Mandatory Credit: Bob Frid-Imagn Images

After a wild offseason that saw the Edmonton Oilers keep star Connor McDavid around, the team is now searching for ways to improve the team. However, the NHL trade deadline is approaching after the Olympic freeze ends, and Edmonton doesn’t have many pathways forward, at least for this season.

As the Oilers look ahead to when the trade market opens back up, the team is expected to look into dumping the contracts of a few players. This team has almost a locked cap flexibility situation, and it could cause the organization to make some moves to free up room.

The Oilers are in a tough spot, however, because new rules in the CBA prohibit a team such as Edmonton from involving a third team to acquire a player with a double-retained salary. This makes things a little tricky in a deal, but the front office will need to get creative to create some salary wiggle room going forward.

One of the players that Edmonton is expected to at least look into trading away is Andrew Mangiapane, who has a cap hit of $3.6 million through next year. The overall production of Mangiapane has declined over the last year, and the Oilers may not be able to continue holding onto his contract.

Mangiapane has been solid throughout his career, being a scrappy wing for whatever team he has been on. The Oilers may be able to move him, even if it means attaching some draft capital to get a deal pushed through.

This year with Edmonton, Mangiapane has only scored six goals and put up six assists, playing in 49 games for the team. He is on pace for a similar season to last year with the Washington Capitals that saw him score 14 goals and 14 assists, appearing in 81 regular-season games.

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Vancouver Canucks Take a Chance on Andrew Mangiapane

One team that could look to take a chance on Mangiapane is the Vancouver Canucks. Vancouver’s season has gone off the rails after an optimistic offseason, and this could be a risk worth taking.

While Mangiapane hasn’t clicked with the Oilers, he could be a perfect buy-low candidate for this Canucks team going forward. If anything, Mangiapane could offer the bottom-six of the Vancouver attack some energy, and the team could always flip him in another trade down the line.

Playing in a more free attack back in 2021-22, Mangiapane scored 35 goals for the Calgary Flames, showing what he can do on the ice. While those days might be behind him, Mangiapane could offer Vancouver a decent scoring threat for the remainder of the season, especially with the Canucks at the bottom of the standings.

Vancouver could bank on Mangiapane bouncing back after a tough first half of the season with the Oilers, and they may be able to net a draft pick in addition. With how bad the Canucks have been this year, this is a move that probably won’t hurt them, and everything may work out for the best moving forward.

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