August brings a most unusual situation for the Edmonton Oilers: There’s cap room, and no clear roster needs. It isn’t hyperbole to suggest the last time the franchise could make that claim was the day before Wayne Gretzky was traded in 1988. In fact, it happened this week 38 years ago. That’s a long time to be out of balance.The team has three goalies, nine defencemen and 15 forwards vying for 23 roster spots, meaning trades or waivers will be part of the plan over the next six weeks.The bigger news may come from all that cap room. Oilers general manager Stan Bowman is sitting on $4.7 million of estimated cap space, according to PuckPedia, with the ability to add a significant piece before the season. As the club has no specific area of need, that frees management to pursue the best available player who shakes loose between now and the end of September.Who could it be?Opening-night roster candidatesThe Oilers’ projected roster hasn’t changed much since July 1. At that time, the projected 23-man roster included 13 forwards, seven defencemen and three goalies:
Centre: Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Jason Dickinson, Josh Samanski
Left wing: Matt Savoie, Vasily Podkolzin, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Colton Dach
