Rookies

Despite appearances, the Edmonton Oilers are relying far less on rookies this NHL season. The huge number of rookies from a year ago are still developing but at least the pace of new hires has slowed to a more normal rate.

11-12 Rookies (TOI)

1. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins 658
2. Corey Potter 549
3. Anton Lander 395
4. Lennart Petrell 282
5. Colten Teubert 182
6. Alex Plante 32
7. Teemu Hartikainen 27
8. Ryan O’Marra 20

A quick note: the NHL doesn’t count Potter and Petrell as rookies, but I do because they are first year NHLers and their arrival at a later age doesn’t make playing in the league any easier. The 11-12 Oilers have used rookies for 2,145 minutes this season, so we should expect about 4,000 total minutes devoted to rookies over the entire year. Fair?

2010-11 (TOI)

1. Devan Dubnyk 2061
2. Magnus Paajarvi 1231
3. Jordan Eberle 1220
4. Taylor Hall 1184
5. Linus Omark 783
6. Jeff Petry 713
7. Ryan O’Marra 231
8. Teemu Hartikainen 209
9. Chris VandeVelde 207
10. Alex Plante 45

7,884 minutes or thereabouts devoted to rookies. Man that’s a lot of time on ice. The Oilers have graduated a ton of kids since G7 SCF in 2006:

06-12 Rookies (6 years)

1. Jeff Deslauriers (09-10) 2798
2. Devan Dubnyk (10-11) 2061
3. Tom Gilbert (07-08) 1820
4. Ladislav Smid (06-07) 1481
5. Sam Gagner (07-08) 1238
6. Magnus Paajarvi (10-11) 1231
7. Jordan Eberle (10-11) 1220
8. Taylor Hall (10-11) 1140
9. Andrew Cogliano (07-08) 1112
10. Kyle Brodziak (07-08) 1033
11. Jan Hejda (06-07) 795
12. Linus Omark (10-11) 783
13. Patrick Thoresen (06-07) 776
14. Taylor Chorney (09-10) 730
15. Jeff Petry (10-11) 713
16. Curtis Glencross (07-08) 709
17. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (11-12) 658
18. Marc Pouliot (06-07) 600
19. Corey Potter (11-12) 549
20. Liam Reddox (08-09) 481
21. Brad Winchester (06-07) 476
22. Anton Lander (11-12) 395
23. Danny Syvret (06-07) 295
24. Jean Francois Jacques (06-07) 293
25. Ryan Stone (09-10) 293
26. Lennart Petrell (11-12) 281
27. Theo Peckham (09-10) 241
28. Ryan O’Marra (10-11) 231
29. Matheiu Roy (06-07) 226
30. Teemu Hartikainen (10-11) 209
31. Chris VandeVelde (10-11) 207
32. Zach Stortini (06-07) 207
33. Colten Teubert (11-12) 182
34. Bryan Young (06-07) 151
35. Steve MacIntyre (08-09) 86

The Oilers have graduated a lot of players to the NHL since they went deep into the spring 2006 playoffs. Cogliano, Brodziak, Hejda, Glencross, Winchester and others have spent time in the NHL this season. Moving back the cluster has its downside, and one of them is being a development team for more successful organizations. Would Curtis Glencross help the Oilers?

The best rookies by position are Dubnyk, Smid, Gilbert, RNH, Hall and Eberle. That’s a helluva group. I expect that the Oilers will add a lot of rookie minutes in the second half, after all these injuries have to be filled and the trade deadline means veterans leaving town.

Is Corey Potter part of the long term or another Jan Hejda? I bet they sign him.