Oilers defenceman could become salary cap casualty in trade

With the Oilers currently fighting cap issues, every dollar matters for their deep playoff push this year. When you have as little cap as they do, you have to start looking for guys that can be replaced in on-ice value. One player that could be replaced on the Oilers is Brett Kulak.

This could be something to consider, as kulak currently holds a $2.75M cap hit until 2025-26. This doesn't seem like much, but kulak is only playing an average of 14:37 on the season, with a significant dip in time over the past 5 games. He doesn't play a very crucial role for the team, and could be replaced by a young guy like Philip Broberg.

The only problem with this statement is the question of if Broberg can be a serviceable NHLer right now. This Kulak trade will most likely happen down the line since the Oilers are constantly cap strapped, but for it to happen this year the Oilers would have to see positive play from Broberg. If they can call him up and get him playing in the NHL, they can test out their waters and have one option on a team that doesn't have many choices to be able to make.