As National Hockey League (NHL) teams try to trim down their training camp rosters ahead of the roster deadline on Monday, October 6th, the Edmonton Oilers along with many other clubs have sent players down through the waiver wire.
The Oilers on Thursday, have sent two players down through waivers for the purpose of assignment to their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors. The two players are both defencemen, Cam Dineen and Riley Stillman.
The #Oilers have placed d-men Cam Dineen & Riley Stillman on waivers for the purpose of assignment while blueliner Atro Leppanen & forwards Quinn Hutson, Josh Samanski, James Hamblin, Viljami Marjala & Connor Clattenburg have been loaned to the @Condors. https://t.co/u4hQlN6k4A
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) October 2, 2025
Multiple promising Oilers cut from camp
Additionally, the Oilers also sent down six other players that did not require waivers. These being the three players recalled ahead of Wednesday night's 4-2 loss to the Seattle Kraken for the illness that is sweeping the Oilers locker room. Forwards Viljami Marjala, Connor Clattenburg, and James Hamblin were all demoted.
On top of them, Oilers free agent signings; Forwards Josh Samanski, Quinn Hutson, and defenceman Atro Leppanen were sent down to the Condors and will likely be high on the call-up list. All three were impressive in their own rights, especially the Finnish blueliner.
Oilers roster shaping up for opening night
All NHL clubs need to trim their rosters down to be compliant with the 23-man rosters by Monday. These moves bring the Oilers total number of defencemen on their roster down to eight. This means that there is likely one spot left for players to fight for on the backend.
The club's blueline is relatively set with; Mattias Ekholm, Evan Bouchard, Jake Walman, Darnell Nurse, Brett Kulak, and Ty Emberson. If the Oilers roll with seventh defencemen, this would leave Alec Regula and Troy Stecher fighting for that role.
Up front, the team has 15 forwards, excluding Zach Hyman who is on injured reserve with his wrist injury carrying over from the Western Conference Finals last season.
Assuming that the team rolls with the usual 13 or 14 forwards, there is at least one or two cuts left to be made. The most likely players battling to keep their jobs are; Curtis Lazar, Noah Philp, Max Jones, and potentially even David Tomasek. The team has yet to really tip their hand either way but this will make an interesting next few days.
The high end depth is quite evident at this stage of the Oilers camp with multiple players who are truly deserving of a look, left on the outside looking in. The team is still set to have a couple of key rookies enter the season with roster spots.
Further tough decisions will need to be made but the Oilers opening night roster looks clearer by the day.