Edmonton Oilers might need to make a trade or two to clear up roster spots
The NHL season is not even a month old yet, and the Edmonton Oilers may need to start making some trade calls.
With multiple players nearing a return from injury, including Zach Hyman, Mattias Janmark, and Alec Regula, the team will have to make a few key decisions on who will stick in the NHL lineup.
Kasperi Kapanen has also gone down with an injury but isn’t expected back in the immediate future.
Currently, there is a bit of a logjam at the bottom of both the Oilers’ forward and defensive groups, meaning that some NHL-quality talent will either have to be sent down through waivers or a trade will need to occur to clear up space.
NHL insider Frank Seravalli recently commented on this situation, saying that Edmonton will need to make a few decisions over the next week or so.
“I think Mattias Janmark is one [player who could be traded],” Seravalli said on Tuesday’s edition of Flames Talk. “Depending on how this defence core shapes up with Jake Walman healthy, I think you have to look at what happens with Ty Emberson once Alec Regula gains a foothold in the lineup.
“I think they would have to think about Curtis Lazar and his fit… They’re gonna have a surplus of players, or a logjam, in real short order.”
Seravalli also mentioned that the Oilers are not keen on the idea of putting Noah Philp on waivers to make room, as they believe he would get claimed.
Curiously, he led with Janmark’s name as one of the Oilers who could move. The veteran Swede has been a staple in the Oilers’ bottom-six for the past couple of seasons and has carved out a role on the penalty kill. However, he has struggled to produce much of any offence, notching just six total goals over the last two seasons.
Edmonton is already struggling to score goals, and rookie Matt Savoie has seemingly taken over Janmark’s spot on the PK. Adding him back into the lineup is unlikely to push the Oilers forward in any significant way, and that’s not even considering that he still has another season left on a deal that carries a $1.45 million cap hit. Moving on from Janmark makes logical sense for a team trying to maximize cap space.
It’d be a little surprising to see Edmonton move on from Curtis Lazar so early after signing him, but he was clearly outplayed in camp, and there also isn’t an obvious spot for him. Can’t imagine the Oilers would be too concerned about waivers in this case, and he doesn’t make a ton of money at $775,000.
On the backend, it’ll be interesting to see what the Oilers do when Regula is back and ready to slot back into the lineup. Ty Emberson has struggled a bit to start, and Troy Stecher hasn’t inspired much confidence as well. If Edmonton opts to play Regula on the third pair, the decision will be who out of Emberson or Stecher stays on as the extra man.
Seravalli speculated on Emberson, but the easier player to move should be Stecher, who is both more experienced and cheaper at a $787,500 cap hit. The Oilers recently inked Emberson to a two-year deal that carries an AAV of $1.2 million. It’s hard to believe they wouldn’t give him so more time to figure things out.
Oilers fans shouldn’t be expecting any big return in any of these potential deals. These are bottom-of-the-lineup players, so they won’t command a ton on the trade market. However, it will be intriguing to see if any moves come to fruition once players start getting healthy.