Contending team screws over the Edmonton Oilers with latest move
Photo credit: Bob Frid-USA TODAY Sports
The Edmonton Oilers claimed Raphael Lavoie off waivers today, however, a contending team also put in a claim that now messes up their plans.
Among the latest moves, the Edmonton Oilers lost forward Raphael Lavoie to the Vegas Golden Knights via waivers only to take him back. The Oilers wasted little time when the Golden Knights waived Lavoie. He stays within the Oilers organization. The 24-year-old forward has been on a rollercoaster career since Edmonton tabbed him as a second-round draft pick, 38th overall, in 2019. There is, however, one team who just threw a fork in the Oilers' path, as one of the teams that finished higher than them in the standings also put a claim in for Lavoie, which now means that he will be forced to stay with the Oilers on the NHL roster as they would have to put him back through waivers once again if they wanted to send him down to the AHL.
List of teams it could've been:
Vancouver
Colorado
Winnipeg
Dallas
Florida
Boston
NY Rangers
Carolina
Vancouver
Colorado
Winnipeg
Dallas
Florida
Boston
NY Rangers
Carolina
Most of Lavoie's professional experience has come courtesy of the Bakersfield Condors, the Oilers' American Hockey League affiliate. Over four seasons with the Condors, Lavoie has recorded 131 points, continuing to show growth year over year. The most striking campaign came in 2023-24 when he recorded career highs of 28 goals and 22 assists in 66 games, really setting in stone the potential at the professional level.
Despite his success at the second-highest level, Lavoie has not yet made much of an impact in the NHL. In seven games with the Oilers, he has averaged just over seven minutes of ice time per game without recording a point. However, Lavoie did give indications that he might have more to offer during the 2024 preseason, where he scored two goals in three preseason games.
The move to take him off waivers is an indicator that the Oilers still do believe in his development. Based on everything that has been going on, it would appear the team wants to keep Lavoie in the system for further development so that maybe down the road, he will be able to help out more in the NHL, however if they want to do that now, they would risk losing him through waivers again. It will be very interesting to see what the team decides to do now.
With his future cloudy, and as the Oilers get set to open the 2024-25 season at home against the Winnipeg Jets, Raphael Lavoie's recent journey to waivers seemed to reflect the team's intentions on another opportunity for him to grow, whether that be back in the AHL or finding a more permanent role with the Oilers. It seems that he is going to remain on the NHL roster for now until the Oilers figure out how to proceed.
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