Oilers recall seven players from the Bakersfield Condors

The Edmonton Oilers bolstered their depth chart ahead of their Round 2 matchup against the Vancouver Canucks, recalling seven key players from the Bakersfield Condors. On Saturday morning, the team announced that they have recalled Lane Pederson, Adam Erne, Raphael Lavoie, Cam Dineen, Ben Gleason, Phil Kemp, and Olivier Rodrigue to join the practice squad.

Of course, the “black aces” are extra players who are called up from the AHL affiliate team during the playoffs to serve as depth options. None of these players are likely to see any game action, but they will practice with the NHL team and will be available to step in if needed. Again, if any of these players get into the playoff lineup then something devastating would have happened, but you have to imagine they’re all excited to live the NHL life for the next couple of weeks at least.

The term “black aces” originated from military aviation slang, where it originally referred to inexperienced replacement pilots. In hockey, the black aces are players waiting in reserve, ready to be deployed if called upon during the playoffs when the league no longer has a salary cap. While black aces are unlikely to see any game action, being called upon to fill this role offers both recognition of their potential and an opportunity to gain invaluable experience at the highest level.

Even without playing beyond practice, having these guys around the team during a playoff run could prove to be a valuable experience, especially for the younger guys like Lavoie, Kemp, and Rodrigue. Not that I’m saying practicing with the big club is anywhere close to playing in the playoffs, but I do think that these experiences can act as a carrot to chase for younger guys who may be on the verge of making the jump to the bigs.