Oilers will be forced to play with short lineup, blocked from making roster move
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The Edmonton Oilers will be facing off against the Anaheim Ducks tonight with a unique problem in their lineup - they'll be short one player.
With the Oilers dealing with injuries to McDavid, Draisaitl, and Frederic, the team has taken a major hit to their forward group and now will be forced to be down a player.
Edmonton Oilers forced to play down a player in tonight's game due to salary cap
Usually the Oilers can play with 11 forwards and 7 defenceman, but this time they won't have the luxury of an extra blueliner. The Oilers will be entirely down a man.
For one game it shouldn't be a big issue, but the Oilers being forced into this situation is a result of some questionable roster decisions. The signing of John Klingberg at $1.7M is clearly the top among them.
After the Oilers do play one game down a player, they will have the option to use the emergency recall. For now though, they don't have enough cap space to add anyone at league minimum.
The Edmonton Oilers entered this season with extra cap space, and decided to spend it on adding Klingberg and Kapanen mid-season. Looking back on their impacts, it wasn't the best use of cap space.
Oilers cap space mistakes costing them roster flexibility
After Klingberg was just cleared to return from a lower body injury, the veteran defenceman didn't travel with the team on their road trip due to an infection. He's now played only 1 game in the last month.
According to insider Jason Gregor, Klingberg may go on LTIR and miss the rest of the season to give the Oilers space for a roster move.
Nevertheless, after the Oilers play short tonight against the Anaheim Ducks, they may call up another player from the AHL. It should be Matthew Savoie or Noah Philp, but it will likely be Derek Ryan.
Tonight's game against Anaheim is shaping up to be a scheduled loss for the Oilers with a heavily weakened squad and a rookie goaltender. Still, with a win, they'll have a chance to clinch a playoff spot tonight.
| POLL | ||
AVRIL 7 | 790 ANSWERS Oilers will be forced to play with short lineup, blocked from making roster move Do you think the Oilers signing Klingberg was a mistake? | ||
| Yes | 548 | 69.4 % |
| No | 242 | 30.6 % |
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