The roster was essentially set for the Edmonton Oilers entering training camp. It was going to take something drastic for that to change.
That’s exactly what happened.
With 21 NHL contracts seemingly locked in — plus injured winger Evander Kane still activated — the odds were long of anything fluctuating. A neophyte forward would have to play his way on to the Oilers and force management to carry an extra player, or a veteran defenceman would have to play his way off.
One player got oh so close. Another let a big-league job slip away — at least for now.
In the latter case, blueliner Josh Brown lost his spot thanks to a poor showing in the preseason. This comes after he signed a three-year contract barely three months ago. It’s a sad outcome for someone who had been slated for the third pairing since the start of camp.
Brown was waived Sunday, making room for Travis Dermott to get an NHL contract after coming in on a tryout.
The forward who got into the conversation about making the Oilers was Noah Philp. After taking last season off for personal reasons, the 26-year-old centre turned once-skeptical coach Kris Knoblauch into a believer thanks to an outstanding performance. He proved he’s on the cusp of being ready for NHL games.
Simply put, Philp would have been on the club had he needed waivers. The desire for Philp to get more seasoning in the minors and GM Stan Bowman to accrue as much cap space as possible won out.
Raphael Lavoie, Drake Caggiula and Olivier Rodrigue were also waived on Sunday to whittle down the roster.
Note: This includes buyouts to James Neal ($1,916,667) and Jack Campbell ($1.1 million), Connor Brown’s and Corey Perry’s bonus overages ($3.55 million) and Roby Jarventie being on non-roster IR ($107,114).
Brown going down
Brown’s deletion from the roster was the most surprising move on Sunday — not because it wasn’t deserved but because the Oilers went through with it.
Brown was part of a massive spending spree that hockey operations CEO Jeff Jackson, acting as GM, made on July 1. Brown was viewed as a cheaper replacement for the departing Vincent Desharnais, who signed in Vancouver, in that he’s big and physical, plays the right side and kills penalties.
The Oilers gave him a three-year, $1 million AAV deal.
“He’s a hard player to play against,” Jackson said that day. “He’s good boxing out in front of the net. He’s tough. Great teammate. We did our due diligence and talked to coaches that he’s had in the NHL. We see him fitting in there.”
Paired with Brett Kulak in practice, Brown skated next to Ben Gleason, Cam Dineen and Kulak in his four preseason appearances. He struggled throughout the third game — his first with Kulak — last Monday against an inexperienced Vancouver team, standing out as the low point. Brown had difficulties moving the puck and was penalized twice against the Canucks.
Brown finished the preseason with a 40.3 expected goals percentage at five-on-five, per Natural Stat Trick. The Oilers were outscored 4-0 in 60:34 with him on the ice five-on-five.
When Knoblauch said Sunday “other guys, we expected more and (they) didn’t quite deliver,” he might as well have been talking specifically about Brown. Really though, Brown was playing the way he has for the last three seasons.
It’s the contract that makes the decision to waive him so eyebrow-rising.
For the Oilers to feel they needed to remove Brown from the roster before he’d even played a single meaningful game is a harsh measure. It just makes the three-year deal look worse today than when it was issued in July.
In that sense, management deserves some credit here. With Bowman around to provide input now, they’re not doubling down or letting ego get in the way of making the right decision.
The Brown deal is an expensive miss in that he couldn’t earn one of seven slots on the blue line — he was even bested by someone on a PTO. But at least Jackson built in the safeguard of being able to bury the contract in the minors without penalty.
There’s no doubt Brown will clear waivers, which means he’ll probably be back in Edmonton later this season.
Dermott was good in the preseason. He got better as it went along, saving his best performance for last in Seattle last Wednesday. But he didn’t push Brown out as much as Brown lost his job.
Knoblauch likes that Dermott, a left shot, can play both sides. Knoblauch coached Dermott in junior. The 27-year-old is expected to sign a contract. Provided that happens — or if the Oilers add someone else — a league-minimum cap hit means the team will save $225,000 on the bottom line.
Philp on the verge
Sending Philp down to Bakersfield was always the organizational Plan A, and even his impressive showing over the last two weeks couldn’t alter that thinking.
Bowman doesn’t want to dip into LTIR, but he can’t control if or when injuries occur. Keeping a lean roster for as long as possible helps maximize cap space accrual for now.
It was always improbable for Derek Ryan to not be on the season-opening roster thanks to his penalty killing and leadership skills, so any thoughts he’d pushed out were farfetched.
The Oilers’ decision to go with 12 forwards and their not having to offer up him on waivers sealed Philp’s fate — if only for the time being.
“Of all the players who came in here and made a positive impression, he was definitely on top of that list,” Knoblauch said. “I just think it’s important that he goes down and plays significant minutes for a while. He’ll determine when he comes back and join us.”
Knoblauch added the details in Philp’s game need a little more fine-tuning.
“I think he’s really close,” the coach said. “I’m sure we’re going to see him at some point in the season.”
Lavoie misses out again
Another year, another instance of Lavoie being among the final cuts.
Lavoie had a better showing in the preseason than he did a year ago. He scored twice. He had more jump in his step. He was better positionally. He was more assertive. Only five players posted more shots on goal in the preseason than Lavoie’s 16 — and he skated in just three games.
Lavoie was slowed down by injury in the back half of camp. He was held out of games in the last week of the preseason. The Oilers needed to ensure he was healthy enough to facilitate him going on waivers.
The biggest problem for Lavoie as it pertains to his lot with the Oilers is the lack of a role suitable for his skill set.
He’s an offensive player, but there’s no room for him in the top nine. He’s a shooter, but there’s no space for him on a power-play unit. He doesn’t play centre, more of a positional need from a depth perspective in Edmonton, nor does he kill penalties.
The 24-year-old should have a better chance to be claimed off waivers than last season based on his work this fall. That wouldn’t be welcome news for the Oilers, who lack depth and higher-end prospects.
But it’s hard to see how Lavoie gets the chance to make much of an impact with the Oilers this season anyway, even if he sticks around.
(Photo of Josh Brown: Perry Nelson / Imagn Images)
