The Edmonton Oilers had an off-day Saturday, but were back on the practice lanes Sunday with final roster cuts imminent.

One immediate result is that veteran winger Max Jones has been placed on waivers, for the purpose of assignment to Bakersfield. Jones got injured early in training camp and has not been in the lineup since. In 19 games with the Oilers last season Jones was 1-1-2 with 10 PIM and was -9. The 6’3 winger was originally a First Round selection by Anaheim in 2016 (#245 overall), Edmonton acquired him from Boston in the Max Wanner/Trent Frederic transaction. Jones was the only Oilers player waived today.

Expect more decisions tomorrow (Monday), as Edmonton whittles down their opening roster submission. It is likely that a couple guys will be sent out as it relates to Zach Hyman’s LTRI status. Although those players are just as likely to be re-called the next next day. But even then, one more slot will still need to be cleared.

Both Curtis Lazar and Noah Philp were going through drills with the rest of their teammates Sunday. Interesting, as those two were thought to be among those in a battle for the 4C slot. Both require waivers. David Tomasek would not, for what it’s worth.

The first line remains just as it has been the last few times out: Connor McDavid with Leon Draisaitl and Trent Frederic. No surprise there. But…

Rookie winger Matt Savoie was in a new slot today, up on the second line with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Andrew Mangiapane. Ike Howard had been part of that trio more recently.

Philp was centering Podkolzin and Kapanen. Henrique was in between Howard and Tomasek. Mattias Janmark has been recovering from an injury and was not skating with the main group.

Curiously, there was no Jake Walman skating on Sunday, either. The defender has been recovering from an apparent upper-body injury but had been back on the ice as recently as Friday and had also been projected to be ready for Game One of the regular season. Hmmm.

Defence Pairings: Ekholm-Bouchard, Nurse-Regula, Kulak-Emberson. Stecher was rotating in and out. Is Regula just a placeholder for Walman? Unsure.

Goalies: Skinner, Pickard. Matt Tomkins was returned to Bakersfield Saturday,

Waivers were at Noon local time, and 45 players including Jones were exposed. There were no Oilers on the wire from yesterday.

More to come…

The Oilers 2025-26 NHL Regular season kicks off Wednesday with The Battle of Alberta.

This article is not AI generated.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Bruce McCurdy, 1955-2025.

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