Red Wings Acquire Yamamoto, Kostin from Oilers

During the second round of the NHL Entry Draft on Thursday, the Detroit Red Wings acquired forwards Kailer Yamamoto and Klim Kostin from the Edmonton Oilers for future considerations.

UPDATE: The #RedWings today have acquired F Klim Kostin and F Kailer Yamamoto form the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for future considerations. pic.twitter.com/qiNleqsASi

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) June 29, 2023

The move is a salary dump for the Oilers.  They were up against the cap and would have been unable to sign restricted free agent Kostin, while Yamamoto has one more year on his current contract at a $3.1 million salary cap hit.

Detroit general manager Steve Yzerman had previously stated that the team was looking for players who line up with the team’s current core.  At 24 years old, Yamamoto and Kostin fit that profile.  Both are former first-round draft picks who never seemed to be able t0 live up to that pedigree.

With the league’s salary cap staying relatively flat for another year, the Red Wings were able to weaponize their cap space to get players for free.  Obviously we won’t know internal discussions but it’s possible that taking on Yamamoto’s deal was the cost of acquiring Kostin’s rights.