The Edmonton Oilers have acquired Henrik Samuelsson from the Arizona Coyotes for Mitch Moroz. Both Samuelsson and Moroz were teammates on the 2014 Memorial Cup winning Edmonton Oil Kings.
In 2012 draft, the Oilers tried to move up in the draft from 32nd to 27th with the end goal selecting Henrik Samuelsson. Obviously, this didn’t end up happening and the Oilers took Mitch Moroz with the 32nd pick.
Moroz has had a tough time adapting to the professional game. Over his three professional years with the Oilers organization, Moroz career high was in 2015 when he produced 10 points in 40 games, in his other two years he’s put together a combined total of 12 points. The former Oil King also never made an appearance for the Oilers.
Samuelsson, on the other hand, actually started off his pro career in a positive manner scoring 40 points. These positive performances earned Samuelsson a call up to the Arizona Coyotes where he made three appearances in 2014. After his rookie season, however, his career started to go downhill. Over the next two seasons, the 23-year old could only add 15 more points to his career total.
The Edmonton Oilers have brought in Samuelsson to add depth to the Conders who are lacking bodies down the middle. Oilers fans can hope that with a change of scenery that Samuelsson can get back to the form he was in when he last played in Edmonton, he scored 95 points in his final junior year for the Oil Kings. The Oilers can hope that Samuelsson can eventually gain some confidence back and get his career back on track.
At the end of the season, both Samuelsson and Moroz will become restricted free agents.