According to Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff, the Edmonton Oilers have traded for Nick Bjugstad of the Arizona Coyotes. A forward the team was believed to have some interest in dating back to a couple of weeks ago, the Oilers were limited by their cap space situation. Bjugstad was the kind of player they could find value in at a cost of $900K. And, that the Coyotes retained 50% of his cap hit makes him a very good pickup by GM Ken Holland.
The Coyotes announced (Twitter link) that they were scratching Bjugstad in the final games before the deadline in anticipation of a trade. Ryan Rishaug of TSN tweets that it is likely a third-round pick going back to Arizona. Seravalli updated that to note the full trade was a 2023 3rd Round Pick and prospect Michael Kesselring.
Bjugstad is a right-shot depth center with size (6’6). He’s got 22 even strength points, this season. He’s potted 13 goals for the Coyotes and has been a Swiss Army Knife for the team. He can play top-six minutes, can defend, play special teams, and has a high hockey IQ. He’s also known to be a great person and a strong leader in the locker room.
This deal, as of now, is purely a rental as the forward is a pending UFA at the end of the season.
Holland said yesterday during the Oilers vs. Maple Leafs game that he wanted to do more before Friday’s deadline. This is certainly a nice decision and one that works without having to move additional pieces off of the roster. That Edmonton had exactly $450K to work with and Bjugstad cost $450K explains why Holland had the Nashville Predators retain 4% of Mattias Ekholm’s salary.
More to come
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