EDMONTON - The Edmonton Oilers have made Ryan Whitney a healthy scratch for tonight's game against the visiting Vancouver Canucks.

The veteran defenceman, who turns 30 later this month, will sit in favour of Corey Potter after turning in a minus-2 performance in Saturday's 3-1 loss on the road to the Colorado Avalanche.

Whitney has collected three assists in eight games this season to go with a plus/minus of -5.

When asked about the play of Whitney - the highest-paid defenceman on the team, and who's in the final year of a six-year, $24-million contract (earning $5.5 million this season) - following Saturday's loss, Oilers head coach Ralph Krueger was mum on the topic.

Whitney, predictably, says he's "frustrated" by the benching, but the Journal's Jim Matheson says it might help him shake out of his funk.