Did the Edmonton Oilers or Detroit Red Wings Win the Yamamoto Trade?

The Edmonton Oilers announced a day after the NHL Entry Draft’s first round that two of their forwards, Kailer Yamamoto and Klim Kostin, are heading to the Detroit Red Wings in return for some future considerations. It’s being reported that this frees up cap space to help Edmonton’s roster.

Edmonton Oilers Send Yamamoto to Red Wings

Kailer Yamamoto, who was drafted by Edmonton in 2017, had a year left on his current contract that was worth $3.1 million. With him off to Michigan, the Oilers now have approximately $8.9 million freed up in cap space.

Said space could prove vital as the team’s brass negotiates with restricted free agents Evan Bouchard and Ryan McLeod. Injuries prevented Yamamoto from being as productive in 2022-2023 as he had been during the 2021-2022 campaign (10 goals versus 20 goals).

Only 24 years old, should Yamamoto find his groove again, he’ll be playing with a talented and youthful Red Wings group led by Dylan Larkin, who tallied 79 points in 82 games last season. David Perron and Dominik Kubalik also notched 24 and 20 goals, respectively.

As for the Oilers, they may have felt that a player with decreasing offensive production – due to injuries, to be fair – was not what they needed given they have four players who hit at least 80 points in 2022-2023: Connor McDavid (153), Leon Draisaitl (128), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (104), and Zach Hyman (83).