The first day of the regular season is always a hopeful one.
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Unless you’re a Buffalo Sabres fan, nothing has gone wrong for your team yet. We can all dream on healthy, productive seasons from everyone on our favourite teams, and anything is possible with all teams tied at zero points.
Of course, something will always eventually go wrong, and the best way for teams to prepare for that eventuality is by building depth. Today, we’re going to take a look at the Oilers’ depth, and who might be the first players to be called up from Bakersfield in the event of an injury.
Some housekeeping to start: it’s expected that Matt Savoie and Cam Wright will be back in the AHL when the Oilers play their first game on Wednesday, while Travis Dermott should be with the team on a two-way contract. With Savoie’s call-up and Wright’s signing yesterday, we can also expect Evander Kane to be placed on LTIR.
That leaves the Oilers with twelve forwards, seven defencemen, and two goalies on their true opening night roster, with just over a million dollars in cap space (per PuckPedia). Who’s next up?
Forwards
C Noah Philp: The 26-year-old Canmore native had an extremely impressive training camp, playing his way from the very fringes of the roster right to the doorstep of the NHL. Philp earned high praise from both head coach Kris Knoblauch and GM Stan Bowman, and should be up with the Oilers very soon, not just as an injury replacement. Once with Edmonton, he’ll enter a rotation with Derek Ryan and Corey Perry on the fourth line.
C/LW James Hamblin: Hamblin was the team’s thirteenth forward for much of last season, playing more games with the Oilers than with the Bakersfield Condors. Once Philp is up, Hamblin will likely be the first call-up in case of injury, joining the Philp-Ryan-Perry rotation at the bottom of the lineup.
RW Matt Savoie: Ideally, when Savoie gets called up, he’s up for good. He’d have to force the issue with a productive year in Bakersfield, but could get the call if the Oilers need a scoring boost in the bottom six or a top-six winger hits the IR for an extended period. Viktor Arvidsson missed most of last season due to injury, so Savoie could end up being an important piece of Edmonton’s season.
LW Drake Caggiula: Caggiula would need a few injuries on the big club to get his second stint with the Oilers, but he played his way into that discussion with a strong training camp. He’s been productive in the AHL over the past two seasons.
C/RW Lane Pederson: Like Caggiula, Pederson would need a few injuries to right wingers to get his shot with the Oilers. He got into 71 NHL games with four different teams from 2020-21 to 2022-23 before spending all of last year in Bakersfield. It’s likely bad news for the Oilers if we see Pederson in Edmonton this season.
Defence
RD Josh Brown: Acquired this offseason to play on the Oilers’ third pair, Brown lost his job to Dermott and Troy Stecher with a poor training camp. Still, the team committed $3 million to him over the next three years, so he’ll probably be up as soon as an Oiler defender goes down or if either Stecher or Dermott disappoint. As long as he plays well in Bakersfield, of course.
LD Ben Gleason: Unlike at forward, the Oilers don’t have many defenders with NHL experience down on the farm. That means that a player like Gleason (4 career NHL games) can seize an opportunity with strong play in the AHL. The 26-year-old got off to a good start with a strong training camp and could see time in Edmonton if they see injuries on their left side.
RD Phil Kemp: Kemp probably deserves to be slotted above Gleason on merit, but his handedness and size overlap with Brown. Like with Caggiula and Pederson up front, any extended NHL time for Kemp probably means bad things for the Oilers.
Goaltender
Collin Delia/Olivier Rodrigue: The hope in Edmonton is that neither of these goalies needs to be called up. The Oilers’ goalie tandem is settled, with Stuart Skinner as the starter and Calvin Pickard filling in as his backup. Performance will dictate who gets the call if one of Skinner or Pickard gets hurt.
The veteran Delia carries an .897 save percentage in 52 NHL games, but had a very tough season last year with the Manitoba Moose (.872 sv% in 32 games). The Oilers hope the 24-year-old Rodrigue can build on a strong year in Bakersfield (.916 sv% in 37 games) and take the reins as the Condors’ starter.
Despite losing NHL depth over the offseason and Raphael Lavoie on waivers on Monday, the Oilers’ depth is in a decent place to start the year, with options at every position. One player who could also figure into the Oilers’ plans this year is prospect Roby Jarventie, a left winger acquired from Ottawa who missed all of training camp due to injury.
Expansion has spread out the NHL talent pool in recent years, with a lot of teams icing questionable players at the bottom of their lineups. With the wealth of talent at the top of the Oilers’ lineup, all their call-ups have to do is survive their minutes.
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