In what has been an ongoing saga for the last few days, the Edmonton Oilers have placed Raphael Lavoie back on waivers again today with the plan to send him to the AHL.
How did we get here again?
The Oilers placed Lavoie on waivers earlier in the week in order to meet the opening night roster requirements. While he is a very good centreman, he has yet to really cement himself as an NHL regular. If a team were to claim him, they would need to either keep him on their NHL team or place him back on waivers again.
This is exactly what happened. The Vegas Golden Knights picked him up off of waivers along with the Calgary Flames’ Cole Schwindt.
They then put Lavoie back out on waivers again, where he was subsequently claimed on waivers by the Oilers.
In most cases, if the Oilers claim him back, they should have been able to just send him down to the AHL. However a team behind them in the waiver priority also put in a claim for him, but because they did not have priority, the Oilers got him but had to keep him in the NHL.
Today, the Oilers have put Lavoie back on waivers again with the hopes that this time it sticks and he is able to join the Bakersfield Condors.
Will Lavoie clear waivers this time?
However, it’s not a done deal that he clears. There was a team behind Edmonton that clearly wanted him a couple days back and may still attempt to claim him. Also, the Flames lost Kevin Rooney to a bad hit in their win last night and also lost the aforementioned Schwindt on waivers. They could also take a chance on the forward.
One thing is for certain. Lavoie is on the move again. Whether he’s off to sunny Bakersfield or someplace else, he’ll be heading out somewhere. The destination we’ll find out at noon MST tomorrow.
