Oilers making imminent move with goaltender Jack Campbell

The buyout window opened today, June 27th, and will close on June 30th, giving the Oilers a three day window to buy out Campbell. With the Draft scheduled for tomorrow night, it's possible the Oilers want the cap flexibility for a transaction, and buy out Campbell before then.

Teams will often be awarded a second buyout period later in the offseason, but that date hasn't been set yet. With a player like Jack Campbell who has no other options but a buy-out, the Oilers need to take the cap savings immediately. The additional cap space could help with a trade at the draft, and will surely help the team with signing players in free agency.

Jack Campbell has three more years left on his contract at $5M, and the team didn't have a lick of confidence to consider him for the NHL since November last season. In his two seasons with the Oilers, he has a horrific .888 and .873 save percentage. It would likely cost the Oilers multiple premium assets to trade Campbell's contract, so buying him out and taking a minor hit for 6 years seems to be the best path forward.

With Jeff Jackson speaking to the media for the first time today and likely now running the team as the interim General Manager, his first rule of business after the introduction should be buying out Campbell. It'd be beneficial to have the cap space before the draft, so the move should happen within the next 24 hours - unless the Oilers have other plans.

Source: John Puck