Two Trades That Could Help The Edmonton Oilers Right Now

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DALLAS, TX – JUNE 22: Don Waddell attends the first round of the 2018 NHL Draft at American Airlines Center on June 22, 2018 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

Why should Carolina retain so much of his cap hit?

Well, to be blunt, his current cap hit of $5.75 million is a complete boat anchor for a guy playing on the 3rd pairing – which he is right now with the ‘Canes if you see here.

Also, the Hurricanes need to see that this is what happens when you sell low on a player – teams won’t exactly offer the moon for him, and we as Oiler fans know better than anyone that if your team is in a bad position it’s highly unlikely you’ll be offered a great hockey trade. If you want to get rid of an underachiever, no one will offer you an achiever back.

This is the same reason I ask the ‘Canes to take on Brandon Manning – if you want to get rid of a problem child you have to take another one back. That’s just how trades in the NHL work in this case.

There are also financial reasons as well. Carolina has more cap space than any other team in the NHL right now – almost $17 million to be exact, so they can easily afford to retain $4 million of Hamilton’s cap hit for the next 2 seasons, which, while noticeable, isn’t as big a deal as it would be to a lot of other teams. Also, they have other players emerging on D that they want to make room for, so his replacement is already on board.

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