Mark Spector of Sportsnet: (mailbag) Edmonton Oilers defenseman Kris Russell carries a $4 million salary cap hit, which is too much for a third-pairing defenseman.
Ideally, the Oilers would move out some of their older, more expensive players.
Defenseman Matt Benning is a restricted free agent with arbitration rights. His current salary of $1.9 million is a decent number for him. It doesn’t make sense to not bring Benning back, but one of Benning or Russell will likely be traded to make room for Caleb Jones or Evan Bouchard.