As most sports fans prepared nacho dips and buffalo wings ahead of the Super Bowl, the Edmonton Oilers quietly placed Devin Shore on waivers to help clear additional cap space. The veteran forward has cleared and can now be sent to the minor leagues.
The demotion of Shore, 28, should come as no surprise. He hasn’t scored a single goal through 29 appearances and has just three points on the year, a far cry from the player that was once a 30-point contributor in Dallas. He is averaging fewer than nine minutes a night and has been held without a single shot on goal in half of his games.
By waiving him and sending him down, the team is getting closer to having enough cap room to activate Kailer Yamamoto. It will still require an additional transaction, though, which could end up being Jesse Puljujarvi hitting waivers as well tomorrow.
Because of their cap situation, every move from here on will be complicated for the Oilers. Adding anyone before the deadline will require money to go the other way, unless more players end up on long-term injured reserve.
The Oilers and their lack of cap space kills their chance at greatness.
Most contenders have the same issue with cap space. You can point to a few questionable contracts on the Oilers but again that’s true of most teams who have a realistic shot at the playoffs.
You aren’t wrong of course but the Oilers aren’t alone with this issue.