The Oilers don’t have a lot of salary cap space to work with ahead of the NHL trade deadline
Mark Spector: Edmonton Oilers GM Ken Holland on Jesse Puljujarvi: “I haven’t really shopped him. No one has really asked about him “
Daniel Nugent-Bowman: Holland: “I’m not gonna trade a first (round pick) for a rental.”
Jim Matheson: The Oilers have less than a $1 million in salary cap space so it’s not going to easy for them to make a move unless “another team is willing to get creative.”
Holland may need to find a team that would take on one of their contracts.
Still think that Detroit Red Wings Andreas Athanasiou is in play, but at what cost would they pay for him?
Jim Matheson: Buffalo Sabres pending UFA Conor Sheary might make some sense for that Oilers. His $3 million cap hit comes in around $750,000, so the Oilers would need to move a body as they’ll only have around $514,000 in space.
Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic: The Oilers are tight against the salary cap and GM Ken Holland may have to get creative.
They are probably trying to acquire a top-nine forward that has some term left on his contract in a ‘hockey deal.’ They’ll likely end up having to acquire a moderately priced one through the rental market.
One option on the Oilers radar is Ottawa Senators forward Tyler Ennis. He can play up and down the lineup and carries a $800,000 cap hit. They could wait until closer to the 3:00 PM deadline to see if prices come down.
The Senators and Pageau finally talking … Teams calling on Namestnikov
Pierre LeBrun: The Ottawa Senators and Jean-Gabriel Pageau camp have started contract extension talks.
TSN: The Ottawa Senators healthy scratched center Vladislav Namestnikov last night for ‘asset management.’ Darren Dreger said that teams are calling the Sens about Namestinikov and multiple offers have been made.
“I’m told that Dorion is considering multiple options on Vladislav Namestnikov. I can tell you that at least four teams of interest have inquired about him, not saying that one of those teams is the team that ends up with Namestnikov, but we’re talking about the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Winnipeg Jets… the Colorado Avalanche consider Namestnikov, perhaps, as a plan B if they don’t land New York’s Chris Kreider and you’ve got the Columbus Blue Jackets in that mix as well. Pierre Dorion, obviously, has something that he feels really close on with Namestnikov.”