EDMONTON — One injury in the preseason had the ability to throw a wrench in the Edmonton Oilers’ roster construction flexibility. That might have happened with goalie Calvin Pickard on Saturday.
Pickard left a 5-4 win over the Seattle Kraken at 11:58 of the first period after a collision in the crease. Kraken forward Yanni Gourde drove to the net and bumped Oilers defenceman Phil Kemp into Pickard, whose head then hit the post as he fell.
Oilers head athletic therapist T.D. Forss rushed onto the ice and spent the TV timeout speaking to Pickard before the goaltender skated off. Olivier Rodrigue, who was scheduled to replace Pickard for the third period, entered the game much earlier than anticipated.
Coach Kris Knoblauch said postgame that Pickard is being evaluated and an update about his health should be available following Sunday afternoon’s practice.
That Pickard never returned to the bench certainly isn’t ideal. The Oilers have three preseason games remaining and season-opening rosters are due Oct. 7 at 3 p.m. MT.
Provided Pickard isn’t healthy enough to start the season, all the intrigue about whatever roster battles could exist are all but over unless the Oilers change course and decide to put Evander Kane on LTIR. That’s something management doesn’t want, so cap space can be accrued throughout the season.
Pickard would start the season on non-roster IR, which means his cap hit still counts against the Oilers’ budget. A similar situation impacted the Oilers last year at training camp. They were in an even tighter cap bind than they are now when an injury to defenceman Markus Niemelainen forced them to start the season with 11 forwards and seven defencemen.
Per PuckPedia, the Oilers have just over $945,000 in cap space on a roster that includes Kane, 12 other forwards, seven defencemen and goalies Pickard and Stuart Skinner. They’d need a second goalie if Pickard isn’t healthy enough to be on the opening roster whether that’s Rodrigue, veteran offseason signee Collin Delia or a cheap pickup via trade or free agency.
So long cap space if that’s the case. That would prevent the option of the Oilers from carrying an extra forward — again, unless Kane goes to LTIR.
The two players impacted the most in that scenario are Noah Philp and Raphael Lavoie.
Philp has turned heads right from his first preseason game after taking a year away from hockey for personal reasons. In his latest effort on Saturday, he scored a goal in his 10:34 of work, 3:17 of which came short-handed. He also won nine of his 11 faceoffs.
In less than a week, Knoblauch has gone from believing it would be “difficult” for Philp to make the team out of camp to feeling like he’s right in the mix. Philp, 26, is gunning for a fourth-centre role.
“Here’s a guy that hasn’t played in 17-18 months. To come to an NHL camp and make the team right away would have been almost ridiculous to think about,” Knoblauch said. “But he’s played really well. He’s showed us that he is ready, and he didn’t have as much rust as you would think.
“It’s nice to see that we have some options, but we still have some more time to evaluate guys. But he’s done a heck of a job, and he has been noticed.”
If Pickard — and everyone else — is healthy by Oct. 7, continued strong play from Philp could entice the Oilers to keep an extra forward and have him on the opening roster. Though that would mean they’d accrue less cap space, Philp could centre the fourth line and could enter a rotation with the team’s elder statesmen Derek Ryan and Corey Perry. But if Pickard’s ailment stretches beyond that point, the only way they could keep him on is to waive Ryan, Perry or another forward. There isn’t an obvious candidate.
Working against Philp is he’s waivers exempt, so he could be sent to AHL Bakersfield, play more than he would for the Oilers and gain valuable experience for a recall.
And then there’s Lavoie, who powered his way through three stick checks to score the winning goal on Saturday at 17:07 of the third period.
“There was great skill on that goal,” Knoblauch said.
Lavoie was showing well in camp and during preseason games before being hampered by a lower-body injury midweek. The ailment forced the coaching staff to scratch Lavoie from a Wednesday game in Winnipeg, but he took part in practice Friday ahead of Saturday’s contest.
Lavoie, 24, requires waivers, so making a good impression could push management to keep him. Pickard’s injury going past the season-opening roster deadline eliminates that option — unless Kane goes on LTIR.
Working against Lavoie is that there’s little to no special teams time available to him. The highly used first power play is set and the second featured Perry, Jeff Skinner, Viktor Arvidsson, Mattias Ekholm and Darnell Nurse at practice earlier this week. The penalty killing forward slots are occupied by returnees Ryan, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Connor Brown, Mattias Janmark and Adam Henrique, while Knoblauch wants to also use newcomers Arvidsson and Vasily Podkolzin in that role.
James Hamblin, who didn’t play Saturday, is also in the running for an extra forward gig for the Oilers. Hamblin, 25, suited up in 31 games for the Oilers last season. Like Philp, he’s exempt from waivers.
(Photo: Perry Nelson / Imagn Images)
