As we get ready for the Edmonton Oilers first game of the season and Todd McLellan has said that Kris Russell will be taken off of the IR and placed into the lineup for game #1. That would mean the Oilers have too many players on their active roster and a transaction has to take place and so we’re posed with a question,
How will the Oilers rectify this roster conundrum?
#1 – IR someone
Talk over the last couple of days has pundits like Jason Gregor saying they’ll probably IR Drake Caggiula. The Drake has been having some issues with his sinuses over the pre-season and training camp and so it makes sense, right? Put him on retroactive IR and he’ll be ready for the game in Boston next week.
#2 – Paper Transaction
What this means is that the Oilers send a player to their AHL affiliate in Bakersfield without really sending him there. They simply file the paperwork but the player stays with the team.
So in this instance, the players that are eligible for a paper transaction are:
- Jesse Puljujarvi
- Ethan Bear
- Kailer Yamamoto
I think this is the most likely scenario as Bob Stauffer tweeted out the lines, he had Bouchard on the 3rd pairing with Kris Russell and Ethan Bear on the 4th pairing with Jason Garrison. That tells me that Bear could get “sent down” to keep Bouchard in the lineup.
#3 – Send Evan Bouchard Back to Junior
Just what the title says. The Oilers could choose to return Evan Bouchard to his junior club in London.
Now this is fine because we all want the best for our premier prospect, right? I don’t think he’s the type that will blow the doors off the league as a 19-year-old but I could be wrong. I feel like the Oilers don’t quite have the correct personnel on their blue line to sufficiently insulate Bouchard this season. That’s just me though, you may feel differently.
The downside to this is that the Oilers will not be able to re-call Bouchard until the London Knights’ season is over.
#4 – Waivers
The Oilers could throw someone on waivers like their two recently signed PTOs, Jason Garrison and Alex Chiasson. This would open up a roster spot for Russell to be slid into.
#5 – Trade
I haven’t heard much trade banter lately. The latest rumors I was hearing were the Kassian rumors but those have died down.
Recently though, Ryan Rishaug has been talking about how he feels the Oilers are going to need to address the defense with a big trade.
I’m 50/50 on that notion from Rishaug. On one hand, I agree. The Oilers do need a 2nd-pairing right-handed defender because I don’t feel like Matt Benning is good enough to partner Darnell Nurse and face top-6 forwards all year.
On the other hand, what is going to happen to that defense structure if a trade like that is made? The Oilers have Larsson, Benning, Bear, and Bouchard who will all be vying for 3 spots next season. Add Joel Persson to the mix as well as Filip Berglund AND the new guy… THAT is a roster conundrum.
I also believe that any major roster move being contemplated or talked about has to have the Seattle expansion draft in its considerations. SPR talked about it in the podcast we did with Oilers Live last night. Check that out below.
Plus who is Rishaug prepared to trade? It’d have to be players who make a solid chunk of cheddar because at some point this year that extra cap space that Sekera’s LTIR is giving the Oilers will come off. Any player worth pursuing for the 2nd pairing isn’t going to come cheap, so is Rishaug prepared to deal Nugent-Hopkins or Lucic or Draisaitl?
Anyways, those are some of the roster moves the Oilers could make before their game with the Devils in Sweden. Tell us which one you’d like to see them make in the comments below!
Oilers Live Pod/Vlog
Last night I was a guest on the Oilers Live podcast (now available on YouTube) along with Sean Patrick Ryan (@theoilknight) and host Mike Hebert. We talked about a plethora of things Oilers-related. We had some kickass guest callers as well as a little girl calling about neighbor’s cat getting run over… You’re going to love the reaction to that call… Check it out below and please subscribe!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWABhlvS8ZM
