Walman Remains Out For Oilers, With Surprising Roster Moves Expected

Jake Walman was not on the ice Sunday as the Edmonton Oilers suited up for a longer practice at the Downtown Community Arena in Edmonton. The defenseman was trending toward being ready for opening night, but has suffered a minor setback, likely meaning he won’t be good to go as the Oilers take on the Calgary Flames.

Also unavailable was Mattias Janmark, whom head coach Kris Knoblauch said suffered a second injury when doing an MRI on the first. He remains out, and his return could be pushed back another week.

With the news, the Oilers may adjust their lineups to optimize their cap space and LTIR situations. This could include some demotions that, at first glance, may seem surprising.

PuckPedia laid out a probable scenario for the Oilers, given the recent setbacks suffered by Walman and Janmark.

Their prediction:

David Tomasek and Isaac Howard could go down as both are waiver-ineligible. This is a plus for the Oilers, who have some flexibility with both players. While Knoblauch said after practice he doesn’t see Janmark going on injured reserve, the Oilers may go this route, then call up $775K guy like James Hamblin. This would give the Oilers $834K in cap space, which they could submit as their opening roster. Hyman would be on LTIR, and the Oilers could exceed the cap by $3.8 million. Ahead of the game on Wednesday, Edmonton would recall both Tomasek and Howard, sending back Hamblin (or whomever they call) and going into the season with $1.8 million in cap space remaining in LTIR.

Walman is expected to play Saturday night versus the Vancouver Canucks, while Hyman will start taking pre-game skates and joining the team for practices next week. He will remain out of the lineup on the road trip through New York, potentially being ready by late October.

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