This in from NHL insider Frank Seravalli, his take on which Edmonton Oilers players will be shipped out of town, an issue that will heat up as Jake Walman, Alec Regula, Mattias Janmark and Zach Hyman get healthy and return to play.
“I think there’s going to be a pecking order here,” Seravalli said today on The Kevin Karius Show. “I think the first player likely to move is Isaac Howard because he’s waiver-exempt. Then I’d say it’s probably Curtis Lazar. And as you work through the permutations, the Oilers want to do everything they can to avoid putting Noah Philp on waivers because they think he’s likely to be claimed, and I do too. And I think the really interesting thing to watch is it seems like Alec Ragula is trending toward this weekend to play. And that’s, you know, when everyone is healthy, when (Jake) Walman’s healthy, which Walman may play tonight, that Regula is going to be in and the odd man out will be (Ty) Emberson. So when that happens: Do the Oilers look to make a trade and move Emberson? And the other part is I think they’d be open to moving (Mattias) Janmark in the right trade if that were to present itself.”
Oilers roster Oct 16
My take
1. The Oilers were relatively free of injuries for a few seasons on defence, so much so that top prospect Philip Broberg never got much of an opening for two years running. In 2022-23 and 2023-24, there were virtually no injuries that knocked d-men out of the line-up. This healthy spell ended last year when Mattias Ekholm got banged up and missed several months of play. NHL d-men regularly get injured, so it could well be that any questions about the waiver wire will be moot due to on-going injury issues. The good news is that with players like Regula, Emberson and Troy Stecher in the fold, and with an outstanding Top 5 of Ekholm, Darnell Nurse, Evan Bouchard, Walman and Brett Kulak, Edmonton has the best talent and depth its had on defence in decades.
2. For now Regula has indeed outperformed Emberson, who is struggling to both defend and move the puck. But it’s noteworthy that Emberson played solid hockey for a long stretch last winter. He’s got to find that form again. As a trade candidate, he’s a decent one as he’s proven he can play OK hockey in a third-pairing role and he makes just $1.3 million this year and next.
Grade A 3 games players
3. It’s not common for NHL teams to pick up players on waivers, yet it occurs often enough that the Oilers should be worried about another team snapping up Noah Philp. He’s a big, smart right shot centre who can help most teams on their third or fourth line. I’ll suggest he’s out-performed Adam Henrique so far this year, but it’s hard to dislodge a veteran.
4. I also suspect that the Oilers would waive Mattias Janmark before they would waive Curtis Lazar. Janmark’s play has been slipping, from being an elite defensive play in his first year here, to a good one in his second year, to an average one last season. Average defence isn’t good enough for a player like Janmark with limited offence. Lazar is younger, more of a centre, and hits more. He’s also cheaper.
Janmark can help a team in need of veteran leadership and solid PK work, and still might help the Oilers in that regard, but the logjam at forward is immense. Why would you put in Janmark over Philp at this point? Or Janmark over Henrique or Savoie? The veteran forward is in a tough spot making this team.
P.S. The Vegas Golden Knights have signed goalie Carter Hart. Hart will return to the NHL after a judge exonerated him on sex assault charges last summer, finding that the complainant had consensual sex with Hart and other Team Canada players and her accusations were false.