Oilers send Swiss forward Gaetan Haas down after just 5 NHL games.

It appears as though recently acquired forward Gaetan Haas was on an extremely short rope with the Edmonton Oilers, and in fact his rope may have already run out.

According to a report today from Edmonton Oilers beat writer Daniel Nugent Bowman, the Oilers have made the decision to send Haas down to the American Hockey League after just a 5 game sample size from the Swiss forward. The Oilers signed Haas this past summer to an entry level contract, this in spite of the fact that Haas is already 27 years old, and he impressed enough in training camp to earn himself a spot on the main roster. However through his first 5 games of the regular season the Swiss forward has just a single point, an assist, and no goals to show for himself in his NHL career thus far. 

When one player is sent down that usually means the team is making room for someone else to replace them and that is exactly the case here today. Brown is also reporting that the Oilers have made the decision to call up former Oilers first round draft pick Sam Gagner, this after Ganger had a strong start to the season with the American Hockey League's Bakersfield Condors, the affiliate team of the Edmonton Oilers. Through his first 4 games of the regular season Gagner already has 4 points, a pair of goals and a pair of assists that go alongside his plus minus rating of +2 so far this season.

It seems likely that based on this pair of moves that the Oilers are looking for a more offensive punch in their bottom 6 group of forwards, and that is likely why Gagner is now getting the nod over Haas. It is also worth mentioning here that Haas had a pretty poor defensive play on Friday night against the Detroit Red Wings in his own zone, and seemed to have his ice time severely limited following that blooper. There is little doubt in my mind given that context that head coach Dave Tippett felt a change needed to be made, and you have to wonder when Haas may get another chance to come back up and prove his worth once again.