When top line winger Zach Hyman returns from his stay on the long term injured reserve next month, the Edmonton Oilers will be in a cap crunch. He is not the only player on the IR as the list continues to grow. When things settle in the near future, the team will be forced to make moves in order to get their payroll below the National Hockey league mandated salary cap ceiling of $95.5 million.
This has caused many different theories as fans and media have tried to guess what general manager Stan Bowman and his front office will do to navigate this issue. Will he send down top rookie Ike Howard? Will he be forced to put valuable depth players on waivers? Risking losing them for nothing.
Or, will he do what NHL insider Frank Seravalli suggests and make a trade.
The team has a number of players who are depth pieces who make slightly over $1 million in cap. There was even suggestions that the team could deal newly signed forward Jack Roslovic who makes $1.5 million when his four-team modified no-trade clause kicks in next month. This would surely help to alleviate some salary cap.
Frank Seravalli drops 5 names that could be on the trade block
Speaking on the Sportsnet Fan 960 podcast based in Calgary, Flames Talk, NHL insider Frank Seravalli revealed a number of names that the Oilers could look at to trade coming up shortly. As mentioned before, the team will be in a cap crunch and may need to make moves in order to alleviate some space while opening up one or two of the 50 Standard Player Contract slots.
The host Pat Steinberg, while interviewing Seravalli threw a question at him regarding potential Oilers players that could be on the trade block. He asked "You had mentioned a little earlier this week potentially a couple of names; that could hit the trade block from the Oilers. Who are we looking at there?"
Seravalli gave a long answer but mentioned five players by name. The players he said are; Mattias Janmark, Ty Emberson, Curtis Lazar, and possibly Noah Philp. Regarding Philp he said "They want to do everything they can to make sure that Noah Philp doesn't go on waivers because they think he'd be claimed." This likely means the Oilers want to keep him but depending how negotiations go, the better option may be to move the centre.
After mentioning these names, he followed it up by saying "So, I think there's a myriad of ways to tackle it. They might not all involve trade, but they're going to have a surplus or a logjam in real short order here over the next 10 days."
Although he did not commit that any of these players are on the block per say and he appeared to mostly be speculating, a few of the names he chose to bring up are interesting. Janmark has been in rumours recently and with his $1.45 million caphit, he is a likely player to get dealt given his value on the ice.
Another player whose contract may be more rich than for what he provides to the Oilers, Emberson's contract carries a $1.3 million AAV. He may also be a luxury the club cannot afford to keep around.
The next few weeks will be interesting to watch as trade rumours and speculation heats up. As well, with the impending cap crunch creating a complex puzzle that Bowman and company will need to find a way to make fit together.