Edmonton Oilers cut veteran d-man, even as Knoblauch has high praise for him

This in from Puckpedia, news that the Edmonton Oilers have put veteran d-men Ben Gleason and Phil Kemp, forward Lane Pederson and goalie Colin Delia on waivers.

Forward James Hamblin has also been sent to the AHL, reports Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Athletic.

From Nugent-Bowman:

Oilers lines/pairings ahead of cuts/waivers:
RNH-McDavid-Hyman
Skinner-Draisaitl-Arvidsson
Janmark-Henrique-Brown
Podkolzin-Ryan-Perry
Caggiula-Philp

Ekholm-Bouchard
Nurse-Emberson
Kulak-Brown
Stecher-Dermott

Skinner
Rodrigue
Injured: Pickard. Lavoie missed practice Monday.

My take

1. The only mild surprise is Gleason, now 26, a six-year veteran of pro hockey, and a decent bet as an NHLer. Phil Kemp was generally strong on defence in pre-season but had a few iffy moments in his own end. For a d-man who makes shut-down defence his calling card those miscues were a few too many, I suspect.

As for Hamblin and Pederson, they have had some decent moments but have been outplayed by fellow AHLers like Noah Philp, Drake Caggiula and Raphael Lavoie. There may not be an extra job open for any spare 13th forward on the Oilers when the regular season starts, but Philp, Caggiula and Lavoie have all demonstrated they’re ready for an NHL opportunity.

2. The Oilers are evidently waiving Gleason, who played well this pre-season, scoring a goal on a high slot shot against Vancouver on Monday night, and earning the praise of Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch.

Said the coach: “We trust him with a lot of responsibilities. I think he’s exceptional puck mover. His strengths are moving the puck and finding, whether it’s on the breakout, finding the wingers to get it to, or getting a shot on net, like tonight on the power play, being able to sift that through the traffic. I think for him to play well, that’s part of his game. Another one is maybe he’s not as big and quick as maybe some other guys but I think he’s a smart player who can read the play and gets to spots to break up what the opposition is doing.”

3. My assessment is that Gleason has looked good two years running in camp. If the Oilers have any injuries, he’s a solid bet to play. But he’s a left shot d-man and the Oilers are stacked on the left side, with Darnell Nurse, Mattias Ekholm and Brett Kulak. On the right side, there are openings but both Ty Emberson and Troy Stecher have out-played Gleason by a small margin, with Stecher coming on strong the last two games.

4. PTO d-man Travis Dermott has also played well. He got the most ice time of any Oilers d-man on Monday night, and the coaching staff may well see him as a slightly better bet than Gleason due to Dermott’s superior skating and greater NHL experience. But Dermott has still yet to earn a contract, of course, and he’s also still got Nurse, Ekholm and Kulak ahead of him at left defence.

5. Josh Brown struggled to move the puck against Vancouver. He’s also in the running and is the biggest and toughest of the competitors. Stecher and Emberson have significantly outplayed Brown, but if the Oil go with seven d-men, will Brown be picked over Dermott? Dermott is the superior player, but Brown’s toughness may still get him a job. I note that in practice the Oil still have him paired up with Kulak in the third-pairing slot.

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