Oilers General Manager Admits Free Agent Signing Looks like a Mistake
Photo credit: Edmonton Journal
Oilers general manager Stan Bowman had a blunt message for Josh brown as he was placed on waivers yesterday.
Stan Bowman was interviewed by Bob Stauffer on OilersNow, where he openly admitted that Brown had a terrible training camp. He was expected to be an NHL contributor, but they can't give him the roster spot after his performance in preseason.
Bowman's comments were clear and echoed the rest of the management team that Brown was simply not good enough during this training camp. It was obvious that several defensemen were far better than him including Ty Emberson, Travis Dermott and Troy Stetcher. Giving Brown three years and $3M just seems like a mistake at this point.
The Oilers had good intentions when they made the decision to sign Brown to a three-year deal worth $1 million Per season. The 30-year-old defenceman who is a right-handed shot and stands at 6 foot 5 and 220 lbs was penciled in to give veteran leadership and a physical presence on the back end to help stabilize the defence after several changes were made.
Clearly disappointed by his poor showing at training camp, Bowman was forced to make this move and admit that this signing was a mistake. By placing him on waivers the Oilers are attempting to erase this error it hopes that an NHL team could use a contract to get to the cap floor or in need of defensive depth.
While unlikely that he will be picked up and will clear waivers, he will be reassigned to the Bakersfield Condors and ride the bus giving him time to reflect on his poor camp performance. The Oilers will bury his contract to help free up money for signing Travis Dermott, which is expected to be announced soon.
It's clear the Oilers organization will not tolerate poor performance and simply give a position to a player who was awarded a contract as lengthy as Brown's. The Oilers were faced with a similar situation when former goaltender Jack Campbell was unable to perform to the expectations and was sent to Bakersfield and then was bought out at the end of the year. History will be the judge on these decisions then it remains to be seen on what will happen to Brown and his contract.
The new season is set to begin on Wednesday October 9th with the Oilers at home to face off against the Winnipeg Jets. Game time will be at 10:00 PM eastern.
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