Edmonton Oilers Place 38-Year-Old Veteran on Waivers
The Edmonton Oilers bottom-six has been in need of a revamp for quite some time, and it appears they've now made a big call by waiving veteran Derek Ryan.
While the top of the Edmonton Oilers forward group is rolling early in the 2024/25 campaign, it's become clear that they need some major help in the bottom-six, with a change being needed.
Now, we may know where that change is coming from, as the team officially announced on Sunday that they have placed veteran forward Derek Ryan on waivers.
While the 38-year old has been a solid, steadying force on both ends of the floor for the Oilers fourth-line in recent years, 2024/25 has been a major step back for him, as he has not been the defensive presence that he has been in Edmonton for the last three seasons.
With just 1 goal and 5 points along with a -5 differential in 33 games played, he's simply not getting it done on either end this year, and with the Oilers potentially looking towards the future and a player that may spark this lineup, it made sense for them to move on from the 38-year old.
There's still plenty of time left for this team to gel this season, and while they sit in second place in the Pacific Division, nows the time for them to experiment with players of the future, and if they can find a spark for this lineup, this was a good move to make.
Beyond this, the Oilers have also loaned blue liner Josh Brown to the AHL's Bakersfield Condors, as he simply hasn't been effective in 8 NHL games this season, and with the recent acquisition of John Klingberg, he's better suited right now to a role with the Condors.
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Zack Ostapchuk | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Tomas Tatar | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Artem Zub | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Mike Amadio | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Matthew Highmore | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Luke Hughes | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Curtis Lazar | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Shane Pinto | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Nathan Bastian | - | - | - | |
| Drake Batherson | - | - | - | |
| Jesper Bratt | - | - | - | |
| Thomas Chabot | - | - | - | |
| Paul Cotter | - | - | - | |
| Nick Cousins | - | - | - | |
| Brenden Dillon | - | - | - | |
| Justin Dowling | - | - | - | |
| Anton Forsberg | - | - | - | |
| Adam Gaudette | - | - | - | |
| Claude Giroux | - | - | - | |
| Ridly Greig | - | - | - | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Capitals | 46 | 31 | 10 | 5 | 67 | |
Jets | 47 | 31 | 13 | 3 | 65 | |
Oilers | 46 | 29 | 14 | 3 | 61 | |
Golden Knights | 46 | 29 | 14 | 3 | 61 | |
Maple Leafs | 47 | 29 | 16 | 2 | 60 | |
Wild | 46 | 27 | 15 | 4 | 58 | |
Devils | 48 | 26 | 16 | 6 | 58 | |
Stars | 45 | 28 | 16 | 1 | 57 | |
Hurricanes | 46 | 27 | 16 | 3 | 57 | |
Avalanche | 47 | 28 | 18 | 1 | 57 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||