Golden Knights claim Raphael Lavoie from Oilers for a second time

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It’s been a rough few days for Raphael Lavoie. For the third time this week — or is it the fourth? — he has been claimed off NHL waivers, and this time it looks like it might stick.

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The re-re-claim today placed the Vegas Golden Knights in the same boat that the Edmonton Oilers were two days ago. If nobody else put in a claim they would be free to assign Lavoie directly to the Henderson Silver Knights of the AHL.

That’s not what happened on Wednesday when a team further down the pecking order (which is in reverse order of last season’s standings) also put in a claim on the big winger. That forced the Oilers to keep him on the roster for a day, then try a second time to waive him.

But on Friday, no competing claim was filed, according to Elliotte Friedman:

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Seems weird that the team that was interested in Lavoie on Wednesday isn’t still interested on Friday. Were they just trying to mess up the Oilers, and if so, why were they not be equally interested in messing up the Golden Knights? Both can be considered Western Conference powers.

The team in question has not been identified, but Colorado Avalanche seem a likely candidate. They are among the handful of clubs that finished above the Oilers in the standings a year ago. The Avs are not a deep team at this point in time, and are missing three proven NHL wingers for a variety of reasons in Gabriel Landeskog, Arturri Lehkonen and Valeri Nichushkin. None is close to returning. But they were among the 30 NHL teams to remain silent today.

The disappointing aspect here is that NHL waivers were designed so that players unable to make a deep club might get an opportunity on another NHL squad. Alas, that is not what will happen with Raph Lavoie, who returns to the AHL in a different organization. On the, uhh, bright side, at least he’ll get to wear a shiny helmet.

From an Oilers perspective, it seems a little odd that given the interest by at least two playoff-calibre teams, they didn’t play things a bit differently. After all, they had space on both the roster and under the salary cap to keep him on the roster after what was a decent showing in preseason. Indeed, his 2 preseason goals led the Oilers outright; no other Oiler had more than 1. His last act as an Oiler was a game-winning goal in the late stages of a one-goal win over Seattle Kraken.

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Ken Holland’s draft legacy

With Lavoie’s departure, the Oilers don’t have a single player in their system with any NHL experience whatsoever who was drafted during the time Ken Holland was GM. Holland himself traded a number of picks for immediate help, while the new management regime has overseen a mass departure of players actually drafted during that time. Among them, Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway, both lost to offer sheets that were not matched, and now Lavoie on waivers. All the first round picks from Holland’s time are no longer in the organization, while the only second-rounder is defence prospect Beau Akey. A couple of decent prospects of lower draft pedigree remain in the persons of Maximus Wanner and KHLer Maxim Berezhkin, but that’s mighty slim pickings for five (recent) years of scouting/drafting/development.

Oilers again linked to UFA Kevin Shattenkirk

Shattenkirk’s name came up periodicially over the summer as Edmonton looked to shore up a troubling situation on right defence. The two sides were linked again in a report at The Athletic co-written by insiders Chris Johnston and Pierre LeBrun, who write:

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• It’s been somewhat surprising Shattenkirk hasn’t found the right fit after serving as a dependable option for the Bruins last season.The 35-year-old unrestricted free agent, with 952 NHL games under his belt, averaged nearly 16 minutes per night for Boston and dressed for six Bruins playoff games in the spring.His camp, led by agent Jordan Neumann, remains in constant communication with several teams, having in-depth conversations about his client’s potential fit. It’s believed the Edmonton Oilers are among the teams that have talked to them. Shattenkirk’s camp is patiently waiting for the right fit while the former Team USA Olympian works out daily in Connecticut with hockey trainer Ben Prentiss. He’s been known as a high-character player in every dressing room he’s called home and won a Stanley Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2020.

After thirteen seasons of being a 20-minute a night defender, Shattenkirk saw his ice time slashed to 15:47 per night in 61 games with the Bruins last season. An offensive defender, he scored 11 of his 24 points on the powerplay, not a serious area of need for the Oilers. On the other hand, a rearguard who can make a decent first pass might prove useful.

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Nonetheless, an examination of his usage in Beantown reveals he was heavily sheltered in 2023-24, playing just 18% of his minutes against Elite opponents, compared to 38% vs. second-tier and 44% vs. depth players. Nothing there suggesting he’s still able to take on a top-four assignment which currently stands as Edmonton’s area of need. But stay tuned, where there’s smoke there’s fire, at least occasionally.

Speaking of that second pairing

Friday’s practice saw the same defence pairings as ended Wednesday’s dismal home opener.

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Ty Emberson had a shaky Oilers debut and lasted just two periods alongside Darnell Nurse, who had his own issues in that contest. Recent PTO signing Travis Dermott was quickly promoted to Nurse’s right side, and appears set to remain there for tomorrow night’s game. At least, to start. To say the situation on the back end might be fluid for a bit would be an understatement.

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