Oilers waive Gravel, assign Marody, release Upshall

As per their twitter, the Oilers have trimmed their preseason roster down to 29 players. Among the casualties today were D Kevin Gravel, D Keegan Lowe and F Brad Malone, who were all placed on waivers for the purpose of assignment to Bakersfield. F Cooper Marody was sent to Bakersfield as well, but didn’t have to be placed on waivers. F Scottie Upshall was released from his PTO as well.

The breakdown of the remaining roster, as per the Oilers twitter:

The goaltenders:

Mikko Koskinen, Al Montoya, Cam Talbot

Talbot is the incumbent with Montoya looking the more capable of the two potential backups, though the sample is indeed small so far.

Defenders:

Ethan Bear, Matt Benning, Evan Bouchard, Jason Garrison, Jakub Jerabek, Adam Larsson, Oscar Klefbom, Darnell Nurse, Kris Russell, Andrej Sekera

With Sekera out forever, at least one of newcomers Garrison, Jerabek, and Bouchard stand a legitimate chance of making the team. Oilers fans either shudder or froth at the idea of Bouchard running the Oilers powerplay as a freshman, but Jerabek is a cup-winner and Garrison has been around the block so both veterans could make a half-compelling case to stay. Neither has covered themselves in glory in the preseason but, then again, outside of John Tavares, who has?!

Forwards:

Pontus Aberg, Kyle Brodziak, Drake Caggiula, Alex Chiasson, Leon Draisaitl, Zack Kassian, Jujhar Khaira, Milan Lucic, Connor McDavid, Ryan McLeod, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Jesse Puljujarvi, Ty Rattie, Tobias Rieder, Ryan Strome, Kailer Yamamoto

McDavid highlights an otherwise uninspiring group that will require two of Rattie, Yamamoto, and Puljujarvi to really groove it in and be NHL contributors this season. The good news is all three have shown very well this fall. The bad news is it’s the fall. We won’t know until we know, you know?!