Jeff Skinner gets look among Oilers' bottom 6 forwards at Monday practice

He was brought into the fold to presumably play in a Top 6 forward role, but Jeff Skinner might start the Edmonton Oilers' 2024-25 campaign lower down in the National Hockey League team's lineup.

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The winger was skating among the bottom six forwards during Monday's practice after playing much of the pre-season on a line with fellow newcomer Viktor Arvidsson and star centre Leon Draisaitl. In his place was Mattias Janmark, who skated effectively on a third line with fellow Oilers Adam Henrique and Connor Brown during the Stanley Cup playoffs.

While Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said Monday he hasn't yet committed to the makeup of Wednesday's opening lineup against the Winnipeg Jets, he said the idea of pairing Skinner with Henrique would give the team "more balanced scoring."

"I think right now, it's best to play with the lines. Maybe (with) a little more north and south guys like Janmark, we have other options," Knoblauch told media after practice, adding the likes of current fourth-liners Corey Perry and Vasily Podkolzin could see opportunities higher up in the lineup.

"Right now, with Skinner being with that third line, I just know (it'll be) tough to match all three of our lines, because we got scoring on all three."

Skinner, 32, signed a one-year, US$3-million contract with the Oilers as an unrestricted free agent the day National Hockey League free agency opened in July. The 14-year NHL veteran, most recently a member of the Buffalo Sabres, has scored 357 goals over his NHL career, notching 30-plus goals five times and reaching the 40-goal plateau five years ago. He has never played in an NHL playoff game.

Calgary Flames Martin Pospisil (76) looks for the puck against Edmonton Oilers Raphael Lavoie (62) during first period NHL preseason action in Edmonton on Sept. 23, 2024. (Amber Bracken/The Canadian Press)

Lavoie lost to Vegas

Raphael Lavoie is no longer an Oilers prospect. The Vegas Golden Knights claimed the 24-year-old off waivers Monday morning after Edmonton placed him on the wire in order to assign him to their American Hockey League affiliate.

The forward, a second-round pick of the Oilers in 2019, had spent the last three seasons with the Bakersfield Condors, scoring 25-plus goals in each of the last two AHL campaigns.

The six-foot-four, 215-lb. Lavoie went scoreless in seven NHL games with the Oilers last season.

Clearing waivers Monday following Oilers training camp are defenceman Josh Brown, forward Drake Caggiula and goalie Olivier Rodriqgue.