With the opening evening around the corner, an analyst asked which players from the Edmonton Oilers had to be cut before the first game of the season on 8 October. The team made various movements and sent eight players on Thursday. Jason Gregor van Sport 1440 tweet”Do you need three cuts and then they can move Hyman to LTIR the next day and remember one or two. Which three do you think will be sent?”
Oilers -fans responded quickly to Gregor’s post and the reactions were intriguing. Sentiment seemed to support the keeping of the young people and degrading the veterans.
Defenseman Troy Stecher and Forwards Curtis Lazar and Max Jones were among the most mentioned by fans as potential candidates for distance. Several messages suggested a combination of Lazar (who was signed by the oilers this summer as a free agent), Jones (who was taken over as part of the Trent Frederic Trade), and either Stetcher or a younger defender such as Ty Emberon or Alec Regula.
Regula would be the obvious choice, if not from the fear that he would be lost due to distance declarations and the team has spent a whole year with rehabilitation and he finally feels healthy and looks good. He offers the highest potential ceiling of all the aforementioned players.
Forwards Matt Savoie, Ike Howard and David Tomaseek were also discussed, simply because they are exempt from distance. But when it comes to Tomasek, Gregor pointed out”… Problem is Tomasek that is the only non-Waasman who has no bonuses. Ideally, they want boys with a bonus on the opening day; otherwise, if you remember them in the season, their cap hit is the total of bonus and salary, not just salary. So much higher.”
Others floated more ambitious movements, including the idea of throwing veteran contracts such as Mattias Janmark or Adam Henrique, although the most acknowledged that those changes are unlikely until next summer.
The oilers have difficult decisions
Depth players such as Lazar and Jones can be the most vulnerable, and perhaps they are the least likely to be claimed remotely. At the same time, important prospects must play and get minutes, which they may not get in Edmonton.
The oilers have not yet completed their opening night schedule, but as various realistic candidates come forward from a distance, all eyes will be on management in the coming days to see which direction the team.
Following: Oilers take a break with clarified LTIR rules prior to the opening evening
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