Report: Oilers grant veteran forward permission to seek a trade.

The Edmonton Oilers have granted one of their forwards permission to seek a trade, an indication that both parties would likely welcome the change.On Saturday Sportsnet's National Hockey League insider Elliotte Friedman revealed that the Oilers have granted veteran forward Zack Kassian the right to seek a trade.  

“Zack Kassian has permission from the team to seek out a trade out of the city, try to find a fresh start,” Friedman said as per Sportsnet.

It's unclear how long ago these discussions took place but the fact that this has now come out to the media may not be an accident at all. If Kassian is indeed looking for a way out of Edmonton and the team is willing to facilitate that, having this known to the public could help the Oilers get the deal done. The question however is how likely are they to find a suitor willing to take on Kassian?

Kassian is currently earning $2 million in actual salary this season but his cap hit comes in at $1.95 million, a steep price for a player who has not had a strong start to the 2018 - 2019 National Hockey League regular season. The 27 year old bruiser has appeared in 6 games this season for the Oilers but has failed to record a single point. In addition he boasts a plus minus rating of -4 on the season and at $2 million dollars that's not a great deal of value. On top of that Kassian's contract comes with one more year attached to it after this current season, with identical financial implications as this current season.

That being said there are other factors to consider when it comes to Kassian, like his physical brand of play for example. Kassian is the kind of player that has always been willing to participate in the more brutal aspects of hockey, using his body as a weapon and showing a willingness to drop his gloves when the occasion warrants it. Those type of intangibles may be enough for a general manager looking to add some grit, but they will also have to weigh Kassian's volatility off the ice in their decision.

The fact that this is now public knowledge should result in a trade in short order if there's any interest in Kassian.

[pub]