Last month, as training camp was set to begin, the Edmonton Oilers announced that Slater Koekkoek would be away from the team for mental health reasons. Since then, they also put him on waivers to clear him from the roster.
Yesterday, Koekkoek was loaned to the Bakersfield Condors, and today he was added to the roster according to the AHL transactions portal.
The 28-year-old defenseman played in 19 games for the Oilers last season, registering four points on the second season of a two-year one-way contract, he will earn $1.1MM regardless of which level he plays. His $925K cap hit, meanwhile, will be completely buried while assigned to the AHL.
After trading Dmitri Samorukov for Klim Kostin, the Oilers could certainly use the added depth at the position but have explained that they fully supported Koekkoek taking time away. Hopefully, being added to the Bakersfield roster means he’s on his way back and can resume his hockey career at some point soon.
Especially in a terrible draft, the Lightning getting Vasilevski at #19 looks genius…until you remember that they drafted Slater Koekkoek at #10 and then also remember that it’s largely a crapshoot, too.
Decent draft for D and Goalies, horrid for forwards.