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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.

Edmonton Oilers To Send Down Philip Broberg, Recall Devin Shore

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Edmonton Oilers general manager Ken Holland said today, appearing on Oilers Now with Bob Stauffer, that the team will send defenseman Philip Broberg down to the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors and recall forward Devin Shore.

It appears the Oilers need to make this move out of salary cap necessity. With Edmonton’s tricky situation, it could actually cause them to start the season short a player. The team has basically maxed out their LTIR relief coming from Oscar Klefbom, Mike Smith, and Tyler Benson, who combine for a $7.117MM cap hit, meaning they can’t recall an extra player to fill in.  Forwards Warren Foegele and Kailer Yamamoto are day-to-day with injuries, and if neither of them can suit up tomorrow against the Vancouver Canucks, the team would need to play with 11 forwards and six defensemen.

Why Broberg and Shore in this transaction? The Oilers had 21 skaters on the active roster, including Foegele and Yamamoto: 12 forwards, seven defensemen, and two goalies. With injuries threatening Edmonton’s forward health, the team opted to send down Broberg, who does not require waivers and was projected to be a healthy scratch for the season opener in favor of Ryan Murray, for Shore.

Shore carries a cap hit of $850,000 and cleared waivers earlier this week. Entering his third season with the Oilers, Shore had five goals, six assists, and 11 points in 49 games last year. He’ll draw into the lineup in the event that either one of Foegele or Yamamoto cannot play tomorrow.

Latest On Jason Demers

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Jason Demers was released from his recent professional tryout with the Edmonton Oilers but he was back on the ice with them today. That led to speculation that he was going to sign a contract but that also may be a little premature. Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff tweets that Demers is expected to stay with the organization on an AHL PTO for the time being – something that will allow him to keep training. Kevin Weekes of ESPN, meanwhile, notes that the situation is “fluid” and Demers may sign an AHL contract.

The 34-year-old Demers hasn’t played an NHL game since 2020-21 and spent last season playing internationally. Once a consistent two-way presence in the league, he has 699 career games under his belt and 214 points. Adding that kind of experience on an AHL contract would certainly help the Bakersfield Condors, while sort of providing the Oilers with extra depth.

Though he couldn’t be recalled, the team could choose to sign him to a deal down the road if they face injury issues. In fact, they did almost this exact thing with Brad Malone last year, keeping him on an AHL deal before converting it to an NHL contract in early February. It wouldn’t cost them anything to do it, though Demers would obviously have to agree to a minor league deal, somewhere he hasn’t spent much time in his career.

Since the start of the 2010-11 season, Demers has played just a single game in the AHL – a match for the Tucson Roadrunners in 2018-19.

Training Camp Cuts: 10/10/22

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A very happy Thanksgiving to all of our readers who are celebrating! Today marks the deadline for NHL clubs to become cap compliant and submit their opening night rosters. More specifically, the 5:00 pm ET deadline is now less than six hours away. With that in mind, we expect to see plenty of players sent to the minor leagues, returned to juniors, or released from their PTOs today, and we’ll keep track of them here.

Arizona Coyotes (via team tweet)

D Cam Dineen (to Tucson, AHL)
G Jon Gillies (to Tucson, AHL)
F Laurent Dauphin (to Tucson, AHL)
F Bokondji Imama (to Tucson, AHL)

Buffalo Sabres (via team tweet)

D Lawrence Pilut (to Rochester, AHL)
G Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (to Rochester, AHL)
F Olivier Nadeau (to Gatineau, QMJHL)

Carolina Hurricanes (via team release)

F Jack Drury (to Chicago, AHL)
F Jordan Martinook (to Chicago, AHL)

Colorado Avalanche (via team tweet)

D Wyatt Aamodt (to Colorado, AHL)
F Mikhail Maltsev (to Colorado, AHL)

Columbus Blue Jackets (per team release)

F Emil Bemstrom (to Cleveland, AHL)
D David Jiricek (to Cleveland, AHL)

Detroit Red Wings (per team release)

D Jeremie Biakabutuka (released from ATO)
F Kyle Criscuolo (to Grand Rapids, AHL)
F Taro Hirose (to Grand Rapids, AHL)
G Jussi Olkinuora (to Grand Rapids, AHL)
F Givani Smith (to Grand Rapids, AHL)

Edmonton Oilers (via team tweet)

D Jason Demers (released from PTO)
F James Hamblin (to Bakersfield, AHL)
F Devin Shore (to Bakersfield, AHL)

Los Angeles Kings (per team release)

G Pheonix Copley (to Ontario, AHL)
F Rasmus Kupari (to Ontario, AHL)
F Andre Lee (to Ontario, AHL)
D Jacob Moverare (to Ontario, AHL)

Montreal Canadiens (via two team tweets)

F Rafael Harvey-Pinard (to Laval, AHL)
F Jesse Ylonen (to Laval, AHL)
D Justin Barron (to Laval, AHL)
D Otto Leskinen (to Laval, AHL)
G Cayden Primeau (to Laval, AHL)
D Arber Xhekaj (to Laval, AHL)

Nashville Predators (via team release)

F Jimmy Huntington (to Milwaukee, AHL)
F Mark Jankowski (to Milwaukee, AHL)
F Philip Tomasino (to Milwaukee, AHL)
D Kevin Gravel (to Milwaukee, AHL)
D Jordan Gross (to Milwaukee, AHL)
D Roland McKeown (to Milwaukee, AHL)

New York Rangers (via team release)

D Matt Bartkowski (released from PTO)
F Julien Gauthier (to Hartford, AHL)

Ottawa Senators (via team tweet)

F Ridly Greig (to Belleville, AHL)

Philadelphia Flyers (per Olivia Reiner, The Philadelphia Inquirer)

F Jackson Cates (to Lehigh Valley, AHL)

Seattle Kraken (via team tweet)

F John Hayden (to Coachella Valley, AHL)
D Michal Kempny (to Coachella Valley, AHL)

St. Louis Blues (via team release)

F Josh Leivo (to Springfield, AHL)
F Jake Neighbours (to Springfield, AHL)

Toronto Maple Leafs (via team tweet)

F Kyle Clifford (to Toronto, AHL)
F Adam Gaudette (to Toronto, AHL)
F Pontus Holmberg (to Toronto, AHL)
D Filip Kral (to Toronto, AHL)
D Victor Mete (to Toronto, AHL)
F Nick Robertson (to Toronto, AHL)
F Wayne Simmonds (to Toronto, AHL)
D William Villeneuve (to Toronto, AHL)

Vancouver Canucks (via team tweet)

F Linus Karlsson (to Abbotsford, AHL)

Vegas Golden Knights (via team release)

F Pavel Dorofeyev (to Henderson, AHL)
F Sakari Manninen (to Henderson, AHL)
F Jonas Rondbjerg (to Henderson, AHL)
D Jake Bischoff (to Henderson, AHL)
D Kaedan Korczak (to Henderson, AHL)
G Michael Hutchinson (to Henderson, AHL)

Washington Capitals (via team tweet)

F Henrik Borgstrom (to Hershey, AHL)
D Lucas Johansen (to Hershey, AHL)

Winnipeg Jets (via team tweet)

D Ville Heinola (to Manitoba, AHL)

This post will be kept updated throughout the day.

Edmonton Oilers Acquire Klim Kostin

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The Edmonton Oilers have acquired forward Klim Kostin from the St. Louis Blues in a one-for-one swap for defenseman Dmitri Samorukov, according to a team tweet. Both Kostin and Samorukov cleared waivers earlier this week.

Kostin, 23, has played just 46 NHL games since the Blues selected him with the final pick of the first round in 2017. 40 of those 46 games in 2021-22, where Kostin had four goals and five assists for nine points playing on a semi-full-time basis for the first time. Kostin also had just six points in 17 AHL games with the Springfield Thunderbirds last season. He’s never had much sustained offensive success, even in the AHL, and five years after being drafted, an NHL future for Kostin is fading quickly.

It’s the opposite for Samorukov, however, who now may get an NHL opportunity right out of the gate with the Blues. With injuries to Marco Scandella and Scott Perunovich dismantling the team’s left-shot defense depth, Samorukov comes in as a young player who can battle to capture a bottom-pairing role. It was rather surprising when Samorukov cleared waivers yesterday, considering how close he is to being NHL-ready. Selected 84th overall in the same 2017 draft, Samorukov made his NHL debut last season and emerged as a strong top-four defender with AHL Bakersfield.

Samorukov should immediately enter a battle with Niko Mikkola for NHL minutes right out of the gate. Given the team’s thin depth, it seems unlikely they’d opt to send Samorukov to Springfield for added conditioning. Add in the consideration that Samorukov wasn’t able to participate in training camp with the Blues and become adjusted to the team’s staff, and it makes sense that they would keep him around on the NHL roster for the time being.

For Kostin, the AHL does seem like the most likely option given the emergence of Dylan Holloway and Edmonton’s tight salary cap situation.

Waivers: 10/8/22

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With Monday’s season-opening roster deadline quickly approaching, the activity on the waiver wire is likely to pick up as teams get closer to making their final cuts.  We’ll keep track of today’s waiver placements here.

Buffalo Sabres

D Kale Clague
D Jeremy Davies
D Chase Priskie

Calgary Flames

D Dennis Gilbert
D Juuso Valimaki
F Radim Zohorna

Colorado Avalanche

F Shane Bowers
F Martin Kaut

Detroit Red Wings

F Austin Czarnik
D Steven Kampfer
F Matt Luff

Edmonton Oilers

F Brad Malone

Pittsburgh Penguins

D Mark Friedman

Toronto Maple Leafs

F Joey Anderson
D Mac Hollowell

Seattle Kraken

G Joey Daccord
F Alexander True

Vancouver Canucks

F Sheldon Dries
D Christian Wolanin

With the exception of Winnipeg’s Johnathan Kovacevic (claimed by Montreal), all other players from Friday’s group passed through unclaimed.

Training Camp Cuts: 10/8/22

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With the deadline for opening rosters just a couple of days away, many teams will be trimming down their rosters this weekend.  We’ll keep track of today’s cuts here.

Buffalo Sabres (via team release)

F Sean Malone (to Rochester, AHL)

Dallas Stars (via team release)

G Anton Khudobin (to Texas, AHL)

Detroit Red Wings (via team release)

G Sebastian Cossa (to Grand Rapids, AHL)

Edmonton Oilers (via team release)

F Brad Malone* (to Bakersfield, AHL)
D Markus Niemelainen (to Bakersfield, AHL)

Pittsburgh Penguins (via team release)

D Mark Friedman (to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, AHL) (via separate team release; has cleared waivers)
G Filip Lindberg (to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, AHL)
F Samuel Poulin (to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, AHL)

St. Louis Blues (via team release)

F Martin Frk (to Springfield, AHL)
F Matthew Highmore (to Springfield, AHL)
F Klim Kostin (to Springfield, AHL)

Toronto Maple Leafs (via team release)

F Nick Abruzzese (to Toronto, AHL)
F Joey Anderson* (to Toronto, AHL)
F Semyon Der-Arguchintsev (to Toronto, AHL)
G Dylan Ferguson (to Toronto, AHL)
D Mac Hollowell* (to Toronto, AHL)
G Erik Kallgren (to Toronto, AHL)
D Mikko Kokkonen (to Toronto, AHL)
F Bobby McMann (to Toronto, AHL)
D Marshall Rifai (to Toronto, AHL)
F Alex Steeves (to Toronto, AHL)

*-pending waivers

This post will be updated throughout the day.

Waivers: 10/07/22

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It’s an important day for waivers as the regular season approaches, and several potential targets are available. With the preseason wrapping up, teams will try to sneak players through at the last second and keep them in the organization for the time being.

Many of these placements are due to salary cap restrictions or LTIR machinations to give teams maximum flexibility as the season begins. Everyone from yesterday’s list cleared.

Here is today’s group of waiver additions:

Carolina Hurricanes

Jordan Martinook

Dallas Stars

Anton Khudobin

Edmonton Oilers

Mattias Janmark
Dmitri Samorukov

Minnesota Wild

Steven Fogarty

New Jersey Devils

Andreas Johnsson
Brian Pinho

Philadelphia Flyers

Kevin Connauton
Troy Grosenick

St. Louis Blues

Martin Frk
Klim Kostin
Matthew Highmore

Vancouver Canucks

Justin Dowling

Winnipeg Jets

Johnathan Kovacevic

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