Edmonton Oilers Place Brad Malone on Waivers

The Edmonton Oilers have placed centre Brad Malone on waivers in order to assign him to their AHL affiliate in Bakersfield, the team announced Thursday.

Malone was one of many NHL/AHL free agents that the Oilers signed early in the offseason. The 28-year-old hasn’t seen NHL action since suiting up for 57 games with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2015-16, racking up two goals and six points.

Edmonton Oilers

Last season, he saw time in the AHL with the Hershey Bears and the Chicago Wolves, due to the fact that he was part of the trade that sent Kevin Shattenkirk to the Capitals organization. In 79 combined games of AHL action, he finished with 12 goals and 28 points.

During the preseason, Malone showed moments of greatness. He had one multi-goal game against the Jets this preseason; however, those would be his only tallies through training camp. Because he could likely benefit from more time at the AHL level, as well as put up strong totals for them, it is understandable as to why he didn’t make the NHL cut.

The Oilers roster now sits at 31 players, and they will have to get that down to 23 prior to the start of the season. Jujhar Khaira, Jesse Puljujarvi and Kailer Yamamoto are just a few names remaining on Edmonton’s roster, and could all steal opening night spots. Yohann Auvitu is also battling for NHL ice time this season and is still with the team.

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Edmonton has boasted a 6-1 record so far this preseason and is slated for one more preseason match against the Vancouver Canucks. They square off Saturday at 8 p.m. MT and will look to capitalize and finish the preseason with an almost perfect record. After that, their opening night roster should be set in stone. The Oilers will play their regular season opener on Oct. 4, when they take on the Calgary Flames at Rogers Place.