Four Edmonton Oilers highlight Daily Faceoff trade bait board
By Zach Laing
1 year agoA quadruplet of Edmonton Oilers has landed themselves on Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli’s first Trade Bait board of the offseason.
We all know how big of an offseason is approaching for the Oilers, and Seravalli has three players and a contract listed as Trade Bait.
Let’s dive into each of them, shall we?
8. Tyson Barrie
Right Defense, Edmonton Oilers
Age: 30
Stats: 73 GP, 7 G, 34 A, 41 Pts
Contract: 2 more seasons, $4.5 million AAV
Scoop: The Oilers aren’t down on Barrie, so much as they’ll need to create salary cap flexibility if they’re going to take a run at re-signing Evander Kane. Sliding Barrie, an elite power play facilitator, elsewhere would be one way to try to achieve that. The ready-made defense solution would be if 2019 No. 8 overall pick Philip Broberg is ready to take the next step, to pick up the slack for Barrie on the right side with Cody Ceci and Evan Bouchard next season.
This is the most logical one in my eyes. Barrie’s become a commodity the Oilers cannot afford at this point. The emergence of Evan Bouchard as a legit, right-shot offensive defenceman has turned Barrie into a redundancy. There should be more than enough interest in the player whose season returned from the dead under Jay Woodcroft. The Seattle Kraken and Montreal Canadiens are two teams who could be logical fits.
15. One of Jesse Puljujarvi or Kailer Yamamoto
Forwards, Edmonton Oilers
Ages: 24, 23
Stats: 65 GP, 14 G, 22 A, 36 Pts / 81 GP, 20 G, 21 A, 41 Pts
Contract: Both Pending RFAs, both Arbitration Eligible
Scoop: It’s a safe bet that one of these two players will not be returning to the Oilers next season. Both are fan favorites. But both require new deals, likely both raises, and GM Ken Holland acknowledged that Edmonton will have to watch every dollar. “Am I willing to trade some assets in a deal that will make us better? Yes I am,” Holland said Wednesday. Edmonton’s preference would likely be to keep Yamamoto, but he would bring the bigger return.
Brace yourselves, as this could be a tough one. There’s no doubt the Oilers are heading for a cap crunch after hitting the jackpot in free agency last year with guys like Zach Hyman, Cody Ceci and Derek Ryan, all veteran players who were key players for the team this year. While I’m of the camp that both Puljuajrvi and Yamamoto can be bridged for cheap (with the caveat of Evander Kane walking in free agency), there might be some different feelings around the organization. Nonetheless, it might make sense for the Oilers to move one of these players in a package for a high-end goaltender. Seravalli noting that Yamamoto potentially brings a bigger return has me intrigued. While Yamamoto is the better player by eye, Puljujarvi’s numbers are unarguable.
20. Contracts of Oscar Klefbom (EDM) and Shea Weber (MTL)
Klefbom: 1 season remaining, $4.17 million AAV
Weber: 4 seasons remaining, $7.86 million AAV
Scoop: We know there are no current plans for these players to resume their careers. But if at all possible, teams don’t like operating in LTIR, because they do not accrue salary cap space throughout the season. It’s not always easy to move these contracts, but they may help a team artificially reach the salary cap floor, or stockpile an additional asset or two. Montreal and Edmonton will both try – but the Canadiens might also have Carey Price on LTIR, which would make the point moot.
Could the Oilers use a guy like Barrie as the sweetener to move the Oscar Klefbom contract? It makes sense. We’ll see what shakes down, but moving this contract out makes a lot of sense.
Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@oilersnation.com.
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