| Pos | Role | Name |
| C | 1 | Ryan Nugent-Hopkins  ActiveRyan Nugent-Hopkins has been selected as the captain of Team Canada for the 2013 World Junior Championship. Nugent-Hopkins wouldn't be participating in this tournament if it wasn't for the lockout. He had 52 points in 62 games with the Edmonton Oilers last season and would have continued to play a major role with the team in 2012-13. Dec 14 |
| 2 | Shawn Horcoff ActiveOilers forward Shawn Horcoff understands the NHL strategy of keeping Donald Fehr as far from the negotiations as possible. "They did everything they could to keep Don off the table ... and we were open to it, but we're hockey players. You can't expect us to negotiate against these guys. At a certain time, we knew we'd have to get him involved in the process again, and when we did, they made it clear that could possibly be a deal-breaker, which we found surprising." Horcoff says the players weren't surprised by the NHL's tactic as this same strategy was applied with then-chief Bob Goodenow during the last lockout. Dec 9 |
| 3 | Sam Gagner ActiveSam Gagner is enjoying playing hockey in Austria. Gagner is playing on a line with former Oiler teammate and still best friend Andrew Cogliano. "I'm really happy I'm over here, and they've been very good to us. It's a good hockey atmosphere," said Gagner. Gagner is also happy playing the point on the power play, something he hasn't done since he was in junior hockey with the London Knights. He is teaming up on the point with Buffalo's Tyler Myers and would love to play on the point with the Oilers when hockey returns to North America. Dec 10 |
| 4 | Eric Belanger ActiveEric Belanger thinks the CBA negotiations might benefit from a mediator. "Sure, why not?" Belanger said. "Didn't baseball try that? (1994, with Bill Usery). Get somebody in who will at least say, ‘I’m going to hear you, and we’re going to split (the difference) and make some decision.’" The possibility of a mediator is something that both sides seem tentatively open to, but it's not clear if they will actually have one. As it stands right now though, the regular season is in jeopardy and we don't seem to be moving towards a new CBA. Oct 3 |
| 5 | Chris Vande Velde ActiveChris Vande Velde has agreed to a one-year deal with the Edmonton Oilers. Vande Velde had seven goals and 16 assists in 68 AHL games last season. He has a goal and three points in 17 career NHL contests. Jul 27 |
| LW | 1 | Taylor Hall ActiveTaylor Hall recorded a point in his third consecutive game with Oklahoma City after his marker in Friday night's win. Hall has notched 20 points in 16 games so far and has been held pointless only four times this season. Dec 15 |
| 2 | Ryan Smyth ActiveRyan Smyth may play for Canada at the Spengler Cup in Davos, Switzerland later this month. He has been skating with the WHL's Edmonton Oil Kings and hasn't played any games since last April. Smyth is believed to be on Hockey Canada's radar for the tournament and he hasn't turned them down before when he's invited to play at the World Championship. Dec 12 |
| 3 | Magnus Paajarvi ActiveThe Edmonton Oilers attempt to call up Magnus Paajarvi has failed. Teams can only make four call ups from their AHL squad after the trade deadline, not including emergency recalls. The Oilers have already done their four call ups, so they weren't in a position to add Paajarvi to their roster. This is obviously an embarrassing event for the Oilers front office and it means that Paajarvi will be denied the opportunity to get a bit of extra NHL experience before the season ends. Mar 31 |
| 4 | Ben Eager ActiveThe charges against Ben Eager for the bar fight he was allegedly involved in have been increased. Eager, along with his brother Michael, now face an additional assault charge. On top of that the initial assault causing bodily harm charge has been increased to aggravated assault. The brothers will appear in court on Nov. 26. Oct 26 |
| 5 | Darcy Hordichuk ActiveDarcy Hordichuk has signed a one-year contract extension with the Edmonton Oilers. The financial terms of the deal were not immediately disclosed. Hordichuk had three points and 64 penalty minutes in 43 games with the Edmonton Oilers in 2011-12. Jul 1 |
| RW | 1 | Nail Yakupov ActiveNail Yakupov was ejected early into Wednesday's 4-3 win against Metallurg Novokuznetsk. He was assessed a five-minute major for elbowing and a game misconduct at the 5:21 mark of the opening period to give him 25 minutes in penalties. Yakupov has 18 points in 21 games this season. He was named to Russia's selection camp roster on Tuesday for the upcoming World Junior Championship. Dec 5 |
| 2 | Jordan Eberle ActiveJordan Eberle was involved in every Oklahoma City goal Saturday night, lighting the lamp four times in the Barons' 5-3 victory over San Antonio. Eberle's seven point weekend has given him a share of the AHL scoring lead with teammate Justin Schultz. Through 25 games, Eberle has 19 goals and 18 assists for 37 points. Dec 16 |
| 3 | Ales Hemsky ActiveAles Hemsky registered three assists in Pardubice's 3-1 victory over Plzen. Hemsky has 14 goals and 17 assists in 24 Czech games this season. David Krejci had a goal and an assist for Pardubice. Dec 7 |
| 4 | Ryan Jones ActiveRyan Jones says there's lots of excitement within the Edmonton Oilers organization. "I can’t imagine what it looks like from the outside, with fans looking in on the organization," Jones said. "But I know being on the inside and following what’s going on, it’s certainly exciting to get elite hockey players in the organization and trying to surround them with enough veteran leadership to guide them along the way. It’s going to be a dynamic hockey team and our goal is to make the playoffs. Then once you get there, you never know, the LA Kings are a prime example of that. It’s a whole other ball game once you get into the playoffs." The Oilers have done a great job of building through the draft. It seems unlikely that they'll be a legitimate Stanley Cup contender in 2012-13, but they certainly appear to be headed in the right direction. Sep 7 |
| 5 | Lennart Petrell ActiveLennart Petrell scored his first goal in over a month Saturday to lead Helsinki to a 4-1 win. Petrell had eight goals through October 30 and finally got number nine Saturday. To be fair, the SM-liiga shut down for a couple of weeks in November but it still must have been a relief for the 28-year-old Finn. He has yet to garner an assist this season. Look for Petrell, who had nine points in 60 games for Edmonton in his first season in North America last year, to contribute more in the NHL as it usually takes veterans a year to acclimate themselves to the North American lifestyle. Dec 3 |
| D | 1 | Ryan Whitney ActiveRyan Whitney has reportedly been pain-free from his ankle woes since the end of last season. He has been marred by injury the past two years, but getting off to a positive start with a full training regime should bode better for him entering the 2012-13 campaign. Whitney can bring offensive skills from the back end and he'll be counted on to supply plenty of minutes on a shallow Edmonton defense corps, but he will have to stay healthy to do so. Sep 4 |
| 2 | Justin Schultz ActiveJustin Schultz scored a goal for Oklahoma City in a 4-3 loss to the Houston Aeros Sunday. The goal, his 14th of the campaign, brings his season total to 38 points, which is tied for the AHL scoring lead with teammate Jordan Eberle, who picked up an assist in this contest. Dec 16 |
| 3 | Jeff Petry ActiveThe Oilers signed Jeff Petry to a two-year, $3.5 million extension. The 24-year-old logged 21:45 of ice time per game this past season -- tops on the team -- accumulating two goals and 23 assists in the 73 games. The young rearguard also had 126 hits and 126 blocked shots. A contract for $1.75 million per year seems like money well spent for Edmonton. Jul 5 |
| 4 | Ladislav Smid ActiveLadislav Smid ended up with two roughing penalties in his 2012-13 season debut with Liberec. Smid's started his professional career in Liberec and he had intended to finish his career with the team. However, the lockout is providing him with an opportunity to play there while he's still in his mid-20s. Unfortunately, his return didn't get off on the right foot as his team ended up losing 5-2. Sep 26 |
| 5 | Nick Schultz ActiveNick Schultz is "a little bit optimistic" that the Alberta Labour Relations Board will rule in the NHLPA's favor. The NHLPA is trying to block the lockout in Alberta. In the province, a mediator must be appointed and given 14 days to work with both sides before a lockout vote can be held. The NHL did seek a mediator, but the union said that the league ended mediation a mere three days into the process. "Each province implements laws for a reason," Schultz said. "These are the guidelines in Alberta and if they weren’t followed, for whatever reason, or if we can help out anyway to change the way negotiations are going (we will). We’re just looking at different avenues, so we can get back onto the ice." Sep 21 |
| 6 | Theo Peckham ActiveTheo Peckham has parted ways with the ECHL San Francisco Bulls. Peckham reportedly asked the team to leave. He ended up with no points and 11 penalty minutes in four games with the squad. Nov 16 |
| 7 | Corey Potter ActiveCorey Potter has returned home from Vienna for the birth of his first child. Congratulations to Potter and his wife on the upcoming birth. Potter had a goal and four points in 17 games for Vienna. There is no word as to whether he will return to Europe when things settle down. Dec 10 |
| 8 | Andy Sutton ActiveAndy Sutton will undergo knee surgery in a few weeks and he's still wondering if his NHL career is over. He had arthroscopic surgery in early October and this will mark his second procedure on his ailing knee. "It's bone on bone in two spots in my knee," he said. "I have another surgery scheduled in the next few weeks in Santa Monica to fix that defect. And I guess the road to recovery from that is quite long and arduous. So I don't know, this is going to be my 12th surgery, I'm pretty tired of what I've done to my body." Sutton isn't closing the door completely on returning because he would like to continue playing with Edmonton's young group. He said, "I think we'll just leave it open and see how the rehab goes and see how the season shakes out with these labor negotiations." Nov 21 |
| G | 1 | Devan Dubnyk ActiveDevan Dubnyk took issue with the NHL's stances on contracting issues. "It doesn't seem to make sense," said Dubnyk. "Those are things that players fought for and missed an entire year for and they are literally proposing to take all of it back. If the percentage is set, I don’t understand why they are fighting so hard to control where it goes." As far as contracting issues go, it seems like the owners are ultimately fighting for more control over the players they draft. That being said, any steps taken to prevent heavily frontloaded contracts like the one we've seen during the old CBA are to be expected. Those contracts were largely viewed as a way to get around the salary cap and a way for the richer teams to abuse the cap system a little. The same goes for dumping expensive contracts in the minors so that they wouldn't count against the cap. The players made efforts to address frontloading contracts and dumping expensive players in the minors in the CBA proposal that the owners recently rejected. Nov 22 |
| 2 | Nikolai Khabibulin ActiveNikolai Khabibulin is still not 100 percent after undergoing off-season hip surgery. Khabibulin played through a hip injury last season after injuring it in late December. He had surgery in April once the season ended. "They said it would be six to eight months (before he could play)," said Khabibulin. "The hip started bugging me around Christmas and it never went away so I had the surgery after the season." Since Khabibulin is still injured, he is allowed access to all the Oilers facilities and is being paid. This is the final year of a four year, $15 million contract and with Khabibulin turning 39 in just over a month, a new contract may be hard to come by. Dec 4 |