Yamomoto wasn't productive in the world juniors or the WHL playoffs. Does this concern you guys? I was high on him at the draft.
Thought of the following trade proposal, but his lack of production in big games is concerning, without being able to actually watch him.
To EDM: Paul Byron and an early 2nd
To MTL: Kailer Yamamoto
KY was excellent in his draft year in the WHL... had a great 40 games in his D+1 season in the WHL (after a slow start after going back to Junior from the Oilers) and then had a mediocre WJC/playoffs... as you noted.
Overall that's still a key player the Oilers want to develop into a potentially dynamic top 6 winger.
I actually like Paul Byron but he's a smallish player as well and his upside at 29 years old is limited. Oilers will take their chances with Yamamoto as his upside is higher... if he reaches it. The early 2nd as a throw-in is a decent asset but it won't get a player with the upside as good as Yamamoto either.
Others on the board here will likely say hell no to that proposal and possibly throw in a couple expletives but I don't think it's an awful proposal overall... Byron is a back to back 20 goal scorer with some decent speed but his upside is pretty much reached and 40 pts is where he'll likely always be at best... I'm hoping for more upside than that from Yamamoto.