West Notes: Kraken, Appleton, Shore
January 30, 2023 at 7:52 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 7 Comments
While it seems odd that Seattle won't have a representative at the upcoming All-Star Game with Matty Beniers being replaced by Vegas center Chandler Stephenson, it appears the league did try to get a replacement representative from the Kraken. GM Ron Francis told Geoff Baker of The Seattle Times that another Seattle player was asked but declined in order to use the break to recuperate while most of the players had already left with their last game before the break coming on Saturday. They will be the lone team at the event without a representative.
More from the Western Conference:
While the Jets didn't have Mason Appleton back in the lineup tonight for their final game before the All-Star break, TSN's John Lu relays (Twitter link) that the winger is expected to play in their first game back on February 11th. The 27-year-old has been out since mid-November with a wrist injury and has been limited to just 14 games this season where he has a goal and five assists. Appleton's eventual return will certainly bolster Winnipeg's bottom six and will also open up some extra cap space heading to the deadline as they will have to move someone off the roster before they can activate him from IR.
Late Sunday, the Oilers announced (Twitter link) that they recalled forward Devin Shore from his conditioning stint with AHL Bakersfield. The 28-year-old last played with Edmonton nearly a month ago and has just three assists in 29 games so far this season. After a slow start with the Condors, Shore picked up five points in his final three games with them so it will be interesting to see if the Oilers find a way to get him into the lineup. The team also confirmed the release of emergency goaltender Matt Berlin. Berlin briefly played late in Saturday's victory over Chicago.
Devin Shore| Edmonton Oilers| Mason Appleton| Seattle Kraken| Winnipeg Jets
Devin Shore Sent On Conditioning Assignment
January 19, 2023 at 11:18 am CDT | by Gavin Lee Leave a Comment
The Edmonton Oilers have sent Devin Shore to the AHL on a conditioning loan, giving him the chance to get some game action. The veteran forward hasn't played yet in 2023, last suiting up on New Year's Eve and playing just over eight minutes.
Shore, 28, can stay for up to two weeks in the minor leagues on this loan, which doesn't take him off the roster or remove his cap hit. To assign him for longer, the Oilers would have to expose him to waivers. Signed to a two-year contract in 2021 which carries an $850K cap hit, Shore hasn't quite worked out for Edmonton as a bottom-six option.
Where he once was a 30-point man for the Dallas Stars, he now has just 23 in 116 total games for the Oilers. That includes just three assists this year, as Shore has failed to find the back of the net on any of his 17 shots. It doesn't make a lot of sense for the team to expose him when they don't need to but at some point, it seems like Shore is destined for waivers. When Kailer Yamamoto returns or they make a trade, cap space will be at a premium. His entire $850K deal can be buried in the minor leagues, should he clear, and the team isn't receiving much value from him at the moment.
AHL| Devin Shore| Edmonton Oilers| Loan
Edmonton Oilers Recall Philip Broberg
October 15, 2022 at 9:22 am CDT | by Gavin Lee Leave a Comment
Saturday: Shore and Broberg have swapped places once again with Shore rejoining the Oilers.
Friday: As the Edmonton Oilers prepare for action against the Calgary Flames tomorrow night, they've made a slight change to the roster. Philip Broberg is back up from the minor leagues, while Devin Shore has been reassigned to the Bakersfield Condors. The move suggests that the Oilers will have at least one of the two forwards – Warren Foegele and Kailer Yamamoto – that missed Wednesday's opener available for the next game.
The Oilers played a man short in their first game thanks to salary cap implications, something that hockey fans might have to get used to this season. With so many teams pushed right up against (or over) the cap ceiling, short-term injuries will have difficult complications. If a player is unavailable, but not out long enough to go on LTIR, some teams will be forced to play shorthanded to earn the emergency recalls to bring up minor league bodies.
As complicated as that sounds, it is a reality for the Oilers and others as they wait for the salary cap to increase in the coming years. For now, Edmonton will bring the young Broberg back up, meaning he'll be earning the NHL portion of his two-way contract.
Whether he goes into the lineup is unclear. The team spread out the defensive minutes rather evenly on Wednesday, with even Ryan Murray seeing close to 16. Part of that is because of how much short-handed time they had, which all six defensemen helped out with, but it also just seems to be a group that head coach Jay Woodcroft is more confident in. Darnell Nurse still led the way with more than 26 minutes but that is to be expected from the $9.25MM man.
If Broberg does get into the lineup, it would be for just the 24th time in a regular season game. The eighth overall pick from 2019 played 23 games for the Oilers last season, recording three points.
Devin Shore| Edmonton Oilers| Philip Broberg
Edmonton Oilers To Send Down Philip Broberg, Recall Devin Shore
October 11, 2022 at 3:18 pm CDT | by Josh Erickson Leave a Comment
Edmonton Oilers general manager Ken Holland said today, appearing on Oilers Now with Bob Stauffer, that the team will send defenseman Philip Broberg down to the AHL's Bakersfield Condors and recall forward Devin Shore.
It appears the Oilers need to make this move out of salary cap necessity. With Edmonton's tricky situation, it could actually cause them to start the season short a player. The team has basically maxed out their LTIR relief coming from Oscar Klefbom, Mike Smith, and Tyler Benson, who combine for a $7.117MM cap hit, meaning they can't recall an extra player to fill in. Forwards Warren Foegele and Kailer Yamamoto are day-to-day with injuries, and if neither of them can suit up tomorrow against the Vancouver Canucks, the team would need to play with 11 forwards and six defensemen.
Why Broberg and Shore in this transaction? The Oilers had 21 skaters on the active roster, including Foegele and Yamamoto: 12 forwards, seven defensemen, and two goalies. With injuries threatening Edmonton's forward health, the team opted to send down Broberg, who does not require waivers and was projected to be a healthy scratch for the season opener in favor of Ryan Murray, for Shore.
Shore carries a cap hit of $850,000 and cleared waivers earlier this week. Entering his third season with the Oilers, Shore had five goals, six assists, and 11 points in 49 games last year. He'll draw into the lineup in the event that either one of Foegele or Yamamoto cannot play tomorrow.
AHL| Devin Shore| Edmonton Oilers| Philip Broberg
Brendan Perlini, Scott Harrington Clear Waivers
December 8, 2021 at 1:00 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee Leave a Comment
Dec 8: Both players have cleared waivers and can be assigned to the minor leagues.
Dec 7: The Edmonton Oilers have activated Devin Shore from injured reserve, meaning someone needed to be moved off the roster to make room. That unlucky player is Brendan Perlini, who has been placed on waivers today. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports that Scott Harrington of the Columbus Blue Jackets has also been placed on waivers.
Perlini, 25, looked in the preseason like he was going to be a great find for the Oilers, after he spent last season playing in Switzerland. He was flying up and down the ice, contributing on offense and showing that same mix of power, size, and skill that made him the 12th overall pick in 2014. Unfortunately, once the regular season started Perlini reverted back to the disappointing, inconsistent player he has been throughout his NHL career. In 13 games with the Oilers, he has failed to register a single point while totaling fewer than nine minutes of ice time in ten different games.
There is still obvious upside in the 6'3″ forward–who had 45 goals in 199 games through the first three seasons of his career–but Perlini has never shown an ability to be a consistent top-six piece and disappears completely when given limited minutes. He's registered just six shots on net this season, and appears to be on his way to the minor leagues. Perhaps that's something that should have happened a long time ago, as Perlini never really did spend time in the AHL during his developmental years. He has just 17 appearances there since turning pro, all coming in 2016-17 with the Tucson Roadrunners.
Harrington meanwhile is an interesting waiver option as well, given his recent run in the NHL. The 28-year-old defenseman hasn't suited up for an AHL club since the 2016-17 season, spending the last several years as the extra defensemen with the Blue Jackets. He has 209 regular season appearances in his career, but just six of those have come this season. A second-round pick by the Pittsburgh Penguins, he would be an interesting pickup for a team needing a seventh defender at the NHL level.
Brendan Perlini| Devin Shore| Edmonton Oilers| Waivers
Injury Notes: Marner, Oilers, Kraken
December 3, 2021 at 2:33 pm CDT | by Josh Erickson 1 Comment
After colliding with teammate Jake Muzzin during practice, Toronto Maple Leafs winger Mitch Marner is "uncertain" for the team's Saturday game in Minnesota, according to Sportsnet's Luke Fox. Marner left practice early after the hit with medical personnel, but head coach Sheldon Keefe said it was precautionary in nature and that it's "not looking like anything serious." Hopefully, that holds true for the red-hot Leafs, who are 15-2-0 in their past 17 games. Marner has six points in his last five games and is fourth on the team with 21 points on the season after a really rough start.
Some other injury notes from around the league:
The Edmonton Oilers are banged up, especially on left defense with all three regulars out of the lineup. They got some good news today though, as head coach Dave Tippett reports that Darnell Nurse, winger Devin Shore, and goalie Mike Smith all skated today. However, Duncan Keith wasn't a part of that group and remains sidelined. The team's handled this recent stretch of adversity well, winners of three straight and a 16-5-0 record overall. The Oilers certainly still want these names back in their lineup though, especially Nurse, who leads the team by a long shot in ice time with 26:06 played per game.
The Athletic's Ryan S. Clark reports that the Seattle Kraken's Jordan Eberle and Jaden Schwartz are both day-to-day, but Schwartz hasn't skated while Eberle has. The team's two leading scorers both missed their Wednesday game against the Detroit Red Wings with lower-body injuries. It's been a tough opening ride for the Kraken, who sit seventh in the Pacific Division with an 8-13-2 record. While they've performed above-expected offensively, they've had structural and goaltending issues that few foresaw.
Darnell Nurse| Devin Shore| Duncan Keith| Edmonton Oilers| Injury| Jaden Schwartz| Jordan Eberle| Mike Smith| Mitch Marner| Seattle Kraken| Toronto Maple Leafs
Edmonton Oilers Issue Injury Updates
November 29, 2021 at 9:06 pm CDT | by Zach Leach 4 Comments
The Western Conference-leading Edmonton Oilers had a number of names back at practice on Monday, but head coach Dave Tippett was quick to qualify these appearances. As the Oilers look to stay hot and cement themselves as the team to beat out west, they want to be at full strength and are heading in the right direction. However, some players are further along than others in their recoveries.
Defensemen Darnell Nurse and Duncan Keith are the closest to returning to the lineup, per Tippett. Keith has been dealing with a nagging upper-body injury that was reaggravated early last week and has sidelined him since. Nurse landed on injured reserve two weeks ago with a broken finger, but appears ready to go. While Tippett stated that Nurse needs to be officially cleared by the team's medical staff, which could keep him on the shelf through his three-week recovery timeline, Keith is more of a matter of how he is feeling and when he personally believes he is ready to return. Nurse is the Oilers' leader in average time on ice while Keith is unsurprisingly the team leader in career time on ice, so Edmonton is eager to get both back on the blue line.
Also within a week or so of returning is forward Devin Shore. While not quite ready to return just yet from an undisclosed upper-body injury, Tippett did not rule out that he could return next week. Though Shore has played a limited role for the Oilers so far, the 27-year-old forward is a useful piece for a team constantly looking for depth up front.
They could receive more reinforcements up front at some point from rookie Dylan Holloway as well. However, of all the players back on the ice at practice, Holloway is the furthest from returning. Holloway initially suffered a fractured wrist back in March which required surgery in September, with Holloway receiving a three-month recovery timeline. Tippett expects the 2020 first-round pick to see his recovery through in full, making it unlikely that he plays at all in December. Still, the fact that he is back skating is encouraging for the Oilers, who would very much like to see the talented young forward in NHL action.
Finally, the most high-profile injury in Edmonton this season has belonged to expected starting goaltender Mike Smith. Smith landed on injured reserve in October and it was unclear how long the veteran netminder would remain on the shelf. The situation became more muddied earlier this month when he suffered a setback just as he was expected to return. Well, Smith has been on the ice four days in a row now according to Tippett, including taking live shots for the first time today. With Mikko Koskinen playing well, the Oilers won't rush the 39-year-old Smith back into action, but it seems like he is poised to return sooner rather than later.
Darnell Nurse| Dave Tippett| Devin Shore| Duncan Keith| Dylan Holloway| Edmonton Oilers| Injury| Mike Smith
Devin Shore To Miss 4-6 Weeks With Lower-Body Injury
November 8, 2021 at 11:05 am CDT | by Josh Erickson Leave a Comment
Nov 8: According to Mark Spector of Sportsnet, the Oilers have moved Shore to injured reserve and recalled Ryan McLeod from the AHL.
Nov 7: Edmonton Oilers forward Devin Shore will be out four to six weeks with a lower-body injury, per Tom Gazzola of TSN and NHL Network.
Shore had bounced around the Oilers' bottom-six forward group so far this season but stayed mostly in a fourth-line role. He'd scored a goal and an assist through eight games, averaging just 8:37 per game.
Tyler Benson and Colton Sceviour are the two extra forwards on Edmonton's active roster. They'll both likely get opportunities to draw into the lineup in Shore's absence. Neither have them have registered a point this year in three and two games, respectively.
Shore signed a two-year, $1.7MM extension with the team on June 9, prior to the opening of free agency. The 27-year-old forward has struggled to maintain a regular spot in an NHL lineup over the past three seasons after playing all 82 games in his first two full NHL seasons with the Dallas Stars in 2016-17 and 2017-18.
Given his timeline, Shore is likely to miss between 12 and 19 games.
Colton Sceviour| Dallas Stars| Devin Shore| Edmonton Oilers| Free Agency| Injury| NHL| Tyler Benson
Injury Updates: Oilers, Varlamov, Foote, Rust, Dunn, Maatta
October 16, 2021 at 4:02 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose Leave a Comment
Oilers winger Zack Kassian will suit up tonight after missing Edmonton's season opener while in concussion protocol, the team announced (Twitter link). He suffered the injury in a fight late in the preseason when his helmet came off. To make room for Kassian, Edmonton has placed forward Devin Shore on IR with an undisclosed injury, notes Daniel Nugent-Bowman of The Athletic (Twitter link). The placement is retroactive to last Saturday which means he'll have missed seven days already which means Shore could be activated as soon as Tuesday's game against Anaheim.
Other injury notes from around the NHL:
Islanders goaltender Semyon Varlamov missed training camp due to nagging soreness with head coach Barry Trotz expressing optimism that the veteran wouldn't miss much time. However, Newsday's Andrew Gross relays that while the netminder took a few shots at the end of practice on Friday, there remains no timetable for a return. Trotz ruled out the possibility of a conditioning stint but it remains unclear when Varlamov will actually be able to suit up for New York.
Lightning defenseman Cal Foote is roughly a week away from returning, notes Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter link). He had surgery last month to repair a torn tendon in his hand which caused him to miss all of the preseason. Accordingly, it wouldn't be surprising if Tampa Bay asked him to start with a short conditioning stint first; he'd have to agree to the move as he's no longer waiver-exempt.
The Penguins have ruled out winger Bryan Rust for tonight's game against Chicago, head coach Mike Sullivan told reporters including Mike DeFabo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The 29-year-old was injured early in the third period on a hit from Florida's MacKenzie Weegar on Thursday. The team is still evaluating Rust's injury so there's no timetable yet for his return although he has been placed on IR.
Vince Dunn will miss tonight's game for the Kraken, relays Ryan S. Clark of The Athletic (Twitter link). The blueliner is listed as day-to-day with an undisclosed issue. Haydn Fleury will take Dunn's place in the lineup.
The Kings announced (Twitter link) that they've activated defenseman Olli Maatta off injured reserve. He'll take the roster spot of Christian Wolanin who was claimed off waivers earlier today by Buffalo. The 27-year-old had a sparing role with Los Angeles last season, logging less than 17 minutes a game in 41 appearances while recording just four assists.
Bryan Rust| Cal Foote| Devin Shore| Edmonton Oilers| Injury| Los Angeles Kings| New York Islanders| Olli Maatta| Pittsburgh Penguins| Seattle Kraken| Semyon Varlamov| Tampa Bay Lightning| Vince Dunn| Zack Kassian
Oilers Re-Sign Devin Shore
June 9, 2021 at 6:04 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 3 Comments
The Oilers have taken care of one of their pending restricted free agents as they announced the re-signing of forward Devin Shore to a two-year contract. The deal carries an AAV of $850K with CapFriendly clarifying (Twitter link) that he will make the league minimum of $750K next season and $950K in 2022-23.
The 26-year-old was non-tendered last fall by Columbus and had to settle for a PTO deal with Edmonton in late December, one that he was able to convert to a two-way contract. Shore wound up spending most of the season with the Oilers, getting into 38 games where he had five goals and four assists. While he did clear waivers a couple of times as Edmonton shuffled several veterans back and forth from their taxi squad, he clearly made enough of an impression to stick around, earning himself a one-way deal in the process.
Shore spent most of this past season in a depth role, often playing on the fourth line when he was in the lineup and it stands to reason that he'll have a similar role throughout this contract. The Oilers, like many teams, will be relying on cheap depth to free up a little bit of wiggle room on the salary cap and that will allow Shore to stick around for a couple more years.
GM Ken Holland still has plenty of work to get to before free agency begins. He has a trio of other restricted free agents to re-sign while 11 others will soon see their contracts expire as pending unrestricted free agents so there should be several signings to come over the coming weeks.
Devin Shore| Edmonton Oilers| Transactions
Bo Horvat Reportedly "Open" To Extension With Islanders
Vancouver Canucks Reassign Aatu Raty
Anton Levtchi Clears Unconditional Waivers
Jussi Olkinuora Placed On Unconditional Waivers
Snapshots: Canucks, Wahlstrom, Leskinen
St. Louis Blues Reassign Nikita Alexandrov, Jake Neighbours
Boston Bruins Recall Jakub Lauko, Vinni Lettieri