Hopefully, Raphael Lavoie packed light because he’s on his way to rejoin the Edmonton Oilers.
The Oilers had placed the winger on waivers on Monday, only to see him get claimed by the Vegas Golden Knights Tuesday, and for them to subsequently place him on waivers once again. Vegas had also claimed forward Cole Schwindt on waivers, hoping to get at least one of him or Lavoie, forcing them to choose between the two.
Edmonton will surely be happy to have Lavoie back in their organization.
Oilers general manager was on Sports 1440’s The Jason Gregor Show Tuesday, and said the team was hoping he would’ve cleared waivers initially.
“We weren’t looking to lose him, we were just trying to get him down to Bakersfield,” said Bowman. “He’s someone that, obviously, we’ve invested a lot of time with and I thought he had a good camp, he did a lot of good things.
“Sometimes, it’s a numbers game… If we do get the opportunity to get him back, I think there’d be some value in that for us.”
While it was previously believed there were no other teams that put in a waiver claim on Lavoie, that turned out to not be the case, our own Jason Gregor reported Wednesday. That situation would’ve allowed the Oilers to assign Lavoie outright to the AHL’s Condors, but now, he will still be waiver eligible, meaning he will stay on the Oilers roster for the time being.
Update..Another team (higher than them in standings last season) put in a claim on Lavoie, so he can't go directly to AHL. He is on Oilers roster. https://t.co/INC5guJoil
— Jason Gregor (@JasonGregor) October 9, 2024
Lavoie had a strong camp this year with the Oilers, scoring two goals in three games, taking 16 shots on goal. The Oilers dictated the pace of play well with him on the ice at five-on-five, too, controlling 54.2 percent of the expected goal share and 51.9 percent of the scoring chance share, while outscoring the opposition 4-2. The Oilers split the shot attempts with him on the ice.
He’ll now join a Condors team that will be thankful for his offensive punch, given over the last two seasons and 127 games, he’s scored 53 goals and 95 points.
The Oilers kick off their 2024-25 regular season Wednesday night, hosting the Winnipeg Jets for an 8:00 p.m. MST start.
Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist and makes up one-half of the DFO DFS Report. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.
