Oilers assign Beau Akey, four players to Condors

The Edmonton Oilers roster trimming continued on Wednesday afternoon.

After their second preseason game in Winnipeg, a 2-1 overtime win for Edmonton, the team announced that five players will head to the Bakersfield Condors.

The team loaned defenceman Beau Akey and forward Brady Stonehouse back to the Condors. Meanwhile, three players have been released from their professional tryouts and will report to Bakersfield. They include forward Simon Tassy and blueliners Zach Bookman and Samuel Sjölund.

Four of them, excluding Brady Stonehouse, suited up in the NextGen game against Calgary Flames rookies, but that would be all in terms of game action. Akey, Stonehouse, Sjölund, and Bookman didn’t make an appearance in the preseason. Tassy dressed on Tuesday, getting a fourth-line role and playing 10:01 while going minus-1.

Who is expected to play in the Oilers’ preseason game vs. Vancouver?

Coach Mike Babcock said that Wednesday would be an off-day for the group, as they reset and prepare for Thursday’s preseason visit to Vancouver. The Oilers plan to take a very “American League lineup” to play the Canucks, before many of the NHL regulars get their wheels turning at home in the final exhibition game Saturday night against Calgary.

With that said, it’ll likely be the last chance for many young players to leave a lasting impression on the coaching staff before being reassigned.

It could be another opportunity for guys like Viljami Marjala, who scored the overtime winner and might be approaching tweener status, or Owen Michaels, who has played two pre-season games already, as well as Quinn Hutson, Damien Carfagna, and William Nicholl.

Meanwhile, 29-year-old Eduards Tralmaks, 27-year-old Atro Leppänen, and 25-year-old Aku Räty don’t necessarily fit the bill as “young” players, but will likely be given a chance to showcase their game again on Thursday.

A 22-year-old signing from the spring hasn’t appeared in the lineup yet, either. Defenceman Tomas Cibulka was a European signing after two seasons in the Czech league, and did play in the NextGen contest, but not so far in pre-season. With the mix of veterans and AHLers, it is a balancing act to fulfill the new preseason requirements set by the league.

The Bakersfield training camp is underway, but is short-staffed with limited personnel as the Condors await arrivals from Edmonton’s camp.