Rumor: Edmonton Oilers May Trade Zack Kassian This Off-Season

When the Edmonton Oilers elected to protect Zack Kassian for the Expansion Draft, it raised some eyebrows. However, he may not be in Edmonton much longer. According to Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff, the reason they may have protected him is because teams are interested in trading for him. Therefore, they would prefer to get assets back for him and did not want to risk losing him to Seattle for nothing. It was discussed in Seravalli's podcast below.

It's late on a Sunday, but @JasonGregor & @frank_seravalli have a brand new episode of The DFO Rundown!

It's loaded & features they're full mock expansion drafts as well as some potential trades!@WoodJerseys

APPLE: https://t.co/TLP29yT9Vd

SPOTIFY: https://t.co/o5jyuEgdvA pic.twitter.com/AuBNuNeCFK
— DailyFaceoff.com Hockey (@DFOHockey) July 19, 2021

Kassian had a down year this season, so it does make sense that the Oilers would want to trade him. In 27 games, the 30-year-old winger only had two goals and five points in total. He also has three years left on his contract and it carries a $3.2 million cap hit. If he continues to play at this level, it would very risky for a team to add him.

Yet, he also just had the best season of his career in 2019-20, as he registered 34 points in 59 games. When Kassian is on his game, he can be a very effective third-line forward. He obviously is known for playing the game very physically, which is to be expected from a power forward of his size. Even after his hard year, all of this could be enough to get the attention of other teams. This is especially for teams who are desperate to add grit.

If the Oilers do trade Kassian, they would have to wait until after the roster freeze ends on Thursday.