There was a time, back when I was producing The Lowdown with Lowetide on TSN 1260, when I would shout “PTO everybody!”

My thinking at the time was that the Edmonton Oilers depth was almost always abysmal, and if there was a somewhat decent NHLer out there, why wouldn’t you bring them into camp for free? Why not see if they’re better than whatever European free agents or AHL tweeners you are currently employing?

They were a no-lose proposition…except in the case of Jake Virtanen. That PTO definitely had some downside to it.

But for the most part, signing a player to a professional tryout was always seen as a risk-free way to add some competition to training camp with the possible upside of finding the odd diamond in the rough who turns into a valuable player for you.

That might not be the case anymore for this Oilers team. Let me explain:

A shorter pre-season could change the Oilers’ PTO strategy

First off, the NHL’s pre-season is shorter than ever now. Last season, the Oilers played in eight pre-season contests.

This year? That number has been cut in half.

Like pretty much every hockey fan, I am thrilled that the pre-season is much shorter and we will get to real, meaningful hockey faster. For these teams, though, this does mean less time to evaluate players, and if you’re a team like the Oilers, who already have a lot of players vying for not that many........

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