Red Wings to buy out Kailer Yamamoto day after trade with Oilers

Detroit — You wonder if Kailer Yamamoto even got a Red Wings jersey.

Acquired by the Wings Thursday from Edmonton along with Klim Kostin for future considerations, Yamamoto has been bought out by the team and will become an unrestricted free agent Saturday.

The key piece in Thursday's trade, from the Wings' perspective, was Kostin, a promising 24-year-old power forward. Kostin is a restricted free agent but is expected to sign with the Wings, after having told Edmonton he was considering playing in Russia.

Kostin had 11 goals in 57 games with the Oilers, then had three goals and five points in 12 playoff games.

Pressed against the salary cap ceiling, the Oilers felt Yamamoto and Kostin were expendable.

To acquire Kostin, Yamamoto and his contract had to be included in the deal, forcing the Wings to consider also keeping Yamamoto or not.

The Wings chose not.

Yamamoto, 24, had one more year left on his contract worth a $3.1 million salary cap hit. According to CapFriendly, the Wings' cap hit for the next two years regarding Yamamoto's buyout will be $433,334 (2023-24) and $533,334 (2024-25).

Yamamoto had 10 goals and 25 points in 58 games with Edmonton last season, then had one goal and four points in 12 playoff games.

After a promising start to his career, Yamamoto (5-foot-8, 154 pounds) has been riddled with injuries and had two lengthy stays on the long-term injury list last season.

ted.kulfan@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @tkulfan