Taylor Chorney Gets The Oklahoma City Assignment

It seems that a few Edmonton defensemen are ready for action, or at least close to it. Following a mashup of injured defensemen in the waning moments of NHL preseason, Taylor Chorney found a roster spot in the big leagues. Having proved himself worthy in both training camp, and the twelve regular season games the year prior, Chorney was set to be the replacement spoke in the broken defensive wheel. Those days have quickly come and gone as the Oilers have assigned Chorney to the Oklahoma City Barons.

Chorney, the career Oiler, has earned 56 NHL games, but has indeed spent most of his pro days playing in the minor leagues, most recently with the Oklahoma City Barons last season where he earned 16 points in 46 games. His mid-season recall to the Oilers a year ago was a decent showing as well through twelve games.

On the heels of an embarrassingly bad Oklahoma City season opener on Saturday where the team lost to rival Texas 7-0, Chorney will add depth to the young D. He alone won't solve the defensive problems so apparent in that game, but it certainly couldn't hurt. And with the Barons home opener less than a week away (again playing the Stars), the AHL club could certainly use the extra bravado that Chorney can bring.

With Chorney headed to Oklahoma City, this also means that either Ben Eager or Ryan Whitney are seemingly ready for play. That's good news for the Oilers as they travel to take on the Minnesota Wild on Thursday, and return home for the weekend.