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Originally Posted by the-rasta-masta
Seems weird they would have premade jerseys in the first place prior to a trade happening. Players get to pick their own numbers right? Some of these aren't even the same numbers they wore with their previous teams.
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Except for Staal, they're all numbers the player has worn in the NHL and Staal was just a reverse of his NYR and Detroit number because 18 was already taken by Hyman.
Middleton wore 67 when he broke into the league, but switched to 21 prior to last season. The Oilers didn't have a player wearing 21 last season, so I'm not sure why they would have done his jersey with 67 and not 21.
They were likely playing the odds that the player would want to keep the same number after the trade that he was wearing before (or reverse the digits in Staal's case).
The only explanation that makes any sense for why those jerseys exist is the Oilers were in the market for a d-man at the deadline and those players were the most-likely candidates (plus Kulak, who they actually acquired). They were on a short road trip at the trade deadline, so they probably had the equipment staff prepare road jerseys for each of the players just in case they were acquired and to save the equipment staff from the hassle of preparing the jersey while on the road. Funnily enough, Kulak was the player they acquired, and he didn't join the team until after that short trip was over anyway.
There is a logical reason for them to exist, what's crazy is the decision to sell them to the public 6 months later.