The Edmonton Oilers have made more roster cuts, trimming five players from their group and placing four on waivers.
Forward Lane Pederson will join defenceman Ben Gleason and Phil Kemp, as well as goaltender Collin Delia, on waivers, according to Oilersnation’s Jason Gregor, while forward James Hamblin was assigned to the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors. Should the four clear, they’ll join the Condors, as well.
ICYMI…
Oilers have put Delia, Gleason, Kemp and Pederson on waivers.
James Hamblin had been assigned to Bakersfield (doesn’t require waivers).
— Jason Gregor (@JasonGregor) October 1, 2024
The latest round of cuts brings the Oilers’ roster down to 26 players, with few outstanding position battles remaining. The top three lines are locked in, with Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Adam Henrique, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Zach Hyman, Jeff Skinner, Viktor Arvidsson, Mattias Janmark and Connor Brown holding their spots.
The fourth line and extra forward spots largely remain up for grabs, with a group including Derek Ryan, Noah Philp, Vasily Podkolzin, Corey Perry, Drake Caggiula, and Raphael Lavoie.
On the blue line, Mattias Ekholm, Evan Bouchard, Darnell Nurse, Brett Kulak, and Ty Emberson all locked into their spots. Troy Stecher will likely be sixth defenceman, while Josh Brown, and Travis Dermott are in a battle for the No. 7 spot. The latter of whom is on a professional tryout, and would need to be signed. Edmonton currently has 43 contracts, with space to add seven more.
Calvin Pickard was set to practice Tuesday with the team, taking shots from teammates, Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said Monday after their win over the Vancouver Canucks. He’ll be locked into the backup job in Edmonton, with Olivier Rodrigue heading down to Bakersfield at some point in the coming days.
The Oilers have two pre-season games remaining, taking on the Seattle Kraken on the road Wednesday, and the Canucks again Friday. Their regular season schedule kicks off on Wednesday, Oct. 9th when they host the Winnipeg Jets.
Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.
