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…