Oilers' Brad Malone, Canucks' Justin Dowling placed on waivers

The waiver wire has two players on it Thursday, as Brad Malone of the Edmonton Oilers and Justin Dowling of the Vancouver Canucks are both available for claim according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. If Malone’s name surprises you, it should; the veteran forward had been playing on an AHL contract but has now signed a one-year, two-way, NHL deal with the Oilers. In order to return to Bakersfield for the time being, he needs to clear waivers after signing the new deal.

Malone, 32, is the captain of the Condors, meaning he likely has a close relationship with Jay Woodcroft, who is now taking over as head coach of the Oilers after Dave Tippett was let go earlier Thursday. That isn’t necessarily the reason for this contract, however, as reports had surfaced much earlier in the season that Edmonton wanted to sign Malone to an NHL deal but couldn’t for salary-cap reasons. Still, Woodcroft’s promotion could certainly mean that there is a bit of NHL playing time in Malone’s future, depending on what happens with the rest of the roster.

If Malone does come back up at some point, it certainly wouldn’t be a new experience. Malone has more than 200 NHL games under his belt to this point, including some playoff contests back when he was with the Colorado Avalanche organization. He played 16 games with the Oilers in 2018-19, his last appearance in the NHL.

Dowling meanwhile has played in 22 games with the Canucks this season, including Wednesday night’s loss against the New York Islanders. He has just two goals and four points in those matches, while usually seeing fewer than 10 minutes of ice time. Because he’s in just the first season of a two-year, one-way contract, it seems unlikely that another team would claim him unless it feels he can make an immediate impact in the lineup. The 31-year-old has just 18 points in 98 career regular-season games.