The Edmonton Oilers announced today that they have recalled three players from their AHL affiliate in Springfield: goalie Devan Dubnyk and defencemen Taylor Chorney and Theo Peckham.

Over at the Edmonton Journal, Jim Matheson explains that Ladislav Smid is fighting through a problem with a bulging disc that may only require rest but might also mean season-ending surgery. That explains the call-up of one defenceman.

The call-up of the other defenceman is what raises eyebrows. Matheson indulges in some (logical) speculation:

By my count, the Oilers have 12 healthy forwards (with Jacques finished for the year and Gagner still hurting) and seven healthy defencemen on the roster, and with several forwards rumoured to be on the trading block I imagine there’s a good chance we’ll see Jason Strudwick line up at the wing at some point in the coming week. With games on both Tuesday and Wednesday, the Oilers stand a good chance of being down to no spares in the coming days.

As for the players themselves, Chorney has improved in his latest farm stint and isn’t far below the ‘even’ plus/minus line (-4) in the new year. Theo Peckham on the other hand has been brutal since returning from injury; by my count he has a minus-11 rating in just 17 games since the new year, but with Alex Plante out and the entire AHL defensive corps imploding it isn’t like there was a vast array of choices to select from.

Meanwhile, Devan Dubnyk has been solid in Springfield and has won both of his last two games by identical 2-1 scores, allowing just two goals on 69 shots.

Well, that didn’t take long to make sense.  As per multiple sources, including the comments below and Ryan Rishaug calling into the Jason Gregor Show, the Oilers have traded Denis Grebeshkov to Nashville for a second round pick.  Grebeshkov joins Jordan Leopold and Dominic Moore as veterans traded for second round picks in the last while, and I can’t help but think he’s the best player of those three.  Matt Cullen drew a second round pick and a prospect.

I’m not overly surprised by this, but the return seems a little light given what other players have gone for, and I suspect Nashville wins this deal.  We’ll have a better idea if Steve Tambellini got legitimate value (and should hold off definitely judging it until then) for Grebeshkov once a few more trades go down, but as of now I doubt it.