More roster moves have come for the Edmonton Oilers Thursday morning, sending two defencemen and a forward to the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors.
Blueliners Max Wanner and Noel Hoefenmayer will join Ethan de Jong, released from a professional tryout, in Bakersfield, along with nine other players who were sent down Wednesday.
Wanner had a good training camp with the Oilers, showing in the Young Stars Classic and pre-season just how much he’s developed since the team drafted him in the seventh round of the 2021 draft. Much like Vincent Desharnais before him, Wanner appears to be the next big, late-round draft pick who will play NHL games for the team. The 21-year-old likely needs another year or two before arriving in the big leagues, but that would still have him playing games for the Oilers at a younger age than Desharnais did when he arrived in 2022-23 at 26 years old.
Hoefenmayer joined the Oilers ahead of last season on a one-year deal, re-upping a league-minimum deal this season to play for the Condors. He scored seven goals and 18 points in 47 games last year with the AHL club, a mark that was noticeably down from the 11 goals and 38 points in 65 games he had the year prior with the Toronto Marlies. Still, he’s only 25 years old, so there’s more room for him to continue to develop as a blueliner.
de Jong, also 25, is getting set for his second season of pro hockey. He debuted last year after a five-year run at the NCAA’s Quinnipiac University, scoring 61 goals and 144 points across 184 games, winning the national championship in his senior year. He played 14 games with the Condors last year, but saw most of his time with the ECHL’s Fort Wayne Komets, scoring 11 goals and 29 points in 41 games.
As highlighted by Bob Stauffer, the Oilers are down to 41 players left in camp, five of whom injured, with four goaltenders, 13 defencemen and 24 forwards. Edmonton now has just four pre-season games remaining: Saturday against Seattle and Monday against Vancouver at home, before making stops in both those cities Wednesday and Friday.

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@thenationnetwork.com.

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