Rumor: Markus Grandlund is headed to Edmonton.

It seems like veteran forward Markus Grandlund will be joining a rival team.

Although it does not yet appear to be official the two best insiders in the business, Sportsnet's National Hockey League insider Elliotte Friedman and TSN National Hockey League insider Bob McKenzie, are both now reporting that the Vancouver Canucks forward will be headed to the Edmonton Oilers as an unrestricted free agent.

It is an interesting little arc in Grandlund's story as he will now have played for the 3 Western-most teams in Canada, starting his career with the Calgary Flames before playing for the Vancouver Canucks and now set to play for the Edmonton Oilers. Additionally it seems like this may be the case of a player taking a bit of a gamble on himself in the hopes of earning a bigger and better contract in free agency the following year. 

At 26 years old Grandlund should in theory only be entering the prime years of his career and it seems like he knows it. Although we do not know the financial terms of the deal at this time Elliotte Friedman is reporting that Grandlund has signed this contract in the hopes of getting a "fresh start," something that tells me he feels he can better than what he showed with the Canucks. 

Throughout his 301 game NHL career Grandlund has never completed a full NHL season, and is coming off a year with the Canucks in which he played in 77 games and recorded 12 goals and 10 assists for a total of 22 points on the season. He is likely hoping that a strong showing with the Edmonton Oilers will make him a more desirable target come next summer, where he will almost certainly be looking for a little bit more term.