Oilers now under salary cap after sending defenseman to AHL 

The Edmonton Oilers have reportedly reassigned defenseman Josh Brown back to the Bakersfield Condors of the American Hockey League (as per Puck Pedia). The team has confirmed the assignment.

The move comes after the team claimed forward Kasperi Kapanen off waivers on Tuesday, it was necessary to move Brown off the roster to get back under the salary cap. With Brown now in Bakersfield, Edmonton has just $304K in projected cap space, which would translate to just $1.4M at the NHL trade deadline, assuming that they don’t make any other roster moves.

Brown was called up on Sunday in the wake of the Darnell Nurse injury and dressed in two games averaging 11:29 in ice time with 7 PIM, three hits and four blocked shots. Brown also fought with Zack MacEwen of the Ottawa Senators.

The reassignment for Brown could mean that one of Nurse, Viktor Arvidsson or Zach Hyman is healthy enough to dress Thursday night against the Minnesota Wild, however, the team still has six defensemen on the roster regardless of whether they get another player back.

Brown has already cleared waivers earlier this year, so he does not require waivers to be sent back down. He was signed to a three-year $3M contract in the summer and has been collecting an NHL paycheck in the minors. In 12 AHL games with the Condors, Brown has two assists and a +5 rating.