Oilers Former Fan Favourite Gets Benched, Potentially on Trade Block

Kostin playing just 5:09 of ice time against the Los Angeles Kings last game after playing only 6 minutes the night before.

Now, according to new information after the Sharks most recent practice, Kostin is set to be a healthy scratch in the Sharks next game against the Vegas Golden Knights.

Kostin is in the final year of his contract which pays him $2M, and on a rebuilding San Jose team, it seems incredibly likely he'll be traded if another team is interested in him. The Russian forward has only scored 8 goals and 14 points in his last 58 games.

Kostin is an extremely interesting case of a player that's seemed to struggle everywhere else except in his 69 total games with the Edmonton Oilers. He was struggling in St. Louis when the Oilers traded for him in 2022, but instantly became a fan favourite.

At 6'4 and 232 pounds, Kostin was a physical beast on the forecheck - and only in Edmonton did he find a scoring touch. Along with being an incredible power forward, Kostin scored 11 regular season goals and added 5 more points in 12 playoff games. Kostin also embraced the city of Edmonton with open arms, even returning in this year's playoffs and saying the city feels like home to him.

If the Sharks look to move Kostin this season, he likely won't cost anything and likely could come cheap with salary retention. The Oilers could use some more physicality in their bottom six, and if they believe that they can rekindle the spark he had previously in Edmonton, perhaps it could be a great value trade deadline move.