Oilers GM Holland has multiple players on the chopping block

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Liam McCormick
January 18, 2024 (4:42 PM)

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Going into this year's trade deadline, the Edmonton Oilers are going to be seriously constrained by the salary cap. They've been rumoured to be pursuing at all positions, but to make any significant upgrades, they'll need to ship out players with salaries. As of now, Warren Foegele, Cody Ceci, and Brett Kulak have all been rumoured to be the most likely candidates to be moved to clear salary space.

Now, Tyler Yaremchuk at OilersNation has narrowed down those possibilities to the most likely scenario - trading Brett Kulak. With Connor Brown being a total disappointment, the Oilers have a direct need for Warren Foegele. The team also have a direct need for a right shot defenceman in Cody Ceci, which leaves Kulak as the most likely option to be moved.

Yaremchuk explains that Kulak is the player most easily replaceable sighing the organization if they were to be traded. The Oilers could just slot up Philip Broberg to his spot and lose too much in defensive talent - but still put themselves at risk if a defenceman goes down with injury.

At this point before the trade deadline, the Oilers could plausibly make a move for a forward, defender, or goaltender. The recent success of Skinner and Pickard - as well as the quiet success of Jack Campbell in the AHL - have quieted the needs to goalies in Edmonton. They've been tied to prominent forwards available for trade as well, to add to their greatest team strength in offence. It's also very possible the team would want to make an upgrade on one of the current defenceman like Ceci or Kulak themselves. At this point, the Oilers could go in just about any direction at the trade deadline - we'll just have to wait and see.