Derek Ryan is one of life's overachievers in the positive sense, who has been a loyal soldier for the Edmonton Oilers since joining them in late July of 2021, doing whatever is asked of him. However, there is now every possibility his time with the team could be about to come to an end.
Due to the recent signing of John Klingberg, the Oilers have had to make a couple of moves for salary cap reasons. As per the team on social media, these moves include loaning Josh Brown to the Bakersfield Condors and placing Ryan on waivers.
As a result, Ryan might conceivably be claimed by another NHL team sometime prior to the 12:00 pm MT deadline on Monday. Of course, the Oilers and their fans will be hoping one of the most popular players in the organisation will instead head to Bakersfield and join Brown.
Derek Ryan not quite the player he used to be
Ryan has been a steadily declining product since his first season with the Oilers in 2021-22, when he had 22 points while averaging 11:26 of ice time per contest. This season he has five points and a -5 rating in 33 games, hasn't been used on the penalty kill recently, and is on course to finish the season with a career-low average ice time of 9:25.
We are sure most Oilers fans know the organisation has no sense of joy about having to place the 38-year-old on waivers. He is in the second season of a two-year, $1.8 million contract extension he signed to remain in Edmonton, meaning he is carrying a cap hit of $900k for the 2024-25 campaign.
Ryan has certainly had some special moments during his time with the Oilers, with one of his biggest highlights being the only NHL hat-trick of his career during a win against the Florida Panthers during the 2021-22 season. On the subject of the Panthers, another highlight was being able to play in five of the seven games between the two teams in last season's Stanley Cup Final.
Overall, the Spokane, Washington native should be extremely proud of everything he has achieved in an NHL career which didn't begin until he turned 30, which is unusual. He has 208 points, a +13 rating, 306 hits, 267 blocks and -- arguably most impressive of all -- a 55.2 face-off win percentage in 603 games.