Oilers Assign Defenseman Caleb Jones to Bakersfield Condors

Earlier today the Oilers placed Ryan Spooner and Ty Rattie on Waivers. Now, they have also sent Caleb Jones down to the minors.

Caleb Jones showed really well for the first half of his first NHL call-up. He had six points total in his 17 games, including his first NHL goal.

Overall, I don’t think he has too much to be ashamed of in his time here. He made a few rookie mistakes that lead to some goals against, but he also inspired a lot of confidence into his game going forward. For the first 8 games he was here, he was the best defenseman in the lineup, driving possession, and creating chances.

Now, in the second half, he was still creating chances, but it wasn’t always for the right team. If he can get his game a little more consistent, I expect he’ll get another call up, and stay up. He’s very close to being an every day NHL Top-4.

There are some good reasons to do this with the NHL All-Star Game and Bye Week starting for the Oilers after Tuesday’s game against Detroit. Caleb will be getting some AHL games instead of sitting on the beach somewhere, and making AHL money instead of the $25000 every two weeks he makes up here. Yeah, I’d be pissed off.

When it comes to Ty Rattie and Ryan Spooner, it’s unclear if they were waived for the purpose of reassignment. I would suggest the real purpose is for them to get claimed, but often there’s a message of what happens to them if they clear waivers.

When a player clears waivers, they don’t have to be reassigned right away, the team is perfectly capable of keeping them on the NHL roster, and can assign them where ever they want for 30 days or 10 games (Whichever comes first), without needing the player to clear again. So unless I missed something — and I may have — it is unclear at this point whether or not Spooner and or Rattie will be headed to Bakersfield if they clear. Ideally, they both get claimed.

What is interesting, is the Oilers appear to be making room on their roster, and clearing cap space while they’re at it. I assume this is Oscar Klefbom getting close. It could also be Andrej Sekera, or even an incoming trade. If it’s a trade, it would certainly be of the terrible variety.

More as it comes in.