Edmonton Oilers Most-Likely Promotions and Demotions
By Kurt Leavins
The Edmonton Oilers have whittled their NHL roster down to the required 23 players. And the debate over whether or not Peter Chiarelli and Todd McLellan have made the right choices is fun to follow along with.
But the facts are that the Oilers roster will change, and quicker than you might expect. Remember: Last Fall, both Darnell Nurse and Oscar Klefbom broke camp with the club, but within 10 days both young men were gone, Klefbom for a brief stay in the AHL, and Nurse back to the CHL for the balance of the regular season and playoffs.
So what will transpire this year? Well, while all of the following are merely educated guess, one can easily look at the state of the roster and make some assumptions about how this may unfold.
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Top 3 Most Likely Demotions
Anton Slepyshev. Even if the 21-year-old performs well, this particular stay in the NHL for him promises to be 4-5 weeks tops. That’s because Anton Slepyshev made this team primarily on the back of a Jordan Eberle injury. And because Eberle is a vital part of this team’s playoff chances this season, he will be back on the active roster just as soon as doctors clear him. Slepyshev is not a prototypical bottom-6 player, and there are already roster players that are, especially when Slepyshev is waiver-exempt.
Anders Nilsson. Anders Nilsson made this club based on a spectacular but very small sample, and primarily against teams comprised heavily of AHL-level veterans and prospects. And his previous NHL experience is both brief (23 games) and unflattering (3.11 GAA and an .895 SV% in 2013). Yes, he was very good (1.71 GAA, .936 SV%) in a very good professional league (the KHL) last year. But the problem is, the Edmonton Oilers don’t really know which goalie Nilsson is. They are about to find out.
Griffin Reinhart. What? I picked Griffin Reinhart over Brandon Davidson? Yeah, and there are a number of factors. One, if he struggles, Reinhart is waiver exempt, whereas Davidson is not. Two, Reinhart is just 21 years old. If he is not playing well enough to stay in the Top 6, sitting him in the press box could actively hurt his career. He needs to play. But Davidson, at 24, is far more seasoned, and is better equipped to fill a 7-8D role on the club.
Top 3 Most Likely Promotions
Leon Draisaitl. Draisaitl had a very, very good camp, and an argument can easily be made that he should have made the team. It is clear he was sent to Bakersfield for seasoning, and not because he “wasn’t good enough”. Further, Leon Draisaitl proved to the Edmonton Oilers that he can play all 3 forward positions, the power play, and up and down the lineup. There are 6 or 7 forwards on the current NHL roster that, in case of injury, Draisaitl could replace.
Darnell Nurse. Defence is a harder position to learn and play at any level, let alone the NHL. As a result, Darnell Nurse is likely to send more time in the AHL than Draisaitl. Having said that, Nurse has the most raw talent of any Condors D-Man, has the size to transition relatively easily into the NHL, and can play effectively on both sides of the puck. Depending on the situation, though, a Brad Hunt could get the call as well, if a puck-mover is required.
Andrew Miller. This was the hardest of my 6 choices for this article. But Miller had a quite successful NHL stint last Spring. He is one of the few Condors with the required speed and skill to fill a Top-6 position, in case of injury. And given that the NHL roster already has a surplus of complimentary “muckers”, like Hendricks, Korpikoski and klinkhammer, a player of Miller’s type is more likely to be in demand if (or when) the injury bug strikes.
To be clear, I wish no member of the current 23-man Edmonton Oilers roster ill. But I’ve been around this game sufficiently long enough to understand that it’s only constant is change.
And for all young players, the graph that tracks their NHL progress does not typically feature a straight line.