Nah, no one is untradable. There are teams out there currently that are open to taking on cap for picks/prospects. In fact I believe Doug Wilson said he is a few days ago. We have some decent prospects if the deal is right.
Expiring cap. Chicago's willing to do what Toronto did to facilitate the Lehner trade as a third party last season. Free picks for eating a few hundred K for the rest of the year. Neal is a healthy player still owed over $12m over the next two and a half years. There's no example of a team committing to that much dead cap owed to a healthy player because the GM would never get authorization to spend that much money on a non-asset, even with 'sweeteners' involved.
Hall has a no move doesn't he? Maybe he says no to a bunch of teams and Buffalo lowers it's stance.
If that's the case then just buy him out this summer. Eating the 2 extra years is worth the relief you get over the next 2 when we should be trying to win.
Hall extended on a reasonable cap or short extension or Rakell are the main names that make sense to me if the 1st rounder is in play. Otherwise I'd hold it until the summer and use it then for a winger upgrade or for a rock solid starting goalie that's under 30. A lot would depend on what's available in UFA though and if there's interest in Edmonton. There will be options to get a top 6 winger and goalie via UFA this summer.
Wouldn't that just screw things up for the other teams? The Oilers are done with Toronto and Ottawa after tomorrow. Calgary/Winnipeg/Montreal are all busy with games in Ontario and Quebec next week. There's no one for the Oilers to play.
