Edmonton Oilers might look to trade another forward to clear cap space
The Edmonton Oilers may need to make another trade this summer.
They have already made three, shipping off Evander Kane and Viktor Arvidsson while bringing Ike Howard into the fold. It’s been a busy summer for GM Stan Bowman, but there is a chance he isn’t finished making deals.
While most fans would point to goaltending as the obvious space to make an improvement, that doesn’t appear to be the case. Bowman recently said he was comfortable going into the season with Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard being the Oilers tandem.
Instead, it might be another Oilers forward who gets traded. 880 CHED’s Bob Stauffer answered a texter on Monday’s show asking about the Oilers adding another forward into the mix, to which he gave a cryptic answer.
“The Oilers already got a lot of forwards right now at this time,” Stauffer said. “They might be moving a guy out.”
While Edmonton lost quite a few forwards this summer, they’ve also added a few. All of Andrew Mangiapane, Ike Howard, Matt Savoie, and Curtis Lazar are expected to get some NHL time. Other players like Noah Philp, Quinn Hutson, and Josh Samanski could also crack the NHL roster if they impress in training camp.
Adam Henrique makes a lot of sense as someone the Oilers could move on from. With Edmonton looking to potentially run RNH as the third-line centre, that would force Henrique down to the fourth line. Having your fourth-line centre carry a $3 million cap hit is an expensive luxury that they can probably live without, especially with guys like Curtis Lazar and Noah Philp able to fill that role at league minimum.
That is easier said than done, however, as Henrique currently controls his future with a no-movement clause. There has been plenty of speculation this offseason that the veteran is not very open to waiving that NMC anytime soon.
If they can’t trade him, the other obvious choice to be shipped out would be Mattias Janmark. The 32-year-old did next to nothing offensively last season with just two goals and 18 points in 80 games, though he did add three goals in 22 playoff games.
Most of his value came with his work on the penalty kill, a facet of the team’s game that faltered in the playoffs with just a 67.1 per cent success rate. Even so, the Oilers don’t lack options with all of Savoie, Trent Frederic, and even Kasperi Kapanen having some experience on the kill.
Janmark is projected to be a fourth-line player and is making $1.45 million this season. It’s a role that could easily be taken over by someone like Kapanen, who signed a one-year extension at $1.3 million this summer.
Unlike Henrique, Janmark does not have an NMC and can be moved to any team the Oilers can strike a deal with.
It may not be the big move in goal that many Oilers fans are calling for, but this next move could go a long way in giving another young player an opportunity while also opening up a bit of cap space ahead of the 2026 NHL trade deadline.