The Edmonton Oilers have traded forwards Kailer Yamamoto and Klim Kostin to the Detroit Red Wings.
The trade came early during the second round of the NHL’s draft and will see the Oilers receive future considerations in return. Essentially, the move is nothing but a salary cap dump for the Oilers as they clear up Yamamoto’s $3.1-million salary.
According to 630 CHED’s Bob Stauffer, the Oilers retain no salary in the deal.
Yamamoto, drafted by the Oilers in the first round of the 2017 draft, broke into the NHL in December 2019 with the team and went on an incredible run through the rest of the season. He lined up alongside Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and scored 11 goals and 26 points in 27 games.
But for Yamamoto, he’s struggled to find that level of consistency and scoring. He had a good 2021-22 campaign scoring 20 goals and 41 points in 81 games, but the points came in bunches and saw Yamamoto disappear at times during the season.
Last year was a tough one for the winger. He appeared in 58 games for the Edmonton Oilers scoring just 10 goals and 15 assists. Throughout the year he dealt with concussion issues and reportedly was dealing with a lingering neck issue.
Kostin, meanwhile, joined the Oilers ahead of this past season after being acquired from the St. Louis Blues in exchange for Dmitri Samorukov. It was reported earlier in the week by The Athletic’s Daniel Nugent-Bowman that the Oilers and Kostin’s camp had been off in their contract negotiations for the restricted free agent.
The Oilers, he reported, were in the $1.1-$1.5-million range on a contract, while Kostin’s camp had been “shooting for at least $1.75 million on the low end but ideally over $2 million.”
Kostin reportedly had interest from the KHL as well.
This year Kostin was a solid player in the Oilers’ bottom-six scoring 11 goals and 21 points in 57 games adding three goals and five points in 12 playoff games. While he provided a physical presence and didn’t hesitate to drop the mitts and oozed personality, the cap-deprived Oilers simply couldn’t afford the salary difference.
On top of that, Evolving Hockey’s contract projections suggested the most likely deal for Kostin was a two-year deal paying him $1.485-million, while a one-year deal would have him projected for $1.065-million.
With their 56th overall pick in the second round, the team selected defenceman Beau Akey from the OHL’s Barrie Colts.
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