Mark Fayne Placed on Waivers

The Edmonton Oilers tweeted out that defenseman Mark Fayne has been placed on waivers.

After signing a four-year deal with the Oilers in the summer of 2014, Mark Fayne has had an up and down ride in his time with the Oilers. Fayne came in from New Jersey as an analytics favourite and was expected to help the Oilers calm down in their own end  and get the puck moving the right way, but that hasn’t happened as planned. Instead, he has found himself as a healthy scratch at times and only played in one game this season before being injured and finding himself on the outside looking in. 

While some folks feel that Fayne can still contribute to the Oilers’ defense, it appears as though Todd McLellan would rather go with the younger, cheaper option in Matt Benning for now. Benning has filled in admirably and it appears as though the Oilers would rather allow him to develop on the third pairing than have Fayne taking up that spot in the lineup. Although the Oilers tweeted out that Fayne has been put on waivers they didn’t specify whether this would be a conditioning assignment or if they expect the 29-year-old defender to stick with the Condors. Either way, we’ll have to wait and see what happens. One thing is for certain, if you’re in Mark Fayne’s camp I imagine that you’re hoping for a waiver claim over the next 24 hours to, maybe, get a fresh start in a new city.

In the very least, placing Mark Fayne on waivers is another one of Craig MacTavish’s moves that seem to be going sideways. I would love to know what it’s like to for MacT to be sitting in the boardroom with Chiarelli as he ceremoniously dismantles every single move that he made as the GM of this hockey team. Does Craig hide in the corner? Does he slip out the door when no one is looking? Does he throw his hands in the air like Shaggy and say it wasn’t him? Unfortunately, we’ll never know.

Regardless, I’m curious what you guys think of Mark Fayne being placed on waivers and whether or not you think his time with the Oilers is finished? What say you, Nation?

November 29th: The Oilers have tweeted out this morning that Mark Fayne has cleared waivers.