Jake Walman skated without a regular partner at Oilers practice Friday, and Mike Babcock's lineup for Saturday might not have room for him.
The defenceman took his reps with Max Jones in East Meadow instead. Jones is a forward, and he's still looking for his first point after six games.
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When a blue liner gets paired with a spare winger this close to puck drop, everybody in the room can read it.
And the noise around the team Friday pointed one way. Walman could be a healthy scratch once again when Edmonton visits the Islanders tomorrow afternoon.
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He's dressed for nine of the Oilers' 13 games. One assist. That's the entire offensive output.
The defensive side looks worse. His -7 rating is the lowest on the Edmonton blue line, two worse than Connor Murphy at minus-5.
Stan Bowman's $7,000,000 defenceman is losing his spot
Walman carries a $7,000,000 cap hit. Only Evan Bouchard, at $10,500,000, costs more among Oilers defencemen.
Bouchard has 22 points and a +19 rating. The gap between the two biggest blue line contracts on this roster is getting hard to look at.
That's a bad contract right now, and Stan Bowman owns it. It's like paying for the corner office and working out of the supply closet.
So who eats those minutes?
Ty Emberson has dressed in 11 games, and Shakir Mukhamadullin has scored once in eight. Neither one is carrying a $7,000,000 price tag into the lineup debate.
None of this is happening in a crisis. The Oilers are 9-2-2, first in the Pacific, and a perfect 5-0-0 on the road.
But the goals against keep piling up. Edmonton has allowed 43 goals, and Tristan Jarry is working with an .882 save percentage.
Help is at least on the ice. Zach Hyman and Devon Levi skated together before practice Friday in East Meadow.
Levi was in full gear in the crease while Hyman moved through a near-empty rink, a few staffers watching from along the boards.
Neither is close on paper. The winger's neck injury keeps him out until at least Nov. 3, and the goalie's undisclosed issue runs until at least Nov. 9.
The Islanders won't make Saturday easy. Peter DeBoer's group has won two straight, including an overtime win in Minnesota on Thursday night.
Ilya Sorokin brings a .915 save percentage into the first meeting between these teams this season.
Then comes the back-to-back. The Oilers face the Rangers on Sunday, and Babcock's call on his blue line gets tested all over again.
If he watches both games, the next conversation about Walman probably won't happen on a practice sheet. It'll happen on Stan Bowman's phone.
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Should Mike Babcock scratch Jake Walman against the Islanders?
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