“Passengers” on Trade Block for Oilers Ahead of Deadline

Edmonton Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said after the loss to the Florida Panthers on Thursday that the team had too many “passengers.” He noted, “Some guys that just didn’t put in the effort that we needed.” He didn’t name names, but it’s not hard to figure out who he might have been talking about. The question, as the trade deadline nears, is how many of these passengers could be on the trade block?

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If the Oilers don’t get clarity on Evander Kane‘s health, any trade they do will be money in, money out. That means someone from the roster is likely to go in a deadline deal and the first place to look is at players who might just be along for the ride.

If we exclude most of the players who have no-move clauses, the list of passengers the Oilers can do anything with isn’t terribly long.

Viktor Arvidsson

This deal with Arvidsson hasn’t worked out as the Oilers would have hoped. He’s got a little bit in his game of late, so his feistiness should be considered when we talk about passengers, but he’s not producing. He’s a $4 million cap hit this season and next and with only seven goals on the season, that’s not good enough.

He lacks trade protection, so if a team that likes his sandpaper attitude believes this drop in production is temporary, they might take a chance. The Oilers could then take what they acquire in the deal and the additional cap space and try to go after something else at the deadline.

Vasily Podkolzin

This is a player who showed a lot early in the season, but he also showed he didn’t have a goal-scoring touch. He lacks finish, and while his willingness to forecheck and fight was commendable, now that he’s no longer doing so and has been moved down into a bottom-six role, it’s fair to question what use he has.

He can penalty kill, but he doesn’t do it much. He’s also not on the power play. That means, if he’s not making something happen at 5-v-5, he’s not doing much. He’s only a $1 million cap hit, so the Oilers won’t get much in the way of salary to play with, but even the small amounts add up.

Adam Henrique

A $3 million player, there is a lot more in Adam Henrique’s game than he’s shown this season. Still, if he can’t find a way to contribute, that $3 million in cap space is a useful player at the deadline. Henrique gives the Oilers depth down the middle, and he’s being used in a lesser role, which could explain his lack of production. That said, he signed on to stay with the Oilers, knowing he’d need to find a way to be productive with fewer minutes.

The Oilers signed him because they wanted to bring back the entire third line of Henrique, Mattias Janmark, and Connor Brown. That trio hasn’t been nearly as good this season as they were in last year’s playoff run.

Next: Insider Believes Maple Leafs Drop Out of Big Deadline Trade

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