The NHL draft is just a few days away, so the NHL offseason is about to heat up regarding player moves and free-agent signings. I don’t expect the Edmonton Oilers to be that busy, but I expect them to make some moves.
There are quite a few NHL insiders that believe that the Edmonton Oilers will be trading away a player in order to clear up cap space. From what I have seen it appears that Kailer Yamamoto is likely the player that will be moved.
If the Oilers are unable to move Yamamoto then the next in line to be dealt would be Warren Foegele. I believe that the Edmonton Oilers should have no issue moving either of these players if they want to.
Why Do The Edmonton Oilers Need To Make A Move?
The Edmonton Oilers technically don’t need to make a trade this offseason, but it would help clear up some cap space. According to CapFriendly the Edmonton Oilers currently have $5,070,000 in cap space.
That seems like a lot of cap space, but remember there are still a lot of players to be signed. They still need to sign Evan Bouchard and Ryan McLeod for sure. On top of that, there are still other depth forwards that are not under contract. This includes Klim Kostin, Nick Bjustad, Devin Shore and Mattias Janmark.
This is why I think the Edmonton Oilers need to move out a player with a decent cap hit. They still have a lot of unsigned holes in their lineup. Now they may not bring back all the players above they are still going to need players in their spots.
With the cap being a big issue for the Edmonton Oilers even if they make room they are still going to need to find players on the cheap that can come out and help this team on a night-to-night basis. This means free agent thrift shopping.
I have put together a list of three players that I think the Edmonton Oilers could get to sign a cheaper deal with the Oilers and still have a positive effect on this team.