
2008-09 Salary: $685,000

Jannick Hansen, RW
2008-09 Salary: $500,000

Eric Fehr, RW *14
2008-09 Salary: $735,000

1. Matt Hunwick - a player that was rumoured to Edmonton at the recent trade deadline
2. Martin St. Pierre - Guy Flaming talks about this player as a potential pickup as a seasoned veteran offensive player for the farm in Springfield
3. Drew Stafford - thickoil loves this guy. Great player, bound to get a raise this off season.
4. Olle-Kristian Tollefsen - big guy does it all: block shots, fight, play hard
5. Jiri Hudler - this guy was almost an Oiler when Frank Musil recommended him to the Edmonton scouting staff; Detroit snapped him up first
6. Kyle Chipchura - my favourite on this list; team captain of his WJC team and team captain of the Hamilton Bulldogs who won the Calder Cup in 2007
   
7. Blake Comeau - he was the linemate of Tyler Spurgeon and Troy Bodie for the "Network Line," and he would make a great Springfield addition
8. Sergei Ogorodnikov - there has been talk that S.O. was having adjusting to the North American game in terms of an offensive game but you can't deny the leadership factor that e brings, and he could be a solid farm player in the mold of a Kytnar or Pisani (and a cheap replacement for that bum O'Marra)
9. Enver Lisin - another speedy skilled forward in the mold of Ville Leino and Jani Rita: the catch is this guy doesn't want to play in the AHL and that's really where he belongs at this point
10. Tomas Plihal - this checking forward has decent hands and is a cheap plugger
11. Jeff Woywitka - journeyman defenseman who is no stranger to Edmonton
    
12. Roman Polak - some think this guy is ready to play a top-4 role as a shut-down D-man opposite a good-to-medium offensively skilled D-man
13. Matt Lashoff - another D-man who was rumoured to Edmonton at the last trade deadline
14. Eric Fehr - the Oilers wanted to draft this guy but Washington got him; the Oilers have a history of acquiring guys they missed out on drafting (Nilsson, Pitkanen, etc.) and I wouldn't be surprised if they did it again with Fehr because this is one good hockey player; more on Eric Fehr here
    

If I had to pick one, just one RFA out of the entire list, it'd have to be Drew Stafford. The only problem is I doubt that Buffalo lets this guy get away and so realistically speaking, I think a guy like Chipchura, Polak, or Fehr would benefit the Oilers.

On the goaltending front, Lehtonen and Bacashihua seem to be the only goalies that have any NHL experience worth mentoining, though both have been known to be injury-prone.