A young grinder forward has been placed on the NHL waiver wire today that the Edmonton Oilers could consider.
The Carolina Hurricanes have placed Brendan Lemieux on waivers, a 28 year old enforcer under contract for the rest of this season at $775K.
Standing at 6'1 and 215 pounds, Lemieux is known for staring problems from the fourth line with his hitting, fighting, and generally getting underneath the skin of his opponent. Drafted in the second round by the Buffalo Sabres in 2014, Lemieux has gone on to play 307 career games with 5 different teams. His career best year may have come with the New York Rangers in 2019-20, registering 18 points and 111 penalty minutes.
The Edmonton Oilers got off to a bit of a slow start this season, and in games against the Flames and Flyers were knocked around a bit physically. The team finally got a physical response when Troy Stecher and Corey Perry dropped the gloves to fight, but the Oilers may not want to rely on the shortest and oldest players on the team to be their physical presence.
Some Oilers fans have taken to social media hoping the team will claim Lemieux to add an element of toughness to the bottom six, something the team may really need.
If the Oilers do want to give a rest to some veteran players like Corey Perry and Derek Ryan and get a tougher look on their fourth line, making a claim on Lemieux would certainly be a way to make the team a lot more feared physically. We'll see tomorrow afternoon if the Oilers or any other team places a claim.
