EDMONTON -- Jack Campbell was assigned to Bakersfield of the American Hockey League by the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday, one day after the goalie was placed on waivers.
Campbell, who is 1-4-0 with a 4.50 goals-against average and .873 save percentage in five games, has the second-worst GAA and fifth-worst save percentage among goalies to play at least five games this season.
The 31-year-old is in the second season of a five-year, $25-million contract ($5 million average annual value) he signed with the Oilers as an unrestricted free agent July 13, 2022.
Edmonton (2-8-1) is seventh in the Pacific Division and has the second-fewest points in the League (five), ahead of only the San Jose Sharks (three), who they play at SAP Center in San Jose on Thursday (10:30 p.m. ET; HULU, ESPN+, SNW) in the second of a three-game road trip. The Oilers have lost three in a row and seven of their past eight games (1-6-1).
“It's an organizational decision," coach Jay Woodcroft said. "First of all, the message that gets sent is, we're 2-8-1. For us to come back and just keep trotting the same thing out, we can't do that. Not acceptable. Unfortunately for someone of Jack's character, and someone who's such a great teammate, he's one of those pieces that is being forced to move. He's forced to go down to Bakersfield. That's not fun. That's not fun for any of his teammates. It's not fun for his coaches. It's not fun for the managers. But over the last little while, we've seen Philip Broberg pay that price, we've seen Adam Erne pay that price. These are good people, but in the end, the Edmonton Oilers are about searching to find ways to put something together here. We've had good moments, but they haven't been enough. We're looking for solutions. My experience in my 20 years, usually real solutions hide in plain sight."
