Edmonton Signs Cameron Wright, Recall Matt Savoie
The Edmonton Oilers are bringing up some depth from their AHL affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors. The team announced they have signed forward Cameron Wright to a one-year, two-way contract worth $925K and have recalled forward Matthew Savoie.
Wright has been bouncing around the AHL and ECHL over the last few years after finishing his college tenure at the University of Denver in 2021-22. His first professional season came a year later in the Colorado Avalanche organization, where Wright played 64 games for the ECHL’s Utah Grizzlies and two for the AHL’s Colorado Eagles.
His first year with the Oilers organization came last season where Wright managed 48 games for the Condors. He became an effective goal scorer at the bottom of the lineup with 12 goals and 21 points in total.
It will be interesting to see how long Wright and Savoie stick around on Edmonton’s roster to begin the 2024-25 NHL season. The latter recently joined the Oilers organization in the offseason in a trade with the Buffalo Sabres and quickly became one of Edmonton’s top prospects.
This year would mark his first full year in professional hockey after small appearances with the AHL Rochester Americans and Sabres last year. The Oilers have yet to put Evander Kane on LTIR which will inevitably open up much-needed financial flexibility for the roster.
Pacific Notes: Ryan, Dermott, Garland
Edmonton Oilers forward Derek Ryan took part in the team’s practice today as a full participant (as per Oilers reporter Tony Brar). Ryan was only on the ice for the latter stage of the team’s morning skate on Friday and didn’t play in their preseason game on Friday evening. He was deemed day-to-day with an undisclosed injury, but it does appear as though the 37-year-old should be good for opening night.
Ryan will likely see significant time as the Oilers’ fourth-line center and could be flanked by Vasily Podkolzin and Corey Perry. Edmonton waived two forwards earlier today, one of whom (Raphael Lavoie) was in the running Ryan’s role on the fourth line and was a bit of a surprise cut given his young age and potential upside. Ryan is nearing the end of his career and is coming off the least productive offensive season of his nine-year NHL career.
In other Pacific Division notes:
- Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch spoke to the media today about the status of defenseman Travis Dermott (as per Oilers reporter Tony Brar). The 27-year-old has had a great training camp with Edmonton but remains unsigned and is working under a PTO. The Oilers waived Josh Brown today who they signed earlier this summer, and his demotion could signal that the Oilers are ready to commit to Dermott for this season. Dermott could explore his options elsewhere like Kevin Labanc did when he left his PTO with New Jersey to sign with the Columbus Blue Jackets.
- Vancouver Canucks forward Conor Garland skated today by himself for the team’s practice (as per Ben Kuzma of Postmedia). Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet told the media that the team is hopeful that Garland will be ready to play on opening night this Wednesday. Garland suffered an undisclosed injury on Friday morning during practice and was considered day-to-day as he sat out Friday night’s preseason game for precautionary reasons. Given the injuries that Vancouver is currently dealing with, it’s easy to see why the team was cautious with Garland.
Waiver Wire: 10/6/24
Today is the major day for the waiver wire as most teams in the NHL are preparing the 23-man rosters for the 2024-25 NHL season. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman confirmed that all players on waivers from yesterday have cleared. The following list is each player placed on waivers this afternoon as reported by PuckPedia.
Boston Bruins
F Patrick Brown
G Brandon Bussi
G Jiri Patera
D Billy Sweezey
F Jeffrey Viel
Buffalo Sabres
D Kale Clague
G James Reimer
F Lukas Rousek
Calgary Flames
G Devin Cooley
F Jakob Pelletier
F Cole Schwindt
Carolina Hurricanes
F Josiah Slavin
D Ty Smith
F Ryan Suzuki
Chicago Blackhawks
Detroit Red Wings
F Sheldon Dries
D Justin Holl
D William Lagesson
D Brogan Rafferty
F Joe Snively
Edmonton Oilers
D Josh Brown
F Drake Caggiula
F Raphael Lavoie
G Olivier Rodrigue
Los Angeles Kings
G Pheonix Copley
F Samuel Fagemo
F Jack Studnicka
Nashville Predators
New Jersey Devils
F Shane Bowers
D Nick DeSimone
F Nolan Foote
D Colton White
New York Islanders
D Samuel Bolduc
F Pierre Engvall
F Hudson Fasching
F Liam Foudy
G Marcus Hogberg
D Grant Hutton
F Fredrik Karlstrom
G Jakub Skarek
New York Rangers
Ottawa Senators
Pittsburgh Penguins
D Sebastian Aho
F Bokondji Imama
St. Louis Blues
D Corey Schueneman
D Tyler Tucker
Tampa Bay Lightning
F Gage Goncalves
D Steven Santini
F Jesse Ylonen
Toronto Maple Leafs
G Matt Murray
D Marshall Rifai
Utah Hockey Club
Vancouver Canucks
Vegas Golden Knights
F Zach Aston-Reese
F Tanner Laczynski
F Jonas Rondbjerg
Washington Capitals
Winnipeg Jets
Edmonton Oilers Place Four Players On Waivers
The defending Western Conference champion Edmonton Oilers are placing four players on waivers as they put the finishing touches on their 2024-25 opening night roster. The organization announced it had placed forwards Drake Caggiula and Raphael Lavoie, defenseman Josh Brown, and goaltender Olivier Rodrigue on waivers.
Caggiula and Brown are depth players with an outside chance of making the roster in specific roles. Neither player was expected to play meaningful minutes for the Oilers this season but will now start the season with their AHL affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors, assuming both clear waivers tomorrow.
The demotion of Brown will give Edmonton some cap relief, as well. The organization signed Brown to a three-year, $3MM contract on the opening day of free agency this past summer and the Oilers can now entirely remove that cap hit since his salary falls below the $1.25MM threshold.
Placing Lavoie on waivers to start the season may be a bold call by Edmonton’s brass. The team drafted Lavoie with the 38th overall pick of the 2019 NHL Draft and he’s coming off back-to-back quality campaigns with the Condors. He’s proven to be a quality scorer at the AHL level with 53 goals and 95 points in 127 games since the start of the 2022-23 AHL season.
Lavoie appeared to be an NHL-caliber scorer the Oilers could plug into their bottom-six to start the year and there’s a legitimate chance he’ll be on another team’s roster by tomorrow afternoon. If not, he will start the year in Bakersfield and should serve as an immediate call-up should the Oilers find themselves in injury trouble early.
Rodrigue struggled early upon his start with the Condors during the 2020-21 AHL season but has grown his prospect quality since. He finished last season with a 19-12-5 record in Bakersfield with a .916 SV% and 2.73 GAA. His demotion is mostly circumstantial as Edmonton doesn’t have the financial flexibility to carry three netminders during the season. Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard will start the year as the team’s tandem.
Training Camp Cuts: 10/6/24
The NHL pre-season has ended, sparking the frantic rush for final roster cuts across the league before the regular season begins. Final rosters are due by 5 P.M. on October 7th and, as always, we’ll follow the day’s cuts below.
Last updated: 4:53 p.m.
Boston Bruins (per team announcement)
G Ryan Bischel (to AHL Providence)
F Patrick Brown (to AHL Providence, pending waivers)
G Brandon Bussi (to AHL Providence, pending waivers)
D Michael Callahan (to AHL Providence)
F Riley Duran (to AHL Providence)
D Jackson Edward (to AHL Providence)
F Brett Harrison (to AHL Providence)
G Kasimir Kaskisuo (to AHL Providence)
F Fabian Lysell (to AHL Providence)
F Georgii Merkulov (to AHL Providence)
F Jaxon Nelson (to AHL Providence)
G Jiri Patera (to AHL Providence, pending waivers)
D Billy Sweezey (to AHL Providence, pending waivers)
F Jeffrey Viel (to AHL Providence, pending waivers)
Carolina Hurricanes (per team announcement)
F Skyler Brind’Amour (to AHL Chicago)
D Domenick Fensore (to AHL Chicago)
F Sam Gagner (released from PTO)
F Rocco Grimaldi (released from PTO)
F Noel Gunler (to AHL Chicago)
D Aleksi Heimosalmi (to AHL Chicago)
D Anttoni Honka (to NL HC Ajoie)
F Juha Jaaska (to AHL Chicago)
G Ruslan Khazheyev (to AHL Chicago)
D Charles-Alexis Legault (to AHL Chicago)
G Spencer Martin (to AHL Chicago)
D Scott Morrow (to AHL Chicago)
F Bradly Nadeau (to AHL Chicago)
G Yaniv Perets (to AHL Chicago)
F Justin Robidas (to AHL Chicago)
D Ronan Seeley (to AHL Chicago)
F Josiah Slavin (to AHL Chicago, pending waivers)
D Ty Smith (to AHL Chicago, pending waivers)
F Felix Unger Sorum (to AHL Chicago)
F Ryan Suzuki (to AHL Chicago, pending waivers)
F Gleb Trikozov (to AHL Chicago)
Chicago Blackhawks (per CHGO Blackhawks)
F Brandon Baddock (released from PTO to AHL Rockford)
G Drew Commesso (to AHL Rockford)
D Louis Crevier (to AHL Rockford)
F Colton Dach (to AHL Rockford)
D Ethan Del Mastro (to AHL Rockford)
F Cole Guttman (to AHL Rockford)
D Kevin Korchinski (to AHL Rockford)
F Frank Nazar (to AHL Rockford)
F Zach Sanford (to AHL Rockford)
F Samuel Savoie (to AHL Rockford)
F Landon Slaggert (to AHL Rockford)
D Austin Strand (released from PTO to AHL Rockford)
Columbus Blue Jackets (per team announcement)
D Denton Mateychuk (to AHL Cleveland)
Dallas Stars (per team announcement)
D Kyle Capobianco (to AHL Texas)
G Magnus Hellberg (to AHL Texas)
F Cameron Hughes (to AHL Texas)
F Kole Lind (to AHL Texas)
D Alexander Petrovic (to AHL Texas)
F Mathias Emilio Pettersen (to AHL Texas)
Detroit Red Wings (per team announcement)
F Michael Brandsegg-Nygård (to SHL Skellefteå AIK)
G Sebastian Cossa (to AHL Grand Rapids)
F Nate Danielson (to AHL Grand Rapids)
D Tory Dello (to AHL Grand Rapids)
G Carter Gylander (to AHL Grand Rapids)
F Cross Hanas (to AHL Grand Rapids)
F Marco Kasper (to AHL Grand Rapids)
F Carter Mazur (to AHL Grand Rapids)
F Elmer Söderblom (to AHL Grand Rapids)
D Antti Tuomisto (to AHL Grand Rapids)
D Eemil Viro (to AHL Grand Rapids)
D William Wallinder (to AHL Grand Rapids)
Edmonton Oilers (per team announcement)
D Josh Brown (to AHL Bakersfield, pending waivers)
F Drake Caggiula (to AHL Bakersfield, pending waivers)
F Raphael Lavoie (to AHL Bakersfield, pending waivers)
F Noah Philp (to AHL Bakersfield)
G Olivier Rodrigue (to AHL Bakersfield, pending waivers)
Florida Panthers (per team announcement)
D Matt Kiersted (to AHL Charlotte)
F William Lockwood (to AHL Charlotte)
Los Angeles Kings (per team announcement)
G Pheonix Copley (to AHL Ontario, pending waivers)
F Samuel Fagemo (to AHL Ontario, pending waivers)
F Andre Lee (to AHL Ontario)
F Jack Studnicka (to AHL Ontario, pending waivers)
New Jersey Devils (per team announcement)
F Shane Bowers (to AHL Utica, pending waivers)
G Nico Daws (to AHL Utica)
D Nick DeSimone (to AHL Utica, pending waivers)
F Nolan Foote (to AHL Utica, pending waivers)
D Colton White (to AHL Utica, pending waivers)
New York Rangers (per team announcement)
D Connor Mackey (to AHL Hartford)
San Jose Sharks (per team announcement)
D Jérémie Bucheler (to AHL San Jose)
F Nolan Burke (to AHL San Jose)
F Colin White (to AHL San Jose)
D Jimmy Schuldt (to AHL San Jose)
Seattle Kraken (per team announcement)
F John Hayden (to AHL Coachella Valley)
D Josh Mahura (to AHL Coachella Valley)
St. Louis Blues (per team announcement)
F Zach Dean (to AHL Springfield)
F Dalibor Dvorsky (to AHL Springfield)
F Aleksanteri Kaskimaki (to AHL Springfield)
F Mathias Laferriere (to AHL Springfield)
F Hugh McGing (to AHL Springfield)
F Dylan Peterson (to AHL Springfield)
D Samuel Johannesson (to AHL Springfield)
D Hunter Skinner (to AHL Springfield)
G Vadim Zherenko (to AHL Springfield)
Tampa Bay Lightning (per Eduardo A. Encica of the Tampa Bay Times)
F Dylan Duke (to AHL Syracuse)
F Gage Goncalves (to AHL Syracuse, pending waivers)
F Maxim Groshev (to AHL Syracuse)
F Jesse Ylonen (to AHL Syracuse, pending waivers)
F Gabriel Szturc (to AHL Syracuse)
D Steven Santini (to AHL Syracuse, pending waivers)
D Matt Tomkins (to AHL Syracuse)
D Declan Carlile (to AHL Syracuse)
F Ethan Gauthier (to QMJHL Drummondville)
Injury Notes: Sabres, Penguins, Ryan, Jarnkrok
The Buffalo Sabres’ depth will be tested just two games into the season, with top-six wingers John-Jason Peterka (concussion) and Zach Benson (lower-body) both facing injury, per Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News. No timeline was provided for either player. Benson was held out of the team’s Saturday morning game in favor of top prospect Jiri Kulich, while Peterka exited the game after just three shifts. Lysowski added that team captain Rasmus Dahlin also seems unhealthy, despite being the team’s clear-cut top defender through their first two games.
The menagerie of injuries is weighing heavily on the Sabres, who lost both games in the Prague series by a combined score of 7-2. Peterka recorded the primary assist on Buffalo’s first goal of the year – making a strong play behind the net to set up Owen Power in the slot. Those are the hard-nosed plays Peterka has become known for in his early career, a big part of how he managed 28 goals and 50 points last season. Despite being in his age-18 season, Benson wasn’t too far behind – netting 11 goals and 30 points of his own, though he did miss 11 games to injury last year. Both players are not only core pieces of the present Sabres lineup, but pillars of the team’s future. Their healthy and speedy recovery will be paramount as the team looks to find their bearings when they return to America.
Other injury updates from around the league:
- The Pittsburgh Penguins are also bearing through a pair of injuries, with both Bryan Rust and Vasiliy Ponomarev listed as day-to-day per Tribune-Review Spots’ Seth Rorabaugh. No details or timeline were provided. Rust has missed the bulk of Pittsburgh’s preseasons with what were originally described as maintenance days, before this injury designation. He’ll have his eyes set on the team’s top line when he returns to full health, having posted a commendable 56 points – split evenly – in just 62 appearances last year. Ponomarev doesn’t have the same lineup security, though his 30 points in 43 AHL games last season could be enough to warrant a test in the bottom-six. Any bout with the Penguins would be notable for the 23-year-old Ponomarev, who made his NHL debut with Carolina last season – scoring two points in two games.
- Edmonton Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch listed forward Derek Ryan as day-to-day with an undisclosed injury, shares Tony Barr of Oilers TV. Ryan has continued skating at the tail end of Edmonton’s practices, though he was held out of the team’s final preseason game on Friday. He’ll be in the mix for fourth-line minutes when he returns, likely set to return to the role that earned him 12 points in 70 games last season.
- Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube has confirmed Calle Jarnkrok‘s lower-body injury is nagging, telling TSN’s Mark Masters that it’s the same injury that limited the forward at the start of training camp. Jarnkrok has only appeared in two preseason games, and continues to miss practices as a result of his injury. He’ll be a bottom-six multitool when he returns, though Jarnkrok first faces the test of overcoming a lingering issue.
Pacific Notes: Nurse, Jarventie, Lehner
Edmonton Oilers reporter Tony Brar tweeted that Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse will most likely play tomorrow. Nurse has missed Edmonton’s first six preseason games to rest an undisclosed injury. Nurse might have missed some games, but he has been on the ice skating during his absence as he can ill afford to start slowly this year after a difficult 2023-24 season.
The Oilers are firmly in their Stanley Cup window and need everything they can get from the 29-year-old especially when he is counting $9.25MM against the salary cap. Nurse has historically been a solid two-way defenseman for Edmonton but struggled considerably last year, especially in the playoffs where his even-strength play fell off a cliff.
In other Pacific Division notes:
- Daniel Nugent-Bowman of The Athletic tweeted that Oilers forward Roby Jarventie will be out for a few days beyond the season-opening rosters being finalized and then will go to the AHL. The 22-year-old has been dealing with a knee injury that has kept him out of training camp and will be looking to build on a successful albeit brief AHL run last season with the Senators. Jarventie had nine goals and 11 assists in 22 AHL games last season with the Belleville Senators and a single assist in seven NHL games. Edmonton acquired Jarventie (along with a fourth-round pick) in a trade that sent Xavier Bourgault and Jake Chiasson to Ottawa.
- ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski tweeted that NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly says there will be more information about Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Robin Lehner later this week. Lehner was deemed unfit to play just two weeks ago and didn’t report for training camp. At the time, Vegas general manager Kelly McCrimmon said that “”There are unique circumstances surrounding this situation that the NHL, the NHLPA and the club are currently working through. Collectively, we are assessing our next steps and when we have more to say, we will.” One would have to assume that the news later this week will be a follow-up to McCrimmon’s comments from September 19th.
Waiver Wire: 10/1/24
28 players hit the waiver wire Tuesday, per PuckPedia. It’s a sharp increase from yesterday’s 12 names as more veterans are assigned to the minors later in camp. All of yesterday’s waived players cleared, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports. Today’s waiver placements are as follows:
Anaheim Ducks
Buffalo Sabres
F Joshua Dunne
F Mason Jobst
F Brett Murray
D Colton Poolman
D Jack Rathbone
G Felix Sandström
Calgary Flames
Edmonton Oilers
G Collin Delia
D Ben Gleason
D Philip Kemp
F Lane Pederson
Los Angeles Kings
Minnesota Wild
New York Rangers
F Anton Blidh
G Louis Domingue
D Casey Fitzgerald
D Brandon Scanlin
Seattle Kraken
F Brandon Biro
F Max McCormick
F Ben Meyers
D Gustav Olofsson
F Mitchell Stephens
G Ales Stezka
Vancouver Canucks
F Phillip Di Giuseppe
G Jiří Patera
F Nathan Smith
D Christian Wolanin
Training Camp Cuts: 10/1/24
The calendar has flipped to October, which means we’re one week away from opening night. Most teams now have somewhere between 10 and 15 cuts to make before reaching their final opening night rosters. That means most sweeping cuts have already been made, and we’ll start to see more precise roster moves involving more notable names in the coming days. We’ll continue keeping tabs on all of Tuesday’s cuts in this article.
Last updated 3:18 p.m.
Anaheim Ducks (per team release)
D Drew Helleson (to AHL San Diego)
F Carson Meyer (to AHL San Diego, pending waivers)
F Jan Mysak (to AHL San Diego)
F Yegor Sidorov (to AHL San Diego)
Buffalo Sabres (per team announcement)
F Ty Cheveldayoff (released from PTO to AHL Rochester)
F Riley Fiddler-Schultz (released from PTO to AHL Rochester)
F Konsta Helenius (to AHL Rochester)
G Michael Houser (released from PTO to AHL Rochester)
D Noah Laaouan (released from PTO to AHL Rochester)
F Aleksandr Kisakov (to AHL Rochester)
D Vsevolod Komarov (to AHL Rochester)
D Zach Metsa (released from PTO to AHL Rochester)
F Olivier Nadeau (to AHL Rochester)
F Viktor Neuchev (to AHL Rochester)
D Nikita Novikov (to AHL Rochester)
F Noah Östlund (to AHL Rochester)
D Ethan Prow (released from PTO to AHL Rochester)
G Scott Ratzlaff (to WHL Seattle)
F Isak Rosen (to AHL Rochester)
F Graham Slaggert (released from PTO to AHL Rochester)
D Peter Tischke (released from PTO to AHL Rochester)
F Tyler Tullio (to AHL Rochester)
F Anton Wahlberg (to AHL Rochester)
F Brendan Warren (released from PTO to AHL Rochester)
Calgary Flames (per team release)
D Artem Grushnikov (to AHL Calgary)
G Waltteri Ignatjew (to AHL Calgary)
D Yan Kuznetsov (to AHL Calgary)
Columbus Blue Jackets (per team release)
F Hunter McKown (to AHL Cleveland)
Edmonton Oilers (per team release)
D Beau Akey (to OHL Barrie)
G Collin Delia (to AHL Bakersfield, pending waivers)
D Ben Gleason (to AHL Bakersfield, pending waivers)
F James Hamblin (to AHL Bakersfield)
D Philip Kemp (to AHL Bakersfield, pending waivers)
F Lane Pederson (to AHL Bakersfield, pending waivers)
Florida Panthers (per team release)
F Ryan McAllister (to AHL Charlotte)
F Oliver Okuliar (to AHL Charlotte)
F Wilmer Skoog (to AHL Charlotte)
Los Angeles Kings (per team announcement)
F Samuel Helenius (to AHL Ontario)
F Jeff Malott (to AHL Ontario)
G Dryden McKay (released from PTO to AHL Ontario)
D Jacob Moverare (to AHL Ontario, pending waivers)
D John Parker-Jones (released from PTO to AHL Ontario)
Minnesota Wild (per team announcement)
F Reese Johnson (to AHL Iowa, pending waivers)
New Jersey Devils (per team release)
G Michael Hutchinson (released from PTO)
New York Rangers (per team release)
D Madison Bowey (released from PTO to AHL Hartford)
F Jaroslav Chmelar (to AHL Hartford)
F Adam Erne (released from PTO to AHL Hartford)
D Blake Hillman (released from PTO to AHL Hartford)
F Blade Jenkins (released from PTO to AHL Hartford)
F Bryce McConnell-Barker (to AHL Hartford)
F Dylan Roobroeck (to AHL Hartford)
F Nate Sucese (released from PTO to AHL Hartford)
F Adam Sýkora (to AHL Hartford)
Seattle Kraken (per team announcement)
F Brandon Biro (to AHL Coachella Valley, pending waivers)
F Max McCormick (to AHL Coachella Valley, pending waivers)
F Jacob Melanson (to AHL Coachella Valley)
F Ben Meyers (to AHL Coachella Valley, pending waivers)
D Gustav Olofsson (to AHL Coachella Valley, pending waivers)
D Ville Ottavainen (to AHL Coachella Valley)
F Mitchell Stephens (to AHL Coachella Valley, pending waivers)
F Eduard Sale (to AHL Coachella Valley)
G Ales Stezka (to AHL Coachella Valley, pending waivers)
Vancouver Canucks (per team announcement)
F Phillip Di Giuseppe (to AHL Abbotsford, pending waivers)
D Christian Felton (to AHL Abbotsford)
F Linus Karlsson (to AHL Abbotsford)
D Kirill Kudryavtsev (to AHL Abbotsford)
F Jonathan Lekkerimäki (to AHL Abbotsford)
D Cole McWard (to AHL Abbotsford)
F Ty Mueller (to AHL Abbotsford)
G Jiří Patera (to AHL Abbotsford, pending waivers)
D Elias Pettersson (to AHL Abbotsford)
F Max Sasson (to AHL Abbotsford)
F Nathan Smith (to AHL Abbotsford, pending waivers)
G Nikita Tolopilo (to AHL Abbotsford)
D Christian Wolanin (to AHL Abbotsford, pending waivers)
Washington Capitals (per team announcement)
F Terik Parascak (to WHL Prince George)
Waiver Wire: 9/30/24
Another 12 players have hit the waiver wire today as part of training camp cuts across the league, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. All of the 25 players on waivers yesterday cleared without incident, he adds.
Colorado Avalanche
Edmonton Oilers
Los Angeles Kings
Minnesota Wild
F Travis Boyd
F Brendan Gaunce
F Devin Shore
San Jose Sharks
F Justin Bailey
D Jimmy Schuldt
St. Louis Blues
Utah Hockey Club