This former Edmonton Oilers forward has recently been given a top line role with his new team.
In pursuit of a Stanley Cup the Edmonton Oilers have had to made several moves. Some trades were to add players with different skills (Ethan Bear for Warren Foegele) or to upgrade that position (Tyson Barrie for Mattias Ekholm).
This past off-season the Oilers' Ken Holland had to make a move just to clear up cap space. To do that he traded Kailer Yamamoto and Klim Kostin to the Detroit Red Wings for future considerations (code for nothing).
Yamamoto is fresh off of a game against the Colorado Avalanche that saw him play 17:49. He skated on the Seattle Kraken's top line with Jared McCann and Matty Beniers as well as on the top power play - earning 4:53 with the man advantage.
Kailer Yamamoto.Despite his lack of finish in his last year with the Oilers, Yamamoto always gave maximum effort on every shift he had. The majority of undersized forwards take longer to develop than average sized players - a similar issue that plagues players who are taller than 6'2.
It's possible that this deployment is a short term arrangement for Yamamoto, given the recent injury to Jordan Eberle. At any rate, if he can maintain this position he would be set up to have a great season. To date he has only scored four points in 14 games.
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