The Oilers re-assigned Chris Vande Velde, Colten Teubert and Taylor Fedun to OKC today, but they also recalled Yann Danis.

Danis will actually be coming to Edmonton this time. On Sunday when the Oilers handed out their training camp roster, Danis’ name was on the list, but the Oilers never recalled him until today.

Nikolai Khabibulin’s groin is still a concern so the Oilers will play it safe and bring up Danis. They’ve also called up Tyler Bunz from Stockton to go to OKC, so I’m guessing Danis will dress Sunday in Vancouver.

Danis hasn’t put up great numbers in OKC this year. He’s 13-13-3 with a 2.99 GAA and a .905 SV%. If Khabibulin’s injury is serious, I wonder if the Oilers look at claiming Henrik Karlsson, who was put on waivers today by the Calgary Flames.

Karlsson hasn’t played much, only 26 appearances over two years with the Flames, but he might have more upside than Danis.

The Oilers don’t play back-to-back until January 30th in Phoenix and the 31st in San Jose, so Devan Dubnyk should be able to play the first five games prior to those two. That gives Khabibulin another two weeks to recover.

If Dubnyk plays well I suspect he will start 38 of the 48 games this year, but the Oilers need to ensure they have a capable backup for the other ten. Khabibulin practiced for the past three days, and I didn’t notice him favouring his groin at any point, but be recalling Danis it is clear they have some concerns regarding his health.

The Oilers have to declare their 23-man roster tomorrow afternoon. Andy Sutton and Ryan Jones will start on the IR, and I’m guessing Khabibulin will as well. That leaves 24 players remaining in camp.

The Oilers will either send Magnus Paajarvi to OKC, or put Theo Peckham on IR. If they put Peckham on a two-week conditioning stint he still counts against the 23-man roster, so he either goes on IR, or they put him on waivers today, or they send Paajarvi down. They could send both Paajarvi and Peckham down, with Peckham on conditioning stint, as well.

It does Paajarvi no good sitting in the pressbox, and considering he skated on the 5th line all week, I doubt he cracks the opening night roster. He isn’t suited to play on the 4th line, and Teemu Hartikainen will get a look in the top-nine to start the season.

The Oilers have 7 healthy D-men ahead of Peckham, so I’d send Paajarvi down and Peckham  down to work work his way into game shape. The Oilers can’t afford to lose Peckham on waivers, mainly because they don’t have much, if any, NHL depth in the AHL, so put him on conditioning stint and re-assign Paajarvi.