Oilers Superstars Post Emotional Goodbyes to Their Teammates Who Were Traded Away on Tuesday

PUBLICATION

Ryan Hall
February 28, 2023 (11:14 PM)

SHARE THIS STORY

Over the past number of weeks, it has been pretty intense for Oilers fans as they have been waiting for their general manager to make a move or two to improve the club's chances for a playoff run and A shot at the Stanley Cup.

Today, the Oilers finally broke the ice and managed to move two of their roster players off to new teams Jesse Pujujarvi and Tyson Barrie. The Oilers traded Pujujarvi to the Carolina Hurricanes for forward Patrik Puistola.

This was a cap move to clear salary since the Finnish winger holds a $3 million cap head. The Oilers did not retain any money in the trade.

Later on that afternoon, the Oilers made another trade by moving defenseman Tyson Barrie along with forward Reid Schaefer, a 2023 first-round and a fourth-round in 2024. The Oilers received defenceman Mattias Ekholm in return.

As part of the business of hockey, it's hard for teammates to see their friends leave to go to other organizations. In this day and age of social media, their former oiler teammates left messages wishing them the best.

Time will tell if this series of moves will help the Oilers, with $3 million opened up in cap space and bringing in a defenseman such as Mattias Ekholm certainly will help stabilize the left side of their defensive core. I am however curious and confused as to why they would move Tyson Barrie who is the quarterback of their power play and is also a right-handed shot defenseman.