Oilers Make Roster Move to get Under Salady Cap, Sending Defenceman Josh Brown to AHL

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Liam McCormick
November 20, 2024 (5:57 PM)

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Moments ago, PuckPedia broke the news that the Edmonton Oilers have sent defenceman Josh Brown to the AHL.

The roster move comes after the Oilers claimed Kasperi Kapanen on waivers, and added his $1M salary to the NHL roster.

Josh Brown also made exactly $1M, and with this roster move, the Oilers will be back underneath the salary cap, with $304K in space.

The Oilers still have Evander Kane on the active roster instead of LTIR while they try to accrue as much cap space as they can through the season.

At the moment, PuckPedia has the Edmonton Oilers projected to have $1.4M in space at the trade deadline.

When Darnell Nurse returns from injury, the Oilers will be able to send down another defenceman to accrue more cap space, if they're comfortable without any spares on the roster.

Nurse sustained his injury 4 days ago and was listed to return in 5 to 10 days, so another roster move could be coming imminently.

Additionally, there's growing calls for the Oilers to send down a veteran forward like Derek Ryan in favour of a younger forward with more speed in the bottom six. Again, when Nurse returns, there could be more roster moves.

In his two games with the Oilers during this stint, Josh Brown did exactly what was expected: played a physical game in depth minutes, and not much else. In fairness, he was better this time around.

The Oilers committed to Josh Brown with a three year contract this offseason, but admitted that deal was a mistake quickly by placing him on waivers at the beginning of the year.

If the Oilers are sending Brown down again after only two games, it's clear the team don't think too highly of him. Given his contract status though, he'll play again for the Oilers.

Now, the spotlight will be on the Oilers newest addition in Kasperi Kapanen, and if he can carve out a role for himself on the team, or fade out of the NHL.