3 UFAs Who Could Be Playing LW With Connor McDavid Next Season

The Edmonton Oilers have a lot of salary cap room this summer to fill some of the holes in their roster and flesh out the group beyond their two main superstars. One of those holes is a permanent fixture on the team's top LW. Last season the position was shared between Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Leon Draisaitl, Dominik Kahun, and Josh Archibald. All of those players had varying degrees of success, but much of that can be attributed to the "Connor McDavid Effect."

This offseason, GM Ken Holland finally has money to throw around to try and reshape his team into perennial Cup contenders. With a lot of quality free agents hitting the market, here are three UFAs who we might see lining up alongside McDavid this coming season.

Jaden Schwartz

Schwartz may be the most underrated sniper in the league. The 29-year old just completed his ninth season with the St. Louis Blues, scoring 19 or more goals in five of them. A smaller forward at 5'10", Schwartz excels at using his quickness and soft hands to create open ice that allows him to unload his deadly accurate wrist shot. Injuries have been an issue for him, but if the Oilers are going to prioritize finding secondary scoring, lining Schwartz up alongside McDavid would be a safe bet to find it. Schwartz is coming off 5 years at $5.35 million. He's earned a modest raise by whoever signs him, but nothing extravagant.

Taylor Hall

The "Taylor Hall returning to Edmonton" storyline had mostly died down by the time the Bruins were eliminated by the NY Islanders in the second round of this year's playoffs. Hall seemed to have found a fit on Boston's second line, and was rejuvinating David Krejci's career in the process. Why would he leave? Well according to Tom Gazzola speaking on Dustin Neilsen's podcast, he's had a conversation with someone close to Hall who says he's going to return to the Oilers. It's likely that Hall and Holland will have conversations this summer, but whether or not a deal gets done is another thing. Hall has said he is looking for "the right fit" wherever he signs this summer, rather than a big payday. Regardless, the former Hart Trophy winner won't come cheap.

Mikael Granlund

This would be a bit of a risk-reward move if the Oilers were to go this route. Granlund is listed as a center but played his best hockey on the left wing with the Minnesota Wild. The 29-year old Finn has a knack for getting to open ice with speed and firing off a quick and accurate one-timer. He's also shown a nice set of hands when on a breakaway or in the shootout. His time in Nashville has been a mixed bag, and were he to sign with the Oilers the expectation would be that his point production would increase. It's a tall order for a player entering his thirties, but McDavid can likely help the process along, and the team may see some potential chemistry with their young Finnish RW Jesse Puljujarvi. While less of sure thing, Granlund will come cheaper than the previous names on this list. He's currently coming off a one-year contract valued at $3.75 million, finishing the season with 13 goals and 14 assists.

Who do you think would be the best fit on Connor McDavid's LW?

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