After impressing basically everyone during his first NHL training camp, Ryan McLeod has been assigned to the Mississauga Steelheads of the Ontario Hockey League.

As I mentioned and it’s worth repeating, Ryan McLeod had an excellent training camp and it’s exciting to think that the Oilers may have landed a winner with their second round pick in this year’s draft. He’s the kind of skilled centremen that could add another nice layer of depth in the coming years and I’m genuinely looking forward to watching his progression. That said, there is still plenty of runway left before we can call this a win, but his performance in his first taste NHL training camp was very encouraging to say the least. Outside of outliers like Patrice Bergeron and Ryan O’Reilly, there aren’t many second round picks that crack NHL rosters in the months immediately following the draft.

Based on the way he played at camp, you’d have to think that an ELC will come soon for the former 40th overall pick. From an Oilers perspective, there is a little bit of pressure to get this contract done relatively quickly as waiting too long, or until McLeod turns 20 years old, could result in losing the slide eligibility on his contract, meaning his ELC would start immediately regardless of where he plays. That said, I highly doubt the Oilers will wait on this one and even though I’m certainly guessing, I’d bet that we see a contract announcement for McLeod in the coming weeks if not days. Regardless of when the deal gets done, I tip my cap to Ryan McLeod for making an excellent first impression.

With this cut, the Oilers training camp roster is now down to 15 forwards, 10 defencemen, and three Goalies.