Edmonton Oilers Place Veteran Forward On Waivers
The Edmonton Oilers have a loaded forward group, and on Sunday, they officially placed veteran Derek Ryan on waivers.
After a fantastic start to the 2024/25 campaign, the Edmonton Oilers find themselves right in the running to take home top spot in the highly competitive Pacific Division this season.
Now however, they've made a very intriguing move, as they announced on Sunday that they have waived a veteran forward that has been a consistent presence in their lineup for quite some time.
The 38-year old has played his role well on the Oilers fourth-line this season, and while he's not putting up big numbers like other players on the team, he continues to be a steadying presence in the bottom-six for this team.
In 33 games this season, Ryan has just one goal and 5 points, and now, the Oilers are in danger of losing him to another team that is looking for a good veteran in their lineup.
As analytics would note however, Ryan's two-way game has deteriorated this season, as he has posted a -5 on a highly successful team, with this move making perfect sense for a team potentially looking to inject some youth into their lineup.
With some solid pieces in the AHL such as Matthew Savoie, this may be the time for Edmonton to take a risk and try find a spark for their bottom-six, and while whoever steps into the role may not have Ryan's skillset, they could certainly bring something different to the table.
Ultimately, Ryan has been an incredibly useful player for the Oilers over the past four seasons, but it became clear throughout the year that his time in the organization was simply up, and now, they will wait to see whether or not he gets claimed on waivers or will head to the AHL to be continued depth moving forward.
