Edmonton Oilers place forward Adam Erne on waivers

The Edmonton Oilers have placed Adam Erne on waivers. He was signed to a one-year contract worth $775,000 earlier this month by the Oilers and played six games for them so far. In those six games, he averaged just over eight minutes of ice time per game, five penalty minutes and a -1 rating.

Erne had gone unsigned throughout the entire offseason after completing the contract that paid him $2.1 million a year with the Detroit Red Wings. Finally, in early October the Oilers signed him but that doesn’t seem to be paying off for them just yet. The New Haven, CT native hasn’t had a very good showing in the NHL so far this year and his NHL future is up in the air at this point.

One of two things will happen now. A team could pick him up on the waiver wire and give him a shot in the bottom-six of their lineup. That way he’d get another shot at the NHL this year. The other way is for him to clear waivers and be sent down to the AHL and play for the Bakersfield Condors. Erne played nine games last year for the Grand Rapids Griffins so he’s no stranger to spending time in the AHL. He was a full-time AHLer from 2016-18 until he made it into the Tampa Bay Lightning’s lineup.

Erne is a decent bottom-six option who never puts up more than 15-20 points annually. He can fit in on most teams’ fourth-line and be a solid winger who can forecheck and play a physical game. He had 14 hits through the first six games of this season and has had at least 160 hits in his last two full NHL seasons. So far in his career, Erne has played 361 games, scoring 40 goals and 89 points.