Arizona Coyotes trade Henrik Samuelsson to Edmonton Oilers

The Arizona Coyotes have traded forward Henrik Samuelsson to the Edmonton Oilers, according to an Oilers team tweet released Wednesday afternoon. In exchange, the Arizona Coyotes received forward Mitchell Moroz. The two were teammates with the Edmonton Oil Kings in the WHL from 2012-14.

Samuelsson was the 28th overall selection in the 2012 NHL Draft. He made three appearances in the NHL over his career with the Coyotes, recording zero points.

With the Tucson Roadrunners of the American Hockey League this season, Samuelsson scored two goals and picked up one assist in 20 games. He has 23 goals and 32 assists in his 131 game AHL career.

Moroz was the 32nd overall pick in 2012, just four picks after Samuelsson came off the board. So far this season, he has a goal and two assists in 17 games with the Bakersfield Condors of the AHL. He has 11 goals and 11 assists in 123 AHL games, and has never played in the NHL.

The Edmonton native missed the cut of The Copper & Blue’s 25-under-25 at the beginning of last season, but the site felt he still had some upside to not count out:

Moroz undisputedly fills the role of power forward. He's a very physical player with the ability to drive to the net and score enough goals not to be pigeon-holed strictly as an enforcer.

But with another fairly underwhelming AHL season, it seems like Moroz’s chances of reaching the NHL are fading fast as the top-tier game continues to emphasize speed and skill over physicality.

Perhaps a change of scenery will benefit both players; Sameulsson has fallen in Arizona’s depth chart due to the addition of players like Christian Dvorak, Brendan Perlini, and Laurent Dauphin, but the Oilers don’t have much forward depth remaining beyond what’s already in the NHL, so it might be worth taking a flier on a guy like Samuelsson that doesn’t seem to fit into the Coyotes’ long-term plans.

Moroz is expected to serve in a depth role with the Tucson Roadrunners.