This morning, the @Edmonton Oilers cleared up a spot in their defensive top six by assigning rookie, @Joel Persson, to the Bakersfield Condors.

With @Adam Larsson expected to return on Thursday night against the Kings and Caleb Jones picking up where he left off a year ago, the Oilers needed to clear up a spot on the back end and it was Joel Persson that drew the short straw. Alright, so maybe that might be a bit of a stretch. The reality is that Persson has struggled a little bit on the defensive side of the puck recently, not exactly a surprise considering he’s never played a game in North America before the tune-up games back in September, and some time in Bakersfield will probably do him a world of good. While his puck movement is a notable asset, Persson still has plenty to learn on the defensive side of the game and getting some at-bats with the Condors will certainly help him work towards that.

In Bakersfield, I’d expect Persson to play a lot of minutes in all situations as he looks to bounce back from what was a tough stretch that included a few nights in the press box after making some costly mistakes. That’s not to say that Persson won’t turn out, he certainly has the offensive instincts needed to stick in the big leagues, but it’s also not exactly surprising to see him battle the learning curve required to make the jump from the SHL to the NHL. And with the emergence of @Ethan Bear on the right side, the Oilers now have the flexibility to be patient with Persson which is a new and wonderful development that we may not be used to around these parts. Either way, I can’t imagine it’ll be long before we see Persson back in an Oilers uniform, especially if he can go down to Bakersfield and thrive against AHL competition.

In 10 games played so far, Persson has registered two assists to go along with 12 shots on goal, a 46.6 CF%, a 56.8 oZS% and an average of 15:43 worth of time on ice.