Is everyone ready for the big freeze in Edmonton? Sorry, what's that? No, we're not talking about the weather. Instead, we mean the one which impacts just the Oilers.
More specifically, we're referring to the NHL's annual holiday roster freeze, which includes the Oilers and the league's other 31 teams. It begins at midnight on Friday Dec. 20 and concludes at midnight on Dec. 27.
As we've written previously, the holiday roster freeze was put in place to stop any player being traded, loaned to the minors, or placed on waivers during the aforementioned time period. This is one of those NHL ideas that is actually putting the interests of the players first, as no one has to worry about being moved during the holiday period and potentially ruining their Christmas.
Who is included in the freeze?
The NHL's annual freeze includes all active and non-roster players, along with injured reserve and injured non-roster players. At the same time though, as with most things in life, there are exceptions to the rule.
The main example, is that during the eight days in question NHL teams are allowed to exceed their 23-man roster limit. At the same time though, each team must still remain within the confines of the salary cap, which this season is set to a limit of $88 million.
Using the Oilers as an example, the reality is that at the time of writing they are in a tough spot in this regard. As per PuckPedia, they only have 20 of 23 roster spots filled, but also have just under $1.194 million of cap space.
For some further context though, the Oilers do also have a long-term injured reserve pool of just under $5.125 million thanks to Evander Kane. Of course key to this is when Kane will be ready to return to action, as well as what the team decides to do with the polarising winger.
It should also be noted, that there are only limited examples where a player can be loaned between the NHL and AHL. TSN NHL insider Chis Johnston expands on these examples here.
Finally, going back to how the players are being put first for a change, the Oilers in particular are quite fortunate this season. They only have two games during the roster freeze and both contests are at home, which helps with being able to spend time with loved ones during the festivities.