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Edmonton Oilers Activate Carter Savoie, Send Him To AHL

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The Edmonton Oilers have announced that forward Carter Savoie has been activated off of the team’s injured non-roster list and been loaned to their AHL affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors.

Savoie, 20, has been out with a lower-body injury that has kept him from making his 2022-23 season debut. With this move, he’ll now head to Bakersfield to continue his young professional career.

One of the Oilers’ top prospects, Savoie turned pro late last season after an extremely successful collegiate career at the University of Denver. At Denver, Savoie was a star sophomore player, scoring 23 goals and 45 points, leading the Pioneers to the NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey National Championship.

A fourth-round pick at the 2020 draft, Savoie’s college success has led to his fast rise in prospect rankings. The Condors are currently 2-2-1 and will certainly stand to benefit should Savoie’s scoring numbers translate from the NCAA level to the pro level.

While he might not be seen in Edmonton anytime soon with the Oilers 5-3-0 and free to be patient with Savoie’s development, the hope will surely be for him to eventually make his way to a scoring line on the big club. For now, though, he’ll continue his development in the AHL, a process that can now continue with his recovery from injury.

Dylan Holloway Has Recovered From Upper-Body Injury

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  • Oilers forward Dylan Holloway told reporters including Robert Tychkowski of the Edmonton Sun that he is good to go after suffering an upper-body injury last week against Buffalo. The rookie had a very limited role in his first few games and while Edmonton only has 12 forwards on the active roster at the moment (including Holloway), he’s not expected to be in the lineup tonight against St. Louis.

Upper-Body Injury For Philip Broberg, Mattias Janmark Still Waiting For Work Permit

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  • At the beginning of the season, the Oilers were shuffling defenseman Philip Broberg back and forth between Edmonton and AHL Bakersfield. They haven’t lately and Daniel Nugent-Bowman of The Athletic relays (Twitter link) why as the blueliner has been dealing with an upper-body injury for the last few days and is questionable to play this weekend.  Accordingly, it’ll take a little longer before he gets his next chance with the big club.  Meanwhile, Nugent-Bowman adds that the reason that veteran winger Mattias Janmark hasn’t played in Bakersfield yet despite being sent down nearly two weeks ago is that he has yet to receive his U.S. work permit.

Dylan Holloway Out Day-To-Day

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  • Dylan Holloway isn’t going to play tonight, according to Ryan Rishaug of TSN, who notes that while the young forward is listed as day-to-day, it could be a little while before he returns to the lineup if he’s dealing with a head injury. The Oilers’ prospect got punished by Buffalo Sabres defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin earlier this week in a massive open-ice hit. With Holloway injured, Edmonton will have to go with a roster of just 20 healthy players, unless another move is made (or the young forward ends up on LTIR).

Edmonton Oilers Recall Markus Niemelainen, Loan Brad Malone To AHL

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Earlier this evening, the Edmonton Oilers announced that they have recalled defenseman Markus Niemelainen from the Bakersfield Condors of the AHL and in turn, loaned forward Brad Malone to Bakersfield. This gives Edmonton an active roster with twelve forwards, seven defensemen and two goalies now, two less players than the 23-man limit.

The swapping of players did appear expected, with The Athletic’s Daniel Nugent-Bowman reporting that expectation yesterday. Operating with 21 of 23 skaters is a challenge for any team, but does allow the Oilers, who are currently using $7.103MM out of $7.117MM of available LTIR, to stay cap compliant. Having the extra player on the roster is of course some element of insurance, one that the Florida Panthers for example, are without, leading them to dress only 17 skaters this evening. To that point, having that 19th skater be a defenseman is key in the event another Oilers defenseman were to come down with injury. Should that happen, Niemelainen could seamlessly slide into the lineup. But, had it been Malone in that situation, the team would be forced to play a forward on defense, or go with an uncomfortable thirteen forwards and five defensemen lineup.

Malone has played in both of Edmonton’s games to date this season, failing to record a point. He played in just eight games for the Oilers last season, but had a solid 39 points in 52 games for Bakersfield. Should Malone once again become a regular member of their lineup, they should be able to count on strong production from their long-time forward.

Niemelainen, like Malone, has played in two games this season, though both with Bakersfield, recording an assist in the process. The hulking 6’6″ defenseman made his NHL debut the Oilers last season, tallying just one point in 20 games. With the call-up, the 24-year-old could get an opportunity to earn more NHL minutes and continue his development at this level.

Slater Koekkoek Assigned To AHL

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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.

Edmonton Oilers Recall Philip Broberg

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Saturday: Shore and Broberg have swapped places once again with Shore rejoining the Oilers.

Friday: As the Edmonton Oilers prepare for action against the Calgary Flames tomorrow night, they’ve made a slight change to the roster. Philip Broberg is back up from the minor leagues, while Devin Shore has been reassigned to the Bakersfield Condors. The move suggests that the Oilers will have at least one of the two forwards – Warren Foegele and Kailer Yamamoto – that missed Wednesday’s opener available for the next game.

The Oilers played a man short in their first game thanks to salary cap implications, something that hockey fans might have to get used to this season. With so many teams pushed right up against (or over) the cap ceiling, short-term injuries will have difficult complications. If a player is unavailable, but not out long enough to go on LTIR, some teams will be forced to play shorthanded to earn the emergency recalls to bring up minor league bodies.

As complicated as that sounds, it is a reality for the Oilers and others as they wait for the salary cap to increase in the coming years. For now, Edmonton will bring the young Broberg back up, meaning he’ll be earning the NHL portion of his two-way contract.

Whether he goes into the lineup is unclear. The team spread out the defensive minutes rather evenly on Wednesday, with even Ryan Murray seeing close to 16. Part of that is because of how much short-handed time they had, which all six defensemen helped out with, but it also just seems to be a group that head coach Jay Woodcroft is more confident in. Darnell Nurse still led the way with more than 26 minutes but that is to be expected from the $9.25MM man.

If Broberg does get into the lineup, it would be for just the 24th time in a regular season game. The eighth overall pick from 2019 played 23 games for the Oilers last season, recording three points.

Edmonton Oilers Hire Duncan Keith

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After announcing his retirement just a few months ago, Duncan Keith is back in the Edmonton Oilers organization. The team has announced several hires, including Keith into a player development role. Milan Tichy will now serve as director of amateur European scouting, Warren Rychel and Jason Pietrzykowski have been added as pro scouts, Jeff Salajko is coming in as a goaltending scout, and Christian Vermette will join as an amateur scout.

This hire was always expected after the legendary defenseman called it quits after just one season with the Oilers. The 17-year veteran helped the club overcome some playoff demons and reach the Conference Finals but couldn’t do enough to help them overcome the eventual Stanley Cup champions.

Keith had 21 points in 64 games during his final season, taking his career totals to 1,256 games and 646 points. Those numbers go along with three Stanley Cup championships, two Norris Trophy honors as the league’s best defenseman, and the 2015 Conn Smythe as playoff MVP.

One of the best defensemen of his generation, Keith will now move into a front office role where he can begin the next chapter of his hockey career.

Nurse Fined $5,000 For Interference

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The NHL Department of Player Safety has issued a $5,000 fine to Darnell Nurse for his hit on Kyle Burroughs last night. At the very end of the first period between the Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks, Evander Kane delivered a hit to Burroughs in the corner of the rink as he played the puck. A moment later, Nurse delivered a second hit on the Canucks defenseman as time expired.

Nurse was given a two-minute minor penalty on the play but will also lose a few dollars for the play. While it doesn’t seem like much, relative to the salary that the Oilers’ defenseman makes, this fine will be added to Nurse’s disciplinary record, meaning he could face stiffer penalties in the future. For now, the Oilers will be glad he didn’t face a suspension for the hit.

Yamamoto, Foegele Out; Oilers To Dress Only 17 Skaters On Opening Night

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  • The Edmonton Oilers will be without forwards Kailer Yamamoto and Warren Foegele for tonight’s opening night matchup against the Vancouver Canucks. It’s unclear what injuries either player is suffering from. However, because Edmonton began the season with just 21 players on its roster for cap compliance purposes, they will only be able to dress 17 skaters – all that are left on the roster after Yamamoto and Foegele. Sportsnet’s Bob Stauffer was the first to report.

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