Oilers Cut 12

The Edmonton Oilers cut 12 players today and gave the Oklahoma City Barons the heart of their team.

G Olivier Roy gets sent down in order to compete with David LeNeveu for the backup job in the AHL. It’s likely Roy will spend all or part of the season in the ECHL with Stockton this year.

D’s Alex Plante and Ryan Lowery were also sent down. Plante would appear to be well down the OKC depth chart to start the season, there are several (many) defensemen who are still in Edmonton and making an impression. Aside from the 6 Oiler veterans, Taylor Chorney, Jeff Petry, Corey Potter, Taylor Fedun and Colten Teubert (injured) are still in camp. That puts Plante 12th on the overall depth chart. Lowery signed an AHL contract with OKC and the demotion today was just a paper transaction.

Two defensemen were also optioned out: D Martin Marincin was sent back to junior, giving the young man a chance to follow through and have a strong season. His first half was brilliant a year ago, but the second half was poor. D Kirill Tulupov was sent to OKC and I expect he’ll be signing a contract this week.

The Oilers also sent out several forwards:

1. C Chris VandeVelde: Surely a disappointment for him but there’s just too much talent for him to beat back. I expect he’ll see a recall during the season.
2. C Ryan Martindale: Still no certain word on a contract, with Marincin being sent down the team does have some freedom.
3. C-R Tyler Pitlick: Impressed this fall, he’s a guy who might get a recall during the regular year. Pitlick’s skill set is somewhat unique in this group (gritty, excellent shot) so he might end up staying awhile upon his return.
4. C-L Tanner House: He had some strong moments and is on the radar for the organization. House was sent down a little later than some of the guys he’ll be in competition with (Tremblay, Arcobello) and that’s always a good sign.
5. L Curtis Hamilton: Showed well but I think everyone expected he’d be in OKC around this time. Has a nice range of skills, and is a better passer than I thought he’d be at this level.
6. L Phil Cornet: I think he regained his status a little during this TC, and am hopeful he can build on it. So far, he reminds me of Slava Trukhno, who impressed at TC and then failed in the AHL. Here’s hoping he can find a way.
7. R Milan Kytnar: Injury washed away his preseason, I don’t have any idea how the organization values him at this point. Needs a strong AHL season, he played well in OKC a year ago.

Here is the Oilers current roster:

1. G Devan Dubnyk
2. G Nikolai Khabibulin
3. G Yann Danis
4. D Ryan Whitney (injured)
5. D Tom Gilbert
6. D Cam Barker
7. D Ladislav Smid
8. D Theo Peckham
9. D Andy Sutton
10. D Taylor Chorney
11. D Jeff Petry
12. D Corey Potter
13. D Colten Teubert 
14. D Taylor Fedun
15. C Sam Gagner
16. C Shawn Horcoff
17. C Eric Belanger
18. C Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
19. C Anton Lander
20. C Ryan O’Marra
21. L Taylor Hall
22. L Ryan Smyth
23. L Magnus Paajarvi
24. L Ben Eager
25. L Darcy Hordichuk
26. L Teemu Hartikainen
27. L Lennart Pettrell
28. L Josh Green  
29. R Ales Hemsky
30. R Jordan Eberle
31. R Linus Omark
32. R Ryan Jones
33. R Gilbert Brule
34. R Ryan Keller
35. R Antti Tyrvainen