Joined Lowetide this morning to talk about Draisaitl, Nikitin and Scrivens heading to the minors and some of the other issues surrounding the Oilers.

A couple of notes:

• I’m fine with Leon going to Bakersfield. He’s a center and should be developed as a center at the appropriate level. The AHL is going to be great for him and his long-term development. I’m not convinced that this was a cost saving move to avoid paying out bonuses (that were quite lofty to begin with).
• The defence needs help. But I don’t expect changes until McLellan tests out this group in 15-20 regular season games.
• Nikitin might have mobility issues, but McLellan was able to work with guys that were even worse (Doug Murray, Kent Huskins). He didn’t have a perfect roster in San Jose, but he always had experienced players on defence, who were often paired with complementary players.
• Tough break for Scrivens, but such is life for goalies. There’s plenty of options for your backup spot in the AHL and overseas. I think as long as you have two good options in net, with a good goalie coach to work with, and you have a strong team-defence schema, your club should be fine. And you really don’t need to go find an aging goalie, who don’t often get better with age anyways.