Edmonton Oilers close the book on goalie Jack Campbell

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Jack Campbell didn’t save a lot of pucks for the Edmonton Oilers during his brief and unsuccessful time here, but closing the book on the failed goaltending experiment will at least save the team a little money.

The club placed Campbell on waivers Sunday for the purpose of buying out the last three years of his contract, which carries an annual salary cap hit of $5 million.

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With Stuart Skinner firmly entrenched as Edmonton’s starter and Calvin Pickard proving he can carry the load as a backup, the Oilers needed to free up some money heading into the July 1 free agent market and buying out Campbell is the obvious way to help.

The 32-year-old goaltender was a high-profile free agent signing two years ago — inking a five-year contract worth $25 million — but the deal went south in a hurry. He posted an .888 save percentage in his first year with Edmonton and lasted just five games in year two before being sent to the American Hockey League for the rest of the season.

According to CapFriendly, Campbell’s buyout schedule over the next six years is $1.1 million next year, then $2.3 million, $2.6 million, and $1.5 million for the final three years.

This will also be the last year of the James Neal buyout that will cost the Oilers $1.9 million.

The $3.9 million in savings on Campbell this year leaves the Oilers with $12.9 million in cap space heading into July 1, but they already have a long list of free agents and roster spots that need to be filled.

Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg are restricted free agents in need of deals while Mattias Janmark, Adam Henrique, Connor Brown, Vincent Desharnais, Corey Perry, Sam Carrick and Warren Foegele are among their unrestricted free agents.

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As of right now the Oilers only have seven NHL forwards and five defencemen signed, so they need to cram a lot of talent into fairly limited cap space.

Further complicating matters is that the team doesn’t have a general manager at the moment, with Ken Holland having played out the end of his contract and CEO of Hockey Operations Jeff Jackson yet to name his replacement.

Some of the Edmonton’s UFAs would be nice to have back and some are crucial.

Mattias Janmark heads the list after emerging as one of Edmonton’s best players the deeper the Oilers got in the playoffs. He had two goals and two assists in the last four games of the Stanley Cup Final and scored Edmonton’s only goal in Game 7. He’s a key ingredient on the penalty kill and is exactly what you’re looking for in a depth player — feisty, plays a responsible game and kicks in the odd big goal.

This is a player a lot of contending teams would be interested in.

After seven-straight one-year contracts you have to think he’s looking for a little more stability, as well as a bump on the $1 million he made with Edmonton last year.

Another wildcard is Connor Brown, who looked like a bust for most of last season. Then the playoffs came around and so did he. Once he got his legs under him Brown made a strong impact in the post-season, both on the penalty kill and on a third line with Janmark and Adam Henrique that proved so effective in Edmonton’s drive to the Cup Final.

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Whether he stays or goes, Brown is already on the books for a $3.25 million bonus next season.

Then there’s Henrique. He was considered a rental when he came over from Anaheim, where he spent the previous seven seasons, but maybe he saw enough of Edmonton and the playoff atmosphere to consider staying. He made $5.8 million in his last year with the Ducks, so obviously a contract here wouldn’t be anything close to that.

On defence, Vincent Desharnais is in a nice bargaining position, which he richly deserves after putting in all that time in the minors. He’s a big, rangy player who is tough around the next and is due for a nice raise on the $762,000 he made last year. At 28 years of age he would be wise to explore the market and take the biggest offer.

What do they do with Warren Foegele, who showed he could play up and down the lineup at $2.75 million last year, or Corey Perry, who brought depth and experience to the playoff run?

That doesn’t leave much room for a splash on the free agent market on Monday morning. In going to the Stanley Cup Final the Oilers showed they don’t have a lot of holes in their roster, but they do need proven second line scoring to complement Leon Draisaitl.

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Edmonton made qualifying offers to all of their RFAs, but did not qualify Carter Savoie (fourth round 2020) after two years with the Bakersfield Condors.

E-mail: rtychkowski@postmedia.com

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