It’s been a tough few months for David Musil.

The Edmonton Oilers played hardball with the 2011
second-round pick in contract negotiations this summer, knocking the dollar
figure low at both the NHL and AHL level. He cleared waivers after being cut
early on this fall. And on Tuesday, he was a healthy scratch for Bakersfield’s
first game of the AHL season.

There will, doubtless, be some collective shrugging of
shoulders at that news, so it’s worth reiterating how highly thought of Musil
once was.

This was a player that Edmonton was so enamoured of that in
2012 the Oilers put him on a special list that would have enabled them to
recall him from junior when the lockout that year ended. He earned an NHL
recall on merit in 2014-15, and looked pretty decent in a lot of ways over four
major-league games.

He’s also a player who has been a strong defender at the AHL
level for years and is still only 23 years old.

Condors head coach Gerry Fleming explained the decision to 630
CHED’s Bob Stauffer yesterday:

Looking at Bakersfield’s defensive combinations on opening
night, it’s easy to see what happened:

Jordan Oesterle played 17 games with the Oilers last season
and has another year of waiver exemption; we’re likely to see him in the majors
again this year and if he continues to play well he’ll be a full-time NHL’er no
later than when his waiver exemption runs out next fall. Recent college free
agent Benning was only just now cut by Edmonton and also must be regarded as
near the very top of the recall list.

A rung down the organizational ladder, Griffin Reinhart has
had a disappointing pro career both for a fourth overall pick and for a guy
that Edmonton paid a massive trade price to acquire, but he has pedigree and is
clearly valued by general manager Peter Chiarelli. Dillon Simpson gets a little
better every year and brings versatility; he’s a third-year pro who should get
a recall at some point this season.

I’d put Musil in the tier below that, along with veteran
Mark Fraser and Joey Laleggia, and Fraser’s pretty clearly the problem.
Laleggia is an undersized offensive defenceman and undoubtedly the primary
puckmover on that third pairing. Fraser and Musil share a similar skills
profile – big, tough, defensive defenceman – and are obviously not a great fit
as a pairing. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see the coach rotate between them
(at least as long as he has a healthy lineup) and it also isn’t a huge shock to
see the guy with 219 NHL games (including 34 in 2014-15) get the first shot at
a regular job.

Musil being a healthy scratch, in that context, really doesn’t
seem so bad; Bakersfield has a lot of good defencemen. But he’s been passed by
Simpson and Oesterle, both better fits for the direction the NHL game is
headed. The type of game he plays falls somewhere between that of Reinhart and
Fraser, both players the organization seems to value ahead of him.

There will be injuries and recalls and Musil will get his
minutes. At this point, though, he looks a lot like a guy the organization
could cut loose next summer.