Oilers trim pre-season roster by six, including Drake Caggiula, Carter Savoie, and Greg McKegg

This morning, the Oilers announced six more cuts via their social media channels as we inch our way closer to what the opening night roster will look like. This time around, it was Olivier Rodrigue, Carter Savoie, Noel Hoefenmayer, Drake Caggiula, Greg McKegg, and Alex Peters who will be making their way down to the Bakersfield Condors for the start of the AHL season. To be specific, Rodrigue, Savoie, and Hoefenmayer have all been loaned to Bakersfield while Caggiula and McKegg were placed on waivers for the purpose of assignment. Alex Peters, meanwhile, was released from his professional tryout and will report to the AHL Condors for his third season with the club.

As we work our way through training camp, the harsh reality of professional hockey becomes all too evident as players new and old are shipped back to their minor league teams for the start of the 2023-24 season. For the aforementioned players, training camp is a high-stakes audition to see where they fit amongst their peers, and the answer as of this morning is that none of these guys were ever truly close to being on the NHL roster. Although harsh, the reality is that professional sports are a cruel mistress, and camp cuts are just another step in the process that all 32 teams are going through right now.

While receiving the news of being cut can certainly be disheartening, my hope is that all six of these guys use being a late cut in camp as motivation to climb their way back to the NHL level even if it’s for a cup of coffee as a call-up. Ultimately, training camp cuts serve as a harsh reminder of the relentless pursuit of excellence in professional hockey, where only the best make the final roster for the upcoming season. And with so few jobs available in Edmonton this year, I’d guess that we’ll see another round of names on the chopping block as early as tomorrow depending on how things go tonight in Vancouver.

The Edmonton Oilers continue their pre-season schedule on Saturday in Vancouver against the 0-2 Canucks with a 7:00 pm start time.