Breaking: Spooner, Rattie, Falk and waiver wire activity

The shakeup continues in Edmonton.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 5 years ago
Breaking: Spooner, Rattie, Falk and waiver wire activity
Zuma Press

In case you missed it, the Edmonton Oilers placed forwards Ryan Spooner and Ty Rattie on waivers yesterday, while the Ottawa Senators also placed defensemen Justin Falk on waivers, as well.



Spooner, of course, was acquired in exchange for Ryan Strome earlier this season who in turn was acquired in exchange for Jordan Eberle in the summer of 2017. So, in effect, Oilers general manager Peter Chiarelli has traded Eberle, a six time 20+ goal scorer, for… well… nothing. 

To be fair though, Spooner has NOT been good with the Oilers, putting up just two goals and three points in 24 games with the team. He’s playing fourth line minutes under head coach Ken Hitchcock and it’s clear that he doesn’t fit in the role. So, if you can’t score and you can’t check, you’ll most likely find yourself on the waiver wire. Unfortunately for him, Oilers fans will always link him to Eberle, despite Spooner himself having no connection to the trade.

As for Rattie, well… it’s a little confusing, to say the least. With just two goals and eight points in 29 games it’s not like Rattie was setting the NHL on fire, but to anyone who has watched this team, it’s clear that Rattie isn’t the problem. He’s been more impactful than Milan Lucic, Tobias Rieder and Kailer Yamamoto this season, the latter of which could be demoted to the AHL without the need for waivers.

Regardless, both Spooner and Rattie cleared waivers today and have been assigned to the team’s AHL affiliate Bakersfield Condors, ditto for Falk and his assignment to the Belleville Senators.