Photo courtesy of Steven Christy Photography. All rights reserved.
It seems that the Oklahoma City Barons postseason roster is beginning to come together. With the Oilers leaving Linus Omark on the farm, assigning Anton Lander last week, and today announcing that they are shipping Magnus Paajarvi south, the March 5th clear day roster might be intact a week early. The clear day roster is that moment in the minor leagues where the postseason rosters are fully set. Little wiggle room (minus injury & emergency) is given in the postseason so that the playing pool is slightly more even with many NHL teams out of postseason play. I think fans at both levels in the Oilers organization assumed that these three would be on the AHL roster to finish the season, but perhaps not this soon. It will also mark the first time these three have been on the roster together in OKC. The obvious point being; that is a whole lotta NHL talent tucked away in an already talented AHL team.
The sad and likely story that comes out of this will be the bottom end of the roster. The clear day roster, once again needs to be in place March 5th at 3 EST, can only contain 22 players. As it stands the Barons have roster spots taken by 16 forwards, 9 defenders, and 2 goaltenders. That’s a whopping 27 players, 5 of which will be left out. A painful sight for a few players who’ve toiled away the entire season in Oklahoma City.