Markus Niemelainen vs. Vincent Desharnais

This one is still way too early or close to call. Desharnais is winning the battle right now due to a lower penchant to give away the puck, his superior puck moving skills, and his ability to pinch hit on the 25th ranked PK in the league – which I have no doubt Woodcroft may give him a regular spot at should Desharnais fend off Niemelainen as a challenger for his roster spot.

But, don’t count out Niemelainen just yet. As previously mentioned, his offence is starting to come to life in Bakersfield, and his +/- is just as strong there as it was here. If he can clean up his penchant to give away the puck and translate that offence to the NHL, he’ll be a legitimate challenger to Desharnais in the future.

One strike against Niemelainan, though, may be his contract that will force Ken Holland’s hand in trading him or risk losing him for nothing next season.

For you see, Desharnais’s contract is on a two way contract for this season and next. Niemelainen is also signed for next season, but his two way contract expires after this season, and his contract converts to a one way NHL only contract next season. What this means is unless Niemelainen permanently nails down a roster spot by the end of this season, if the Oilers ever want to send him down to Bakersfield or call him back up, he’ll have to spend 24 hours on waivers before the Oilers can bring him up. At that point he’s bound to be attractive for a team looking to upgrade cheaply on it’s depth that can just grab him for nothing.

This means if the status quo holds up and Desharnais is actually up in Edmonton for good, I would suspect that Holland will likely trade Niemelainen so he can get something back for him. He could easily keep him for next season’s depth, but again he risks losing him for nothing on waivers if he does that.

If Niemelainen does end up winning the battle they can keep Desharnais for depth or trade him away from a position of strength.