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Oilers Notebook: Adam Erne placed on waivers as Connor McDavid, Mattias Janmark miss practice

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Photo credit:Perry Nelson-USA TODAY Sports
Zach Laing
8 months ago
The Adam Erne experiment is over, at least for now, as the Edmonton Oilers placed the winger on waivers Tuesday.
Erne, 28, joined the Oilers on a professional tryout before training camp and showed well in the pre-season. He earned a league-minimum contract with the team, making his Oilers debut in the club’s second game of the season.
Six games in, he’s failed to do much, taking five shots on goal, laying 14 hits and averaging just 8:19 of ice time. With him on the ice at 5v5, the Oilers controlled 48.57 percent of the shot attempts, 56.25 percent of the scoring chances, and 51 percent of the expected goal share but were outscored 1-0.
The move signals a shift in the Oilers’ bottom six, allowing for a potential recall of forwards Sam Gagner, Lane Pederson, or Raphael Lavoie.
Gagner has appeared in three games with the Bakersfield Condors since signing a contract with them last week. With a goal and four assists, he’s shown well during his brief time there. Pederson, meanwhile, is off to a solid start to his season, too, with two goals and as many assists in four games.
Lavoie, however, is the wildcard in all of this. He narrowly missed making the team, and the Oilers themselves dodged an unforced error, placing him on waivers. He still cleared and has been on fire with the Condors to start the year, scoring four goals and seven points in five games. On Saturday night, Lavoie notched a Gordie Howe hat trick and was named the AHL’s player of the week.
On Twitter Tuesday afternoon, Oilersnation’s Jason Gregor speculated that it could clear the way for Gagner to make his return to Edmonton, given Pederson missed the Condors’ last game with an injury, and the club doesn’t want Lavoie to play fourth-line minutes.

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McDavid Janmark missed practice

The Oilers were without two players at practice Tuesday: captain Connor McDavid and forward Mattias Janmark.
McDavid returned from an upper-body injury Sunday in the Heritage Classic, and Sportsnet’s Mark Spector noted it was a maintenance day for him. Janmark, however, could be dealing with something more than just that.
Janmark, who didn’t play in the Heritage Classic, was spotted this weekend at an Oilers function wearing a sling on his right arm. There’s been no word as of the time of writing about a potential injury or how much time he could miss.

Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing or reached by email at zach@oilersnation.com.

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