The Edmonton Oilers would be better off using the cap space saved by trading Kailer Yamamoto to redistribute to a new contract for Nick Bjugstad. He's cheaper, more versatile and cheaper third line winger options are available to replace Yamamoto.

With $5,970,000 in cap space and 17 unrestricted and restricted free agents to potentially sign, the Edmonton Oilers and Ken Holland have their work cut out for them. Evan Bouchard and his new deal loom over the organization. But Nick Bjugstad should be a priority to re-sign with the club.

$3.1M can be freed up if the Oilers trade Kailer Yamamoto to another club without retaining salary. That would increase their cap space to $9M and give them the financial flexibility to sign Bouchard to a good deal while retaining Bjugstad. Bjugstad is a more versatile forward than Yamamoto and they can replicate Yamamoto's contributions through the signing of other bottom six forwards.

They Need The Cap Space

At number 44 on his list of the top 50 2023 Free Agents for the 2023 off season is Bjugstad. Frank Seravalli's list includes contract projections, with Bjugstad's being a two year $2.3M projection. It's a fair projection given what the center can bring to a team. Most teams would prefer Bjugstad at $2.3M than Yamamoto at $3.1M. From a strictly financial perspective, Bjugstad makes more sense to retain for a team wanting to win the Stanley Cup. A team that is still building can wait on Yamamoto to find his game on a consistent basis.

Money Is Better Spent On Bjugstad

Bjugstad is more versatile than Yamamoto. He is a natural center, who can be a third or fourth line center while also contribute as a winger in the top six. He's never been a dominate offensive player, with his most productive season being the 2017-18 campaign where he tallied 48 points in 82 games. In that season he struggled during the first part of the season before getting bumped up to play in the top six. He was put on a line with Aleksander Barkov and Evgeni Dadonov and had great success with that deployment.

The 6-foot-6 centerman can add a different element to the top six that Yamamoto cannot. He can be a winger who takes faceoffs, like Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Leon Draisaitl often do. Over his career he is 49% in the faceoff circle, comparatively to Nugent-Hopkins who is only 44% over his NHL career. Bjugstad is also right handed, while Nugent-Hopkins, Draisaitl and Connor McDavid are all left handed. This can give the team more options to win important draws in different game scenarios.

Oilers Can Get Third Line Wingers for Cheaper

Yamamoto has shown flashes of brilliance in his Oilers tenure. In 27 games during the 2019-20 season he collected 26 points. Spending most of his ice time with Draisaitl and Nugent-Hopkins he found instant chemistry with the duo and became one of the most effective lines that season. In the three season after he has struggled to gain the same level of productivity. His points per game (p/gp) in those three years has been 0.40, 0.49 and 0.43.

Until Yamamoto finds his offensive footing again, he will more than likely be regulated to a bottom six role on the Oilers. $3.1M is a lot of money for a third line winger. Other players on Seravalli's top free agent list like Teddy Blueger, Corey Perry and Garnet Hathaway are projected to make less than Yamamoto's current contract. Those three had 16, 25, and 22 points respectively this year compared to Yamamoto's 25 points. Those three free agents they are projected to make $1.1M, $0.850M, and $2M on their next deals. That saves the team at least $1M for a player with similar production.

Can the Oilers afford another year of waiting for Yamamoto to figure it out while Draisaitl and McDavid get older? Simply put, they need the roster flexibility and additional cap space that sending Yamamoto to another organization would provide them.