Oilers Shopping Their Veterans?

After a Twitter discussion with @Forcheck this morning, interest was sparked to see what the Oilers were rumoured to be doing this Summer and I eventually found this article from the the Edmonton Journal website suggesting that the Oilers are looking to rid themselves of some unappealing contracts that they have on the books.  That's definitely more than enough to perk up the ears over here and have a quick look at what is being suggested.

The names in trouble, according to the article, are Ethan Moreau, Patrick O'Sullivan and Robert Nilsson, thanks in large part to some underachieving in recent years.  None of the three players listed are huge weights upon the club as salary cap hits, O'Sullivan topping out at just under $3 million for just one more season, while the other two have a cap hit of $2 million each.  The article suggests that if these players cannot be moved in trades before the end of June, that there is a good chance that they will fall victim to the buyout period of the NHL, but frankly, with only one more year left on their current deals and the team's likelihood of making the playoffs, having an extra season of a cap hit (although discounted) seems somewhat unreasonable for making roster spots for their youth.

Nevertheless, the talent that underachieved in 2010 in those three players does still have some upside to them, which I think will make them marketable, if they are actually available.  If the Oilers are desperate to get rid of these guys at the Draft, they might be able to re-stock their youth system with a bunch of new picks, making themselves very flexible to the Jordan Eberle's and Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson's that are coming up through the system in 2011.