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The Edmonton Oilers dealt goaltender Dylan Wells to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for future considerations on Wednesday morning. Wells is a former fifth-round draft pick of the Oilers in the 2016 draft and has spent the last four seasons bouncing between the ECHL and the AHL.
He has never quite gained a solid footing at the professional level. He is set to become a restricted free agent this summer and it was unlikely the team would have qualified him. His spot in the organization has seemingly been taken over by the likes of younger competition like Stuart Skinner and Olivier Rodrigue.
The arrival of Ilya Konovalov to Bakersfield was also a probable motivating factor for the move.
It is a pretty low-risk move by Ken Holland and one that is not nearly as impactful as the Duncan Keith trade that we saw on Monday. For the Carolina Hurricanes, this serves as a solution to one of their expansion problems.
The Hurricanes do not have any goaltenders under contract which prevents them from exposing one for Seattle. The arrival of Wells means that they can expose the 23-year-old and meet those requirements without having to rush into signing one of their current goaltenders.
The trade served as a way to open up a spot in the minor leagues for the Oilers and to help the Hurricanes out of a tough spot.