Ben Scrivens Placed on Waivers

The Edmonton Oilers have placed Ben Scrivens on waivers for the purpose of assignment to the Bakersfield Condors. RIP to this photoshop I made of the Oilers goalie tandem from last year. Things have changed, man.

With Anders Nilsson going a perfect 53 for 53 in the saves department I was wondering how or if the Oilers would be able to tell him he didn’t do enough to make the team. He did absolutely everything he could to make the Edmonton Oilers opening night roster and he earned the spot honestly. That’s not to say that Ben Scrivens played poorly during the pre-season. Scrivens stopped 52 of 56 shots for a .929 Save%. I’m sure this decision wasn’t made easily by Todd McLellan’s coaching staff, but a choice had to be made and they went with Nilsson. 

To me, the most interesting thing about Scrivens being placed on waivers is the fact that it is another one of Craig MacTavish’s moves being undone by the new management team. Peter Chiarelli and Todd McLellan didn’t have to feel loyal to Ben Scrivens or Nikita Nikitin and they made the decisions they thought would be best for the Edmonton Oilers. As Jonathan Willis wrote yesterday, “This says a lot about the current administration, and a lot about the former regime.” A lot of those old players are being cleared out and that’s an indictment on MacT’s tenure as general manager. 

With Ben Scrivens on waivers for the purpose of assignment and Nikita Nikitin clearing waivers this morning, the Oilers will have sent $6.8 million in salary down to the AHL Condors. That’s a lot of bread to have riding the bus. It will be interesting to see how this turns out. Yes, Anders Nilsson did stop every shot he faced but on most nights he wasn’t looking at NHL competition. Can he keep the run going into the regular season? How much is he even going to play? We shall see.

Dear Ben,

This is a letter that I didn’t want to write. I honestly thought that you were the goalie that was going to lead the Oilers back to the playoffs. Remember the night of the 59 save shutout? I’ll never forget it either. You were great despite not having much help as the San Jose Sharks threw absolutely everything they had at you. I’m sorry that you didn’t get much help in any of the games since. 

I never thought it would end this way, but we have to move on. Good luck, Professor. You deserve better than what you got on a lot of nights while playing for your home town.

Best,

Baggedmilk