A few noteworthy things have happened today coming off a week that saw Edmonton outscored 12-6 and outshot 68-45.
First off the Oilers announced they were sending down Ryan Spooner and Ty Rattie on waivers with the intent to send them to the AHL. The team likely would prefer someone to take these contracts off their hands... Rattie may get claimed but I would be utterly shocked if Spooner is.
With Spooner being sent down, this may signal the end result of the Jordan Eberle deal. Eberle was traded two summers ago for Ryan Strome and "cap space." Strome was nowhere near the offensive player that Eberle was, but he ended up settling in nicely as a third line centre.
In November Chiarelli traded Ryan Strome for Ryan Spooner; a move I hated instantaneously. While some were discussing it as a nothing trade and a lateral move, I felt otherwise, that it was a move that would ultimately create another hole in the roster. Here is what I wrote shortly after the trade happened.
On a roster where bottom 6 forwards play on the top line and third pairing D are in the top 4 Strome was a player who was exactly where he was supposed to be. Strome was a positive possession third line centre and a solid penalty killer on a team that desperately needs penalty killers. The fact that he was able to maintain solid possession numbers while being anchored to Lucic is something of a miracle.
Ryan Strome struggled to produce with Edmonton this season....while being anchored to Milan Lucic who long after Strome was gone, continued to hurt his linemates. After Strome left, the team had Brodziak centring the third line for a time, then Jujhar Khaira who plays better as a wing, and finally waiver pickup Colby Cave. Another example of Chiarelli trading something away, not getting anything of value in return, and then having to try and fill the other hole he created. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.
Ryan Strome's 6 goals with the Rangers would be 5th best on the Oilers roster.
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Ty Rattie becomes another victim of Ken Hitchcock. I have never minded Rattie as a player but in truth he is an AHL player that can occasionally be effective at the NHL level. He was never going to be McDavid's permanent winger, and he struggled to bring much of anything, relegated to fourth line duty.
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Meanwhile the Oilers also sent young Caleb Jones back down to the AHL. Hitchcock said in his press scrum today that the Oilers need more NHL vets in the lineup and will likely be going back to Gravel and Petrovic.... those are the NHL vets that will save this team.
No one should be harping on Caleb Jones at this point in his young career. Over the past few games he has made mistakes and some of those mistakes have directly led to goals against, that is the reality of learning at the NHL level. Jones was averaging close to 20 minutes a night, on a line with Adam Larsson, who self admitted that his own game was not where he wanted it.
With Klefbom out, Jones still ended up looking like the third or fourth best defender on this roster. In a perfect world, he would stay in the lineup as a third pairing player where he can receive more controlled and sheltered minutes. Unfortunetly the Oilers have plenty of third pairing players.
Caleb Jones will return to the AHL with an understanding of the NHL game and what he needs to work on. His work ethic last summer and through training camp were substantial, and another year with hard work like that could ensure he is a regular NHLer next October.
Thanks for reading.
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • 
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