Oilers Providing Incentive For Offloading Salary
Elliotte Friedman had a few notes about what some things that the Edmonton Oilers are doing behind the scenes.
EDMONTON -- Fresh off of a 2-1 tight-checking win against the Seattle Kraken - the Edmonton Oilers management are grinding away at making their mark on the trade deadline.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfrKGsFPgjY[/embed]
A lot is already known right now about the goals that the Oilers have for the trade deadline. They want a top-six forward to play with Leon Draisaitl on the second line and they want an upgrade on defense.
Last night Elliotte Friedman spoke about several teams on his Saturday Headlines segment. Specifically he spoke about a few holes that the Oilers expect to fill and what they are potentially doing behind the scenes to make that happen.
"I think they continue to look at a couple of things - a couple of forwards, a defenseman. They need to move someone out, they've tried to incentivize other teams to take someone out."
The Oilers being after a couple of forwards makes sense - given reports of the Oilers interest in acquiring Sam Carrick, Nic Dowd and other depth forwards in addition to top six options in Pavel Buchnevich, Tyler Toffoli and Jordan Eberle.
The most interesting part of this segment was the reveal of the Oilers "incentivizing" another team to take on a player to make room for trade deadline additions.
Last year the contract casualty was Jesse Puljujarvi - who was dealt to the Carolina Hurricanes for prospect Patrik Puistola. But that deal was hardly an "incentivizing" situation, as both teams were essentially doing each other a favor.
What's more likely is that they are trying to move someone with a larger contract (likely $4-million or more) in order to bring in someone who has a similar contract - but will be a more effective use of cap space.
Are the Oilers trying to offload Jack Campbell? Or is there someone else who's salary is on the higher side that they feel it is best to move on from? Has Evander Kane worn out his welcome?
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PdoLx0XBmA[/embed]
Whoever management is trying to move out, it's likely that the Oilers don't make a deal in the immediate future. It's likely that they wait at least until after tonight's game against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Subscribe to Inside the Locker Room for exclusive interviews, as well as sights and sounds from Oilers practices.
Bookmark The Hockey News Edmonton Oilers team site to never miss news, interviews or any other updates on the Oilers.