The Edmonton Oilers are finally getting into the action on Day 2 of the NHL draft, both on the draft front as well as the trade action.
Long rumored to be in the works, the team finally traded away Kailer Yamamoto in what ended up being a very interesting trade for the team.
The Deal
The deal, executed early on Thursday morning, was the Oilers sending both Yamamoto and Klim Kostin to the Detroit Red Wings for…absolutely nothing:
The most cap dump possible trade the Oilers have made in a long time, the deal gives the Oilers an additional $3.1M in cap space as well any future space that Kostin would have taken up. It was rumored his deal would be in the range of $1.5-2M a season which really could have put a damper on their flexibility.
With the deal, the Oilers now have $8,170,000 in space entering free agency, assuming no more deals are done.
The Verdict
The deal of course is great from a cap perspective, but the Oilers also just lost their former first round pick for nothing. Yamamoto wasn’t producing at the rate for which his contract was paying him for, but he was still an asset they could have gotten value for in the past.
As well, Kostin was a key depth piece from last year that really found a groove with the team. Rumors are swirling that he could be headed to the KHL, which would further explain his inclusion in this deal, but the Oilers will need to replace his depth as soon as possible.
A necessary evil in this cap crunch world.
Photo by Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire
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