October 6, 2024 by Ryan Lotsberg

The deadline for NHL teams to submit their season opening rosters is on Monday at 3 pm MT. Players that require waivers being sent down to the AHL will need to be placed on waivers on Sunday to be cleared in time to be sent down on Monday, so Sunday will reveal a lot of information about teams’ roster choices.

Here’s where the Edmonton Oilers stand:

Nugent-Hopkins ($5.125M)	McDavid ($12.5M)	Hyman ($5.5M)
J. Skinner ($3M)	Draisaitl ($8.5M)	Arvidsson ($4M)
Janmark ($1.45M)	Henrique ($3M)	C. Brown ($1M)
Podkolzin ($1M)	Ryan ($900k)	Perry ($1.15M)
13F

Ekholm ($6M)	Bouchard ($3.9M)
Nurse ($9.25M)	Emberson ($950k)
Kulak ($2.75M)	Stecher ($787,500)
8D	J. Brown ($1M)

S. Skinner ($3.6M)

Pickard ($1M)

Other players at camp: Lavoie, Philp, Caggiula, Dermott (PTO)

I think that the players noted in the tables above will definitely be on the roster. The decisions lie with the four other players remaining at camp.

The twelve forwards listed above are most likely the ones that we will see on opening night. Vasily Podkolzin did enough to win the job for the fourth line left wing spot. Mike Hoffman was released from his PTO somewhat early in camp, and Raphael Lavoie only played in three games due to injury. Podkolzin showed that he can play a fourth line style game by playing in straight lines, being physical, and having good attention to detail. He’s someone that I could see moving up the lineup as the season moves along.

I thought that Drake Caggiula had a great camp. He was involved in a lot of chances, and he looked quick. He never had a chance to make this team though. He has been destined for Bakersfield from the start. He might have played himself into consideration for a recall this season though.

Noah Philp had a strong camp, and many people believe that he earned the fourth line centre role over Derek Ryan. As much as I like Philp and believe that he will take that role from Ryan eventually, I don’t think that Philp did enough to steal the job from Ryan, who had a pretty good camp. Philp and Ryan both had two points in camp, but Ryan did it in one less game. Ryan’s underlying numbers were also superior to Philp’s. Philp is better served playing big minutes for the Bakersfield Condors to start the season. Philp is also exempt from waivers, which makes it an easier decision to send him down.

Related: Philp was the most positive story of Oilers camp

That leaves Lavoie. He hasn’t played since September 28 due to a lower body injury. The team hasn’t commented on the severity of the injury, which tells me that it isn’t a serious injury that will cause him to miss a bunch of time. However, he remains injured. Injured players can’t be sent to the AHL, unless it’s for a conditioning stint. That’s why I think that Lavoie will be included as the thirteenth forward on Monday’s season opening roster submission, and the biggest reason that Philp and Caggiula are likely to be placed on waivers at noon on Sunday.

The seven defencemen that remain with the team were the most likely choices heading into camp. The decision regarding the outcome of Travis Dermott’s PTO is the only decision left on defence. If Lavoie is going to be included on the season opening roster, then there won’t be cap space left to sign Dermott. That doesn’t mean that he won’t get a contract at some point though. Dermott can stay with the team without a contract on a PTO. He wouldn’t be able to play in regular season games until he gets a contact, but he would be able to practice with the team. 

Tom Gazzola reported that the team is likely going to give Dermott a contract on Friday’s edition of The Oil Stream on Edmonton Sports Talk, and Frank Seravalli has also said that he thinks Dermott will get a contract. I think it would be a smart decision to give Dermott a contract. He had a good camp, and he offers the versatility of being able to play on both sides. Dermott might just have to wait for a minute or two to sign that contract.

Should Dermott sign, it would mean that Lavoie would get sent to Bakersfield UNLESS the Oilers were to make the right decision to send Josh Brown down. I don’t see that happening though. 

Related: Brown should be sent down

Adding Dermott, keeping Brown, and demoting Lavoie would leave the Oilers with twelve forwards and eight defencemen, which isn’t an ideal situation.

Training camp didn’t do much to answer questions about defence pairings beyond the Mattias Ekholm and Evan Bouchard pairing. It seems like Darnell Nurse and Ty Emberson will start together. They started camp together, and they played well together in the one game they played together. The real question is the identity of Brett Kulak’s partner. He spent a lot of time with Brown in camp, but he played with Troy Stecher in the preseason finale. I think that the battle for ice time among the bottom of the roster defencemen will continue throughout the season, which is the only reason that keeping eight defencemen and no extra forwards might make sense.

You might’ve noticed that I included Roby Jarventie being on season opening reserve in my cap calculation. Jarventie did not participate in training camp due to injury. PuckPedia reported the information about Jarventie meeting the criteria to count as a small cap hit as a result of being injured before the season started based on the number of days he spent on an NHL roster last season.

If #LetsGoOilers Roby Jarventie is not healthy for opening roster submissions, he'll carry a Season Opening IR cap hit of $107K while injured.https://t.co/WdF29Zb6nt

— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) October 1, 2024

To summarize, I believe that Caggiula will be waived at noon on Sunday and subsequently sent down to Bakersfield on Monday. I think that Philp will be sent down to Bakersfield on Monday as well. I also think that the team will kick the Dermott decision down the road until Lavoie gets healthy, at which time Lavoie will get waived and sent down and Dermott will receive a contract.

Here’s what I think Monday’s roster submission will look like:

Nugent-Hopkins ($5.125M)	McDavid ($12.5M)	Hyman ($5.5M)
J. Skinner ($3M)	Draisaitl ($8.5M)	Arvidsson ($4M)
Janmark ($1.45M)	Henrique ($3M)	C. Brown ($1M)
Podkolzin ($1M)	Ryan ($900k)	Perry ($1.15M)
Lavoie ($775k)

Ekholm ($6M)	Bouchard ($3.9M)
Nurse ($9.25M)	Emberson ($950k)
Kulak ($2.75M)	Stecher ($787,500)
	J. Brown ($1M)

S. Skinner ($3.6M)

Pickard ($1M)