Placing struggling defenseman Oesterle on waivers gives Flames roster flexibility

The Calgary Flames are potentially giving their defense corps a shake up. Or at least looking to create more options.

The Flames on Thursday placed defenseman Jordan Oesterle on waivers, giving the other clubs an opportunity to claim the 31-year-old left-shot blueliner with more than 350 NHL games under his belt.

Oesterle signed a one-year, one-way contract worth $925,000.

After a strong pre-season, Oesterle has struggled. He was a minus-2 in the season opener, was scratched the next four games and played three of the last five outings. He has no points in his four games played.

His analytical numbers are also not pretty, a 44.86 CF% and 36.03 xGF% — worst of any player with more than two games according to naturalstattrick.com.

What happens if he clears waivers, though, will be interesting. The good news is that Nikita Zadorov practised on Thursday after missing Wednesday’s game due to a family matter.The Flames next play Saturday in Seattle, and would not travel with only six healthy defensemen.

So, either Oesterle would remain with the club with the possibility of reassignment at any moment (which does allow for more flexibility if a trade is on the table) or he would be sent to the AHL (without any penalty against the salary cap) and another blueliner would be summoned, most likely Ilya Solovyov. (Although Solovyov, who has played two games, has posted a 43.10 CF% and 31.77 xGF%.)

The Flames next practice is Friday morning, before the waiver period ends (which is noon Calgary time), and plan to depart for Seattle after.