Job Market

With the 20 roster cuts this afternoon, the Oilers are down to a more workable number. The truth is we could probably cut this roster down ourselves (and right now) and be very close to the 23 who’ll make the grade. How many spots are open for competition? My answer is 6.

We can begin the conversation by listing all of the contracts that won’t be moved and the players who will be an integral part of the 10-11 Oilers:

That leaves 6 roster spots open. One goalie, two defenders and three forwards. Allow me to list the 6 players I believe will fill those slots:

I’m assuming (as Jason Gregor has been telling us for some time) that JF Jacques won’t be ready. That means all of the other TC players are fighting with the 6  names in bold for big league employment. Here are the names:

I think that is everyone. However, there are lots of  names in there without a snowball’s chance in hell of making the final cut. I have placed the strongest contenders in italics.  JDD might beat DD, Belle could win a job over either Strudiwck or Peckham, and O’Marra is such a weak option for the extra C that Omark, Giroux and Reddox are in the mix. Anyone else? If my ramblings are true, we can probably predict the next 14 cuts: Gerber, Roy, Chorney, Plante, Petry, Petiot, Motin, Moran, Stewart, Ondrus, VV, Hartikainen, Pitlick and Abney. 

Steve Tambellini’s Oilers are going to be very young, and unless they make a deal over the  next two weeks, we’re looking at (at MOST) one or two surprises at camp. Maybe Renney risks waivers for Peckham in favor of Belle, maybe the club decides Deslauriers is the man to backup Super Bowl Sunday and maybe O’Marra doesn’t win that last F slot (well, 13th ahead of MacIntyre). 

But this camp looks predictable from here. I can’t see this year’s Ryan Stone  in there. Can you?