In an effort to clear cap space, the Edmonton Oilers traded Zack Kassian to the Arizona Coyotes last week.

Along with Kassian, the Coyotes received the 29th pick in the 2022 draft, in exchange for the 32nd pick. The Coyotes also got Edmonton's second-round pick in 2025 and third-round pick in 2024. Kassian is 31 years old and has two years remaining on his contract at a $3.2 million cap hit.

Below, we take a look at how this trade breaks down for each team.

Zack Kassian Trade Grades

Arizona Coyotes

In acquiring Zack Kassian, the Coyotes once again gather assets by weaponizing their cap space. Teams have used their cap room to take on bad contracts for assets in the past, but nobody as frequently in a rebuild as the Coyotes have.

Last year, they acquired Andrew Ladd, Jay Beagle, Loui Eriksson, Antoine Roussel, Shayne Gostisbehere and Anton Stralman, getting tons of draft picks in the process. They ended up with seven picks in the first three rounds this year (and it would've been much higher if they hadn't traded up to select Conor Geekie at 11th overall). Looking ahead to the next three drafts as well, the Coyotes have 18 total picks over the first three rounds of the 2023, 2024 and 2025 drafts combined. (They have a first-round pick in each year, eight total second-round picks and seven third-round picks.)

The Kassian trade continues the trend. It's a creative means of rebuilding and sets the organization up really well.

Even in terms of the return they got back, Arizona did great. Kassian's cap hit is only $3.2 million, which is certainly manageable. He was also still a regular forward on a team that reached the Western Conference Finals. Getting a first-round pick swap and both a second- and third-round pick is a major win.

The term really isn't bad either, with just two years remaining on the deal. The contract will expire before Arizona is looking to compete anyways, so there's no downside in taking Kassian.

It's another really smart move from Coyotes general manager Bill Armstrong. Arizona has made all the right moves over the last year since beginning their rebuild, so this Zack Kassian trade is another success.

Grade: A

Edmonton Oilers

The Oilers were set on trying to clear cap space, and they paid quite a bit to make it happen.

While the pick swap itself from 29th to 32nd wasn't overly significant, the second- and third-round picks Edmonton gave up hurt a bit more. That said, the draft picks are quite a ways in the future, coming in 2024 and 2025. It means the Oilers can either build their prospect pool or have assets to flip in the coming years.

The deal allowed the Oilers to spend in free agency as well. Edmonton will be allocating over $10 million per year to Jack Campbell and Evander Kane alone. Then factor in they still need to re-sign Jesse Puljujarvi, Kailer Yamamoto and Ryan McLeod. Obviously, Zack Kassian's contract staying on the books could've been an issue.

It's not like the Oilers had many options either, as burying the contract would still mean about $2 million being counted against the cap. Then with a buyout, they'd get hit with a $1.87 million penalty in the 2023-24 season, so they basically had to trade the contract in order to maximize cap space.

The two picks do still seem like a lot to give up for a player with a $3.2 million cap hit and just two years remaining on his contract, though.

Again, Kassian can also still play at the NHL level. This past season, he scored six goals and nine points in 58 games. It's not significant production, but he can still take a role in Arizona's bottom six.

We saw a similar trade on the same day as well, which acts as a good comparable. Goalie Petr Mrazek was traded from the Toronto Maple Leafs to the Chicago Blackhawks, with Toronto clearing cap space. A pick swap with just the 25th for 38th pick was enough for Chicago to take two years of Mrazek at a $3.8 million cap hit. While that's a more significant swap, it was more worthwhile than adding two good picks to a less significant pick swap in a trade return.

Edmonton obviously accomplished its goal of clearing cap space, but it was still a pretty major price to pay.

Grade: C

The Coyotes and Oilers are two teams clearly heading in different directions.

Arizona is rebuilding, so gathering future assets simply by using cap space is ideal. The Coyotes are not competitive right now and by the time they are, Zack Kassian's deal will be off the books.

For the Oilers, cap space was more important than those future assets. With free agency approaching, Edmonton needed to be able to address key needs to stay competitive. The Oilers needed the space now and were willing to overpay with future assets in order to do it.