Oilers send forward Devin Shore on conditioning assignment

The Edmonton Oilers have sent Devin Shore to the AHL on a conditioning loan, giving him the chance to get some game action. The veteran forward hasn’t played yet in 2023, last suiting up on New Year’s Eve and playing just over eight minutes.

Shore, 28, can stay for up to two weeks in the minor leagues on this loan, which doesn’t take him off the roster or remove his cap hit. To assign him for longer, the Oilers would have to expose him to waivers. Signed to a two-year contract in 2021 which carries an $850K cap hit, Shore hasn’t quite worked out for Edmonton as a bottom-six option.

Where he once was a 30-point man for the Dallas Stars, he now has just 23 points in 116 games for the Oilers. That includes just three assists this year, as Shore has failed to find the back of the net on any of his 17 shots. 

It doesn’t make a lot of sense for the team to expose him when they don’t need to but at some point, it seems like Shore is destined for waivers. When Kailer Yamamoto returns or if they make a trade, cap space will be at a premium. His entire $850K deal can be buried in the minor leagues, should he clear, and the team isn’t receiving much value from him at the moment.