Waiver claims, and buyouts, and trades! Oh, my!

When GMs all lose their minds tomorrow and offer UFAs too much money for far to many years I expect the Oilers to be very quite. But even though tomorrow will likely be a rather boring day for Oiler fans, as it turns out today was a very busy day. Yesterday the Oilers placed Ethan Moreau, Robert Nilsson, and Patrick O’Sullivan on waivers; a move that would allow the Oilers to buyout each of these player as the team continues to rebuilds. But as it turns out though the Oilers ended up having to buyout just one of the three after a somewhat unexpected day.

The day got of to a rather surprising start when the Blue Jackets claimed Moreau off waivers. Moreau has been a warrior for the Oilers, but much like Steve Staios who was traded to Calgary at the deadline, it was time for him to move on. Moreau struggled in the years after he was named the Oilers captain, both on the ice taking stupid untimely penalties and with injuries; at 34 years old I’m not sure that he’s got much left in him. I could be wrong, it’s possible that the change of scenery and getting placed on waivers will motivate him and allow him to regains some of his previous form but I certainly wouldn’t bet on it. As far as I’m concerned this is a weird choice. Regardless, the Blue Jackets decision to take a chance on Moreau will save the Oilers $833k against the cap this year and another $533 in 2011/12.

Shortly after the Moreau news broke the Oilers swung a deal with the Coyotes swapping O’Sullivan for Jim Vandermeer. Vandermeer is set to make $2.3M this season (his cap hit is also $2.3) which is probably more than he’s worth but if you consider that the O’Sullivan buyout would have cost $935k this season, the case can easily be made that Vandermeer’s hit is really only around $1.4M, a far more reasonable salary. This will also save the Oilers another $400k against the cap in 2011/12. In addition to the cap implications the addition of Vandermeer to the Oilers roster will give the club some extra toughness on the backend, something they’re in need of after moving Staios and the imminent Souray trade. Vandermeer doesn’t bring a thing in terms of offence but he should provide some much needed size and grit in a 4/5 role among the Oilers blue liners.

With Moreau and O’Sullivan off the books that left the Oilers with only Nilsson’s contract to buyout. Because of how Nilsson’s contract is structured the Oilers will actually get a credit of $83k against the cap this year; the following year the buyout will result in a cap hit of $417k.

So just like that the Oilers got rid of three contract they didn’t want and added something they needed on their back end, all at minimal cost. Although the team still needs to get Sam Gagner, Andrew Cogliano, and Gilbert Brule under contract, a team that was considered by many to have serious cap issues just a few months ago all of a sudden has over $19M of cap space. And the Souray trade could easily create even more cap space. Most NHL fans look forward to July 1 but for Oiler fans June 30 may prove to be an even more important day.