The Edmonton Oilers have announced they have acquired forward Klim Kostin from the St. Louis Blues in exchange for defenseman Dmitri Samorukov. The trade is one-for-one.
Klim Kostin was the No. 31 overall selection of the Blues in the 2017 NHL Draft. He played most of the 2021-22 season with the Blues, scoring nine points in 40 games.
His professional career began as an 18-year-old when he jumped into the AHL with the San Antonio Rampage. He was a productive AHLer right off the bat, scoring 28 points in his rookie season. Over the next three years with the Rampage, Kostin scored 82 points in 181 games.
Kostin made his NHL debut in the 2019-20 season, scoring his first NHL goal in the four-game stint with the Blues. He then made an unusual move the following season, playing for the Omsk Avangard of the KHL.
Kostin was in contention to make the Blues roster this past season but was far from guaranteed a spot.
Both of these players have a lot of similarities. They are both Russian, 23 years old, played in the AHL right after being drafted, and both played in the KHL during the 2020-21 season. They are both trying to earn a spot in their respective lineups.
Samorukov has only one game of NHL experience, and he played less than three minutes of ice time in that game. He is a well-rounded defenceman who can be relied upon in all situations. However, he has his limitations too and few see him becoming a top-pair defenseman in the NHL.
He played the 2021-22 season with the Bakersfield Condors of the AHL, scoring 18 points in 51 games. He was a key defender on a loaded Condors team but couldn’t break into the Oilers’ lineup last year.
Samorukov has one year left on a contract paying him $775,00 annually, he will be an RFA following this season. Kostin has one year left at $750,000 and he will be an RFA.
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