By: Adam Gretz

One team that's already out of the playoff in the west, Edmonton, and another that is barely hanging on to its playoff hopes, Minnesota, struck a deal on Monday afternoon as the Oilers sent defenseman Tom Gilbert to Minnesota in exchange for defenseman Nick Schultz.

Both players are under contract through the end of the 2013-14 season, with Schultz carrying a cap hit of $3.5 million per season while Gilbert is set to earn $4 million per year via CapGeek.

From a hockey standpoint it's pretty easy to see what both teams are trying to accomplish here: Minnesota is trading a defensive-defenseman for more of an offensive presence on the blue line, while the Oilers are shipping out some offense in the hopes of adding more of a defensive mindset.

Gilbert burst onto the scene for Edmonton during the 2007-08 season with 13 goals as a rookie, but has scored just 19 over the following four seasons, including his three in 47 games this year. Even though the goal-scoring has gone down, he's done a nice job overall this season playing tough minutes for the Oilers.

The deal was apparently a bit of a shock in Minnesota, as Wild beat writer Michael Russo mentioned on Twitter that Schultz wasn't even told about the deal before the Oilers announced the trade on their official Twitter account.

Schultz, 29, has one goal and two assists in 62 games this season and logs nearly 20 minutes of ice time per night.

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