EDMONTON — The Edmonton Oilers are getting ever closer to their season-opening roster, one that is expected to be bereft of surprises unless one of two players can change the equation.
The Oilers plan on whittling down the group to 14 forwards, eight or nine blueliners and three or four goaltenders before heading on the road for the final two preseason games. They play in Seattle on Wednesday and in Vancouver on Friday, with a team-building pickleball tournament sandwiched in between.
The goaltending situation depends on if the medical and coaching staffs believe Calvin Pickard can make an appearance in game action. Pickard is expected to practice Tuesday, coach Kris Knoblauch said, and the Oilers are confident he’ll be healthy enough to be included on the season-opening roster that’s due next Monday at 3 p.m. (MT). That’s a relief considering the cap implications otherwise.
Provided that’s the case with Pickard — and barring other injuries — the main 12 forwards, seven defencemen and two goaltenders are all but in place. In this scenario, the sidelined Evander Kane is on the roster as the 13th skater up front. All that remains in question is if the Oilers will take a full roster and add another player — logically a forward.
The preference is to keep the roster trimmer to accrue more cap space for roster enhancement(s) before the trade deadline.
Per PuckPedia, the Oilers are $945,833 under the threshold by going 13-7-2 with Kane. We’ve gotten to the point where it’s essentially down to two forwards for the final spot: Noah Philp and Raphael Lavoie. Neither were in the lineup for Monday’s 3-2 shootout win over the Vancouver Canucks — which isn’t a bad thing with cuts upcoming likely Tuesday.
Welcome to the Arvy party 🥳 https://t.co/Coh9vOnCGN pic.twitter.com/Rfju3F1ELF
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) October 1, 2024
The circumstances surrounding the two players, both with league-minimum $775,000 cap hits, are considerably different.
Philp is vying for the fourth-centre position held by Derek Ryan, who, barring something unforeseen, will be on the team. Philp getting on the initial roster comes down to a couple of factors. Will the coaching staff deem he can cut enough into Ryan’s and fellow veteran Corey Perry’s playing time to make it worthwhile keeping him around? Also, does that make financial sense for management when he could be recalled from AHL Bakersfield whenever needed?
Remember, Philp doesn’t need to clear waivers to be sent to the minors — something that works to his disadvantage.
Philp, 26, has been quite the story at Oilers camp. He sat out all of last season for personal reasons and missed two of the last four campaigns, including 2020-21 when Canadian university hockey was paused because of COVID-19. All he’s done is record a goal and an assist in four games while being effective in the faceoff circle.
He deserves to be in the running on merit.
Lavoie, 24, needs waivers to be demoted. He’s been more effective than he was at last year’s camp away from the puck and in terms of his skating. It doesn’t hurt that he’s scored twice — once by using his heavy shot and then fighting through traffic to score the winner Saturday.
The decision-makers need to determine if it’s worth waiving Lavoie and risk losing him when the prospect pipeline is weak.
The problem for Lavoie is there’s no optimal place to play him. The Oilers are set on the wings and he isn’t a centre. He’s ideal for the Alex Ovechkin spot on a power play, but there’s no spot for him on the first unit and he hasn’t gotten reps on the second in practice, either. He doesn’t kill penalties.
So, there are significant strikes against both Philp and Lavoie. They still have a leg up on the competition.
As for James Hamblin, someone considered to be the mix for a depth centre job, that he skated between two players destined for the AHL in Lane Pederson and Drake Caggiula on Monday rather than presumed fourth-line wingers Perry and Vasily Podkolzin was telling. Hamblin played just 8:17, too.
Nurse ready to play
The most important spot to be determined coming into camp was the one next to Darnell Nurse, which was largely held by Cody Ceci since January 2022. Newcomer Ty Emberson has been practicing with Nurse throughout, but the two haven’t appeared in a game because Nurse has been managing an injury.
That seems like an issue, at least on the surface, considering the importance of the second pair. Nurse feels otherwise.
“I don’t feel like I’ve missed anything if that makes sense just from the sheer volume of getting on the ice, trying to get out there early, stay a little bit longer after and get my reps in,” Nurse said.
Nurse and Emberson should get time together this week, though.
Nurse has been medically cleared and will play at least one of the final two exhibition games. Knoblauch said a determination will be made about whether it’s better to have Nurse in both contests and taper off his minutes or play him once in normal — or close to normal — usage.
For all the fuss about Nurse’s partner, the most important thing is the Oilers getting more out of him than last season. He gets that.
That’s his priority rather than adapting for Emberson or trying to shepherd along a defenceman with 30 games of NHL experience.
“The best way to help someone else is to be at the top of your own game,” Nurse said. “I’ve got to be at the top of my game for this season when it starts and carry it throughout. That’s where my focus is.”
Knoblauch wants to see Nurse being “aggressive, very assertive.”
“There were times when he didn’t play his best (last season),” Knoblauch said, “but there were times when I don’t think he got appreciated enough for how well he did play.
“I know Darnell is eager to get the season going and have a stronger season than he did last year.”
(Top photo of Raphael Lavoie: Leila Devlin / Getty Images)
