The #Oilers have assigned forward Kailer Yamamoto to the @SpokaneChiefs of @TheWHL. Yamamoto recorded three assists in nine games. pic.twitter.com/RAWkT65Wqe
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) November 6, 2017
The Edmonton Oilers announced today that they had sent Kailer Yamamoto back to the Spokane Chiefs of the WHL. Yamamto played in the maximum number of games allowed before the first year of his three-year Entry Level Contract would have begun, before being reassigned.
He put up three assists in those nine games and was scratched for four others over the first 13 games of the Oilers’ season.
Yamamoto returns to a team that went 8-7-1-2 over their first 18 games and has dropped four straight.
The talented right wing was sixth in league scoring in 2016-17, putting up 101 points in 65 games. He should be in he lineup when the team plays in Lethbridge on Friday-their next game.
Having Yamamoto in the fold gives Spokane Head Coach Dan Lambert a variety of options up front. He could insert him right back into the potent line he formed last year with Hudson Elynuik and Jaret Anderson-Dolan, or he could move him somewhere else in the top-six. The Chiefs recently traded for Zach Fischer from the Medicine Hat Tigers and he has seven points in his 10 games since joining the Chiefs. With Yamammoto returning, he and Fischer make up one of the top right wing combos out there.
Along with Elynuik(Carolina), Fischer(Calgary), Anderson-Dolan(L.A.) and Jake McGrew(San Jose), Yamamoto gives Spokane five NHL-drafted players in their forward group. Suffice it to say, this is a talented group that should improve on their current 3.33 goals a game average.
Yamamoto will likely miss time while playing for Team USA at the U-20 World Junior Championships in late December-early January.
