As the Edmonton Oilers prepare for action against the Calgary Flames Saturday night, they 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 – who 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 earn 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 the Oilers 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 $9.25M 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.
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