The NHL trade deadline is officially less than a week away, with plenty of speculation and high value trade candidates still unmoved. The Edmonton Oilers are one team that is expected to be active but a significant move has yet to materialize since December.
The club already made a major swap in goal, sending homegrown goaltender Stuart Skinner to the Pittsburgh Penguins for netminder Tristan Jarry. There were other moving parts as well, with the Oilers receiving once highly touted prospect Samuel Poulin and sent the other way, defenceman Brett Kulak.
On top of the acquisition of Jarry and Poulin, the Oilers received defenceman Spencer Stastney from the Nashville Predators to replace Kulak.
The Oilers will look to make even more additions to their team and according to one insider, that could involve trading veteran forward Adam Henrique.
Oilers set to make additions at the trade deadline
Now, as the deadline looms, the club is anticipated to make further moves to improve the club. General manager Stan Bowman is expected to be scouring the market for a depth top-nine forward and a top-four defenceman.
Of course, these types of players do not come cheap. In order for the Oilers to add a player of real value, they will need to come up with the assets to make a swap. Either trading players, picks, or prospects that will entice another team and will not damage the Oilers themselves.
The other major component is the NHL salary cap ceiling that the club will have to abide by when making a trade. As of right now, according to puckpedia.com, the Oilers have an estimated $10,000 in cap space. Nowhere near enough to acquire a player of consequence, without moving out money to free up space.
Adam Henrique could be on the move
NHL insider David Pagnotta recently joined the an episode of the Big Show on Sportsnet 960 where he spoke about the Oilers heading into the trade deadline.
He did not reveal anything new by claiming the Oilers will move disappointing winger Andrew Mangiapane by the March 6th trade deadline. When asked how the team is expected to improve, Pagnotta said "A lot of it is going to revolve around how much money they save or how much cap space they create when they do move Andrew Mangiapane." Clarifying "I say when because that's the expectation talking to people on both sides."
He also confirmed the Oilers targets are to add a defenceman and a "...mid to bottom-six forward,". The real revelation was when he revealed that Henrique may be in play, saying "You're starting to hear Adam Henrique's name out there a little bit. But he's got full no-trade protection,".
This is an important thing to consider, that Henrique will have the ability to veto a deal that he does not like. Pagnotta even stated that ", at this point it will have to be a right environment for him."
Henrique's contract is set to expire at the end of the season, making his deal relatively easy for another team to absorb. As stated, he will have to agree to any deal that is made involving him and there is a real possibility he refuses to move.
However if the Oilers are able to shed the contracts of Mangiapane at $3.6 million for one more year and Henrique's at $3 million, the Oilers can make savings of up to $6.6 million with just those two moves. It would be huge.