The Oilers have announced the initial cuts at camp. These are the men that didn’t make the grade to get into tomorrow night’s split squad action.
The Oilers have assigned to their respective clubs:
Kirill Maksimov (Niagara OHL)
Ostap Safin (St. John QMJHL)
Dmitri Samorukov (Guelph OHL)
Stuart Skinner (Lethbridge WHL)
Dylan Wells (Peterborough OHL)
The move sets the contract slide in motion for Samorukov, effectively freeing up another contract spot on the team. The same will happen when the Oilers send any other (Yamamoto) Junior eligible player back to the CHL. Both goaltenders as well as Maksimov and Safin stood out in a positive way at the Young Stars tournament. We will be watching their development this coming year. I didn’t notice Samorukov much but he obviously has fans in the organization.
Tomorrow the Oilers play in split squad action. We may see another set of cuts shortly after that. The team has specific roster battles in mind for this season and they can afford to trim the fat outside of those spots. Of course, nobody on the projected roster is playing in 8 preseason games so bodies are needed to keep regulars rested.
The Oilers still have 29 forwards, 18 defenders, and 5 goaltenders on hand at camp. So there continues to be plenty of room to slash the camp roster and keep enough warm bodies to provide the necessary rest for the regulars. We look at the guys on AHL contracts except possibly Butcher – IF he’s caught McLellan’s eye – to be cut next.
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