As the Edmonton Oilers get prepared for their second Battle of Alberta this season, forward Dylan Holloway has been recalled from the Bakersfield Condors today. He missed two months of the season due to injury and then had himself a conditioning stint in the AHL. His lone goal of 2023/2024 was in the team’s first meeting against the Seattle Kraken on November 11th. Even though the points weren’t really coming up for him, he was doing some solid work in other areas of the game. He’d been blocking shots and showing good defensive work. After his injury healed, the plan by Oilers management was for him to play as a centerman for the Condors before coming back onto the NHL roster. He played 4 games for Bakersfield and put up 4 points, two of them were goals. I stated in one of my game preview articles that I wanted to see Ryan Nugent-Hopkins as the 3C to balance out Edmonton’s loaded forward group. I wanted to see Holloway in the top six so that he’d have opportunities to produce more. But if Holloway’s play down in the AHL translates to this new 3C duty he’s expected to get, then Nuge can keep his spot on the top line and more depth without changes will be a huge gift for this team. I will be interested to see how the translation unfolds because head coach Kris Knoblauch prefers to not overly change a line-up that has been successful.
This recall does mean that forward James Hamblin has been sent back down to Bakersfield. Hamblin put up 2 goals and 1 assist for 3 points in 31 games played. You may remember when he scored his first NHL goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning on November 18th. He dedicated that goal celebration to his mother, who died of cancer back in 2017. Edmonton didn’t bring Hamblin in for point totals, but I really liked what he brought to the fourth line with Derek Ryan, Sam Gagner and/or Adam Erne. It’s tough to see him go, Oilers fans rooted hard for him. But I have no doubts he will make his way back to the Oilers in the near future.
