With just over 48 hours until puck drop on the Edmonton Oilers’ 2023–24 season, the team has announced the roster submitted to the NHL for opening day. The key part of this roster is that it is the cap compliant one to open the season, but not for sure reflective of who will actually play on Wednesday against the Vancouver Canucks.
As follow-up to yesterday’s nerve-wracking announcement that Raphael Lavoie was placed on waivers, he, as well as Lane Pederson and Ben Gleason, all cleared and remain with the organization.
It is worth noting that the officially submitted roster is just 21 skaters due to a lack of cap space, which is two short of the amount of players they could be carrying.
Moves to be cap compliant
Due to Edmonton’s potential injury issues at defence, with all of Mattias Ekholm, Brett Kulak, Markus Niemelainen, and Ryan McLeod dealing with health concerns through training camp, Lavoie was the only option to send down to clear enough cap to be compliant for opening day. Niemelainen cannot be waived or sent down while injured.
Once the ability to make roster moves opens back up for the Oilers, we can expect some players transferred to the IR or sent down to make space for a twelfth forward.
However, in the meantime, the next couple of days will be filled with uncertainty as we wait to see who is healthy.
Although it looks likely that most of these players will be able to play, we anticipate some more moves before Wednesday night as we learn of who will actually dress against the Canucks. There is also the concern of the team having to play shorthanded if too many players are injured as they cannot afford to call anyone else up.
Photo by Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire
