4 Edmonton Oilers At Risk of Demotion or Trade

Kris Knoblauch, Edmonton Oilers head coach

The Edmonton Oilers are going to have a roster crunch sometime soon. Currently, Zach Hyman, Jake Walman, and Mattias Janmark are all out of the lineup with injuries but expected back relatively soon (Hyman comes off LTIR on Nov. 1).

Additionally, Alec Regula was just placed on IR on Sunday.

But when all of those names are back, bodies will have to be moved out. Insider Frank Seravalli told Kevin Karius that four players are at risk of losing their places on the Oilers roster eventually—either by demotion or by trade.

I think there’s going to be a pecking order here. I think the first player likely to move is Issac Howard, because he’s waiver-exempt.
Then, I’d say it’s probably Curtis Lazar, and as you work through the permutations, the Oilers want to do everything they can to avoid putting Noah Philp on waivers, because they think he’s likely to be claimed and I do too...
When everyone is healthy... the odd man out is going to be (Ty) Emberson. When that happens, do the Oilers look to make a trade and move Emberson? And the other part is I think they would be open to moving Janmark in the right trade if that were to present itself.

Howard, a top prospect, has made his NHL debut this season, but in four games, hasn't made much of an impression, with 9:12 average ice time, and zero points, zero hits and a zero plus/minus (which, let's face it, is a positive). He's eligible to be sent to the AHL without having to go through waivers, so he's No. 1 on the hit parade.

Lazar, who's been occupying a seat in the press box, would potentially be placed on waivers.

And with Walman set to return to the blueline soon, and when Regula does ultimately return, it makes a ton of sense that Emberson would be the odd man out, and the Oilers would try to find a trade partner for him. He is on a relatively cheap two-year deal with a $1.3 million cap hit and spent some decent time on the third pair last season.

As for Janmark, he also has two seasons left on his contract, with a $1.45 million AAV. A 10-team no-trade list limits the possibilities to deal him a bit, but with the logjam up front, his weakened play last season might not be enough to save him a roster spot when all hands are on deck.