New NHL rules will give Oilers disadvantage with in-season roster moves
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It will be significantly harder for the Edmonton Oilers to adjust their roster under the new NHL rules next season.
The NHL is introducing new rules from the upcoming CBA early this season, which will include the banning of «paper transactions» - where teams make roster moves for cap purposes but don't actually reassign a player.
New NHL rules will hurt Edmonton Oilers with AHL team in California
Under the NHL's new rules, players will have to actually report to the farm team whenever sent down. The Oilers' farm team is the furthest distance away from anyone else in the league, which will create a logistical problem for Edmonton this year when making roster moves.
Oilers analyst Kurt Leavins raised this issue in a recent article for the Edmonton Journal, calling it a real disadvantage for the team.
Among the new changes to the CBA the «no paper loans» between the NHL and AHL again raises the practicality of having the Oilers farm club in Bakersfield. Shuttling prospects and managing the cap in the process just got harder. With all due respect to the terrific Condors fans there, it is starting to become a disadvantage for the organization. Pacific Division rivals Vancouver and Calgary already have their farm clubs just down the highway.
- Kurt Leavins
- Kurt Leavins
This will likely influence the Oilers to make as few roster moves as possible this season, or carry less players on their roster than the maximum.
It also raises the point once again that the Edmonton Oilers should probably relocate their AHL team closer to Alberta in the near future. It's an issue that also affects players, with Derek Ryan recently saying his AHL assignment was made worse by the travel.
The Oilers do have a number of options to relocate their AHL team to Alberta or Saskatchewan, but it will be a lengthy process.
Now that the NHL has made it intentionally harder to have a farm team such a distance away, the Oilers should begin to look at moving the Condors to Canada.
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