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Oilers Place Ryan Jones On Waivers

The last piece of the roster puzzle is in place. Ryan Jones is on his way out of town.

By ryan_batty
Perry Nelson

Ryan Jones has been a fan favourite in Edmonton pretty much since the minute he got here. He is the blue collar type of player that fans of the Oilers tend to love. His style of play wasn't pretty, in fact he spent most of the night on his ass, but the puck found a way to go in for him, and he was a lot of fun on Twitter, and so he was loved. Unfortunately he was never all that good at playing hockey and that has finally caught up with him. Announced via Twitter this morning the Oilers have placed him on waivers.

Jones had a terrible training camp. He dressed in five games, during which he scored one goal and generally looked useless. So on the one hand it's nice to see the Oilers holding player accountable for his poor play. On the other hand you can't help but think that signing a player to a $1.5M contract only to waive that player a couple of months later is a pretty big mistake. Jones didn't come to camp competing for a spot, he thought he had one and, based on his contract, so did the Oilers. That he was so easily passed during a two week stretch makes the move to re-sign him during the offseason questionable at best. This is a move I think Steve Tambellini would have been ripped apart for, I don't see why Craig MacTavish shouldn't get the same treatment.

The big question now is, will he be claimed? He scored 18 goals in his first full season with the Oilers (2010/11) and another 17 the year after, but an eye injury cut into his 2013 season and he scored just twice in 23 games. I don't know if there is much of a market for a player making $1.5M that almost never makes it back to the defensive end of the rink, but I could see a team taking a chance on him. If he's not claimed he'll be on his way to Oklahoma City to join the Barons. And thanks to the new rules in the CBA, the Oilers will still be on the hook for a $575k cap hit.

With this move the Oilers roster is now set. And the bottom half of the forwards is downright scary.

Four AHLers and three players who punch more than they play. This is going to work out wonderfully.