Oilers sign Motin

The Edmonton Oilers signed Swede defender Johan Motin to an entry level contract today. Motin has some nice things on his resume and his arrows are pointing in the right direction.

Also positive is that the Oilers as an organization are really good at identifying this player type and having success with them. The most recent example is Theo Peckham, but finding DD’s (defensive defensemen) is an organizational strength that goes back to Jan Hejda, Steve Staios, Igor Ulanov and beyond.

The Edmonton Oilers can find these guys at midnight in a snow storm. Also, Motin was drafted less than a year ago but fans shouldn’t be fooled about his timeline. Unlike teenage Finn Teeum Hartikainen (who is still fairly raw from the reports) or the “next Schremp” Linus Omark (who was 20 when drafted and has developed a reputation since that birthday), Motin is both a teenager and fairly well along as a hockey player.

It’s a wonderful combination and will probably serve Motin well with the fanbase. Most of us don’t know him well, we’ve been worrying over Schremp and the new king-in-waiting Omark, while Motin just posted a quality season in a very good pro league.

Motin was +4 in 52 games with Farjestads this season. That number was 5th best on a very good team (UFA goalie Jonas Gustavsson was on this team) and shows (along with the GP total) that a good club had some faith in him. We shouldn’t get crazy and assume he was playing the tough minutes but he was out there for 11 minutes on 52 different evenings and that’s a nice bullet on the resume. End of the roster guy, but he’s learning the ropes.

Another way to look at Motin (and compare him to others) is to drag out my trusty prospect evaluation system:

1. Player of unknown quality
2. Entry level junior/college player
3. Fringe level junior/college/2nd div Euro player
4. Regular in junior/college/2nd div Euro player
5. Quality junior/college/2nd div Euro player
6. Impact junior/college/2nd div Euro player
7. Minor League/Elite Euro league Cup-of-Coffee
8. Minor League/Elite Euro league Depth Player
9. Minor League/Elite Euro league Regular
10. Quality Minor/Elite Euro league Player
11. NHL Fringe Player
12. NHL Role Player
13. NHL Regular
14. Above Average NHL Player
15. Impact NHL Player

Johan Motin

• Age 17: 7
• Age 18: 7
• Age 19: 9

Teemu Hartikainen

• Age 17: 5
• Age 18: 9

Linus Omark

• Age 17: 4
• Age 18: 7
• Age 19: 9
• Age 20: 9
• Age 21: 10

Three good young prospects here, I’d probably take the Finn in a re-draft. However, Motin has a nice scouting report:

• 6.01, 202
• A strong skating defender.
• Does over commit at times but is skilled enough to recover.
• Very strong defensive presence.
• Crisp passer, plays in all situations.
• Mean streak.

Today, we get another tell. When an NHL organization calls your name past #100 in an Entry Draft and signs you 11 months later, you’ve done something right.