The Edmonton Oilers announced on Friday that 14 players have been cut from training camp. All 14 have been assigned to the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors. The manners in which they are being sent to Bakersfield, on paper, vary.
Forward James Hamblin is the lone player requiring waivers for the purpose of assignment. Seven players are being loaned to Bakersfield, while six others are being released from camp tryouts to return to the AHL. Only one goaltender, Nathaniel Day, is included in these cuts.
What’s next for these players
The six “released” players are Matt Copponi, Seth Griffith, Rem and Rhett Pitlick, Luke Prokop, and Mason Millman. Copponi and Millman have seldom been discussed. Prokop is still just 23 years old, and giving him an additional year of AHL seasoning will be beneficial. Ditto Rhett Pitlick, who is 24 and just came to Bakersfield at the end of last season from college.
Griffith hasn’t played an NHL game since his lone Oilers contest during the 2021–22 season and figures to stay in Bako’. He captained the Condors last year; that leadership continuity could prove valuable for developing talent. Rem Pitlick is a veteran of 132 NHL games, but has an AHL-only contract currently. He is the most likely to get his contract upgraded to a two-way deal inseason, if injuries occur.
Day, along with Connor Clattenburg, Jayden Grubbe, Matvey Petrov, James Stefan, Brady Stonehouse, and Beau Akey, are all prospects in the system. These cuts don’t come as too much of a surprise, even as some, like Clattenburg, made a bit of noise early in camp. Day projects to compete for starting time with the ECHL’s Fort Wayne Komets.
Training camp now down to 39 players
In addition to two players (Tommy Lafrenière and David Lewandowski) being returned to Junior clubs, 16 players have now departed camp. 39 still remain, with varying degrees of likelihood of winning an NHL job. Below are lists of those who remain:
| FORWARD | FORWARD | FORWARD |
| L. Draisaitl | C. McDavid | Z. Hyman* |
| A.Mangiapane | RNH | V. Podkolzin |
| M. Janmark | A. Henrique | K. Kapanen |
| T. Frederic | M. Jones | C. Lazar |
| Q. Hutson | I. Howard | M. Savoie |
| D. Tomasek | R. Jarventie | N. Philp |
| V. Marjala | J. Samanski | W. Nicholl |
| DEFENCE | DEFENCE |
| Evan Bouchard | Mattias Ekholm |
| Darnell Nurse | Jake Walman |
| Ty Emberson | Brett Kulak |
| Troy Stecher | Josh Brown |
| Cam Dineen | Riley Stillman |
| Alec Regula | Atro Leppänen |
| Damien Carfagna |
| GOALTENDERS |
| Stuart Skinner |
| Calvin Pickard |
| Matt Tomkins |
| Connor Ungar |
| Samuel Jonsson |
The Oilers have a pair of forthcoming home contests: one tonight versus the Winnipeg Jets, and the other on Sunday versus the Vancouver Canucks. Edmonton’s preseason slate wraps up with a two-game Pacific Northwest trip (Seattle and Vancouver) later next week. In-between those sets of two games is likely when we could see more camp roster cuts.
Of the players that remain, eight are easy to project as cuts. Among forwards, Jarventie, Samanski, Marjala, and Nicholl are likely, with Jarventie being the only one of the four heralded before. Defence cuts will likely include Leppänen and Carfagna. Goaltenders Ungar and Jonsson both project to be given more development time in the minors.
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