The Edmonton Oilers have recalled forward Devin Shore from the team’s AHL affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors. This move returns Shore to Edmonton after he was reassigned to Bakersfield a few days ago.
Oilers forward Klim Kostin missed the team’s shootout loss to the New York Rangers due to an illness, so should he be unable to play in the team’s game tomorrow against the Colorado Avalanche, one would assume that Shore has been brought back to the active roster to fill in Kostin’s vacated lineup spot.
According to PuckPedia, this recall of Shore is as an emergency roster exception, meaning he does not carry a cap hit until the team either has 20 healthy players and/or sufficient cap space to count him.
Shore, 28, hasn’t played in the NHL yet in 2023, and last saw the ice for the Condors on January 28th. Shore has played in five AHL games this season, and scored five points in that span. At the NHL level, the 404-game veteran has scored three points in 29 games so far this season.
At just 8:42 per night, Shore averages the least amount of ice time by any Oilers forward this year with at least 20 games played. He has gotten a few looks on the team’s penalty kill, but in general coach Jay Woodcroft has used Shore sparingly.
Last season was a similar story, with Shore skating in 49 games for the Oilers, averaging nine and half minutes per night with over a minute per night played on the penalty kill. While Shore has two seasons of 30-plus points on his resume, that secondary offensive element to his game has largely eroded as he’s settled into the depth role he now occupies.
Without Kostin in the lineup, the Oilers were forced to play with an opening in their fourth-line left-wing roster spot. While Shore has operated more as a center throughout his professional career, he should be able to fill that spot on the wing next to Derek Ryan and Jesse Puljujarvi if he does end up getting into the lineup.