Edmonton Oilers forward Linus Omark was assigned to the Oklahoma City Barons of the AHL was on Wednesday. Oilers netminder Nikolai Khabibulin was named the NHL's third start for the month of October. To no one’s surprise, Edmonton Oilers centre Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has been named the NHL Rookie of the month.

PHOTO CREDIT - EdmontonOilers.com

Edmonton - Nov. 3, 2011 - Edmonton Oilers forward Linus Omark was assigned to the Oklahoma City Barons of the AHL was on Wednesday. The slick forward was a healthy scratch the last five games, which has coincided with the return of Sam Gagner from his high ankle sprain. When you take into consideration that the Oilers have won all five of those games and that Ales Hemsky is nearly ready to make his return from a sore shoulder, the move to get Omark regular playing time with the Barons makes perfect sense.

There was some thought out there that Omark may not report to Oklahoma but that was not the case. The diminutive winger has made it very clear that he wants to play in the NHL so it came as no real surprise that he accepted his demotion to the Barons. If Omark goes down and lights up in the AHL, as he did at times last season, then he may very well force the Oilers hand. They will have to decide if they want to make a spot for the talented Swede or look at moving him to a different organization. If he isn't in their plans long term, they should move the kid along and let him get on with his career.

Colten Teubert Gets The Call
With Cam Barker practicing in the Oilers baby blue no-contact jersey, it was confirmed that the defenceman would be out of action for at least the next five days with a sore shoulder. Barker’s injury combined with the five game suspension that was handed to Andy Sutton, means Edmonton is short on the backend. The club called up former Los Angeles Kings first rounder Colten Teubert, to fill the vacated spot and the youngster will be making his NHL debut Thursday night against the team that drafted him back in 2008 with the thirteenth overall selection.

Khabibulin Named Third Star
Oilers netminder Nikolai Khabibulin was named the NHL's third start for the month of October. The veteran goaltender currently sports a 5-0-2 record and leads the league with a 1.12 GAA and a .960 SV%. He has been the major reason for Edmonton's surprising start and is full marks for all the accolades that have started to come his way.

Nugent-Hopkins Rookie Of The Month To no one’s surprise, Edmonton Oilers centre Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has been named the NHL Rookie of the month. The first year centre currently leads the Oilers in scoring with eleven points in eleven games and is tied for the club lead with five goals. The kid has been a huge part of the Oilers success this season and it will be interesting to see how he does over the next twelve games. Ten of those games will be on the road and you can bet every team they face will be looking at shutting down the Oilers new top line. At this point, I wouldn’t bet against the kid.