Assets The Edmonton Oilers Can Move In A Trade

Underperforming Players

Trading away underperforming players is an option that may not bring you a lot back in return, but it is a way to create some cap space and create a spot in a team’s line-up. The Edmonton Oilers have a couple players on their roster that have been struggling so far this season.

These players include Tyson Barrie and Kailer Yamamoto. These players are only a year or two off of a season where they were contributing on a game-by-game basis. The problem is they are put in scenarios where they should be getting lots of points and aren’t producing.

Tyson Barrie is the defenseman on the league’s best powerplay. The Edmonton Oilers powerplay has 29 goals so far this season in their 29 games. Tyson Barrie only has 9 points while on the powerplay. To add to that he only has 17 points total. Evan Bouchard who doesn’t get that many minutes on the power play has 1 more point than Barrie with 18 points.

Kailer Yamamoto hasn’t fared much better this season. He has played a majority of his time in the top six on the Edmonton Oilers. In his 29 games he only has 7 points. Yamamoto has been a frustrating player to watch this season with his inability to make things happen on the ice.

Trading away one of these two with another asset could be enough to bring in a top player. The major concern about trading a struggling player is they go to their new team and have success. There is nothing worse for a fan base than seeing a player that struggled on your team go somewhere else and have succeed.

After the COVID-19/Christmas break the Edmonton Oilers need to continue the winning streak they were on. If they don’t they may not be a need to make any trades to improve their team for a playoff run. They currently are sitting in the second wild card spot in the Western Conference 4 points out of first in the Pacific.