Welp, after nothing happening at all yesterday, the Oilers are doing things today.

First of all with the #56 pick in the NHL Draft, Edmonton selected Beau Akey from the Barrie Colts. Akey is a right shot puck moving defenseman. In addition to having a good shot, Akey is an excellent puck transporter, strong instincts at both ends of the ice and speed to boot. Basically he has all the tools that one hopes for in a modern day defenseman. He currently comes in at 6' and 174lbs.

The Oilers are short on right shot prospects with Bouchard the last real success story to graduate. Overall this is a really strong pick with good odds at turning into a legitimate player in a few years.

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Now onto the trade.

Edmonton sent Klim Kostin and Kailer Yamamoto to the Red Wings for.... FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS.

Ultimately I had hoped Edmonton could get something for Yamamoto but I am not very surprised by this either. Yamamoto has one year remaining on his contract at 3.1 million. He has produced at close to a .5ppg pace but he doesn't shoot the puck nearly enough and has relied on some hot streaks mixed with long cold streaks. I think there is a player there but not at that cap hit. In addition he has had multiple concussions and injuries that are a concern and are sadly likely to continue with his small frame.

After this season Yamamoto has arb rights meaning whatever team he plays for could be forced to pay him even more than he is already making. That's something Edmonton can't afford.

As for Kostin, the Russian winger was a success story as a bottom six forward but as the stories came out that his camp was looking for closer to 2 million or bolt to the KHL than it was time to move on. Kostin was a useful player but Edmonton can likely find another physical winger in the bottom six for half as much as he was asking for.

Ultimately I would have liked to see Holland find a way to gain at least some kind of asset out of this but at the end of the day what Edmonton needs is cap space. This clears up space that the team can use to sign their own RFA's like Bouchard and McLeod and focus on new pieces to compliment this roster.

Thanks for reading

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