Could the Edmonton Oilers be in a stronger position to make a trade?
The Oilers recently unlocked almost $1 million in cap space by reassigning goaltender Matt Tomkins, who had a relatively middling pair of performances for the team, to the Bakersfield Condors. That makes their cap situation a little more flexible, but nonetheless razor-thin; the Oilers are now $1 million below the salary cap and will be $3.8 million beneath it when the trade deadline rolls around.
Whereas the team's cap situation would have made any move extremely difficult even when including a contract like the one Jake Walman has, adding the extra money to their cap space will help them make moves without having to clear as much in the way of contracts.
Those salary cap gymnastics could also have unlocked a potential move for a former Oiler.
Frederic for McLeod swap makes sense for both sides
A potential trade that sees the Oilers bring Ryan McLeod back to Edmonton in exchange for Trent Frederic would help the team salvage a pair of not-so-great moves.
The first move saw the Oilers trade McLeod to the Buffalo Sabres in a deal that saw Matt Savoie head west to Edmonton. I'm still of the belief that the move was somewhat of a head-scratcher; while Savoie had a strong 2025-26 season, McLeod immediately established himself as a key piece in Buffalo and helped the Sabres return to the postseason. And in the moment, the move made little sense not just because McLeod was only recently a part of Edmonton's run to Game 7 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final, but also because the Oilers were also losing plenty of key forwards to free agency.
The second move saw Edmonton acquire Frederic from the Bruins in what was a three-team trade. But in his first two seasons in Edmonton, Frederic has struggled to live up to the hype and the extension lobbed his way, only adding to the team's recent contract renewal woes and constantly misused cap space.
And with McLeod also off to a slow start this season and seeing himself healthy scratched only recently, it's fair to wonder if Buffalo is looking to make a move to remain competitive. Though the Atlantic Division is essentially an eight-way gauntlet, the Sabres are only starting to find their form after a relatively-slow start. An 8-5-3 record through 16 games might not be the worst possible start, but it still saw them lose ground to the likes of a stronger-than-expected Boston Bruins team, a Tampa Bay Lightning team that has still found ways to win even with Nikita Kucherov's trade request in mind, and an Ottawa Senators team that is off to their best start in a decade.
What's more urgent is that the Sabres entered Sunday's NHL action just two points ahead of the Detroit Red Wings, who sit in last in the Atlantic Division.
This trade would represent a reset and some redemption (more on the latter in a bit) for both the Oilers and Sabres. For Edmonton, it would see them reunite with a player that has clearly increased his production since leaving the Oilers but could use a fresh start amid rumors of a move. It would also give the Oilers the chance to rectify their top-heavy scoring depth, which has become even more so this season given that Connor McDavid is on pace for 219 points and that Leon Draisaitl is a legitimate Rocket Richard contender.
This would be achieved by putting McLeod into a middle-six role alongside a forward like Zach Hyman, though Babcock could split his two superstar forwards and create some lines that are similar to the ones Kris Knoblauch put together during the 2023-24 campaign.
For Buffalo, acquiring Frederic allows them to clear some more cap space (they're already almost $3 million below the cap) and bring some more contributors into the fold in some capacity. They've been linked to Detroit Red Wings forward Dylan Larkin, though they can't make anything work in that regard unless the ex-Red Wings captain modifies or expands his trade list to include Buffalo. At the same time, Buffalo has been willing to make moves for superstars, but they have consistently fallen short in that regard.
While swapping the two contracts would put the Oilers just above the salary cap, the fact that it would only be by a few hundred thousand dollars means that reassigning a player to the AHL is all that is needed for the team to remain compliant with the salary cap.
Frederic is only one name on a long list of players whose performances have angered Oilers fans in recent times. The front office might also draw some ire, but they have listened to fans in that respect.
It's fair for Oilers fans to be optimistic that the front office will consider moving Frederic. If they did so and got McLeod, it would only redeem the Oilers when it comes to trades and moving on from past stars.
Add us as a preferred source on Google