With the light shining so brightly on the parent team, Edmonton Oilers prospects who are still playing are not getting a lot of attention. However, Aapeli Rasanen (Sioux City Musketeers) and Ethan Bear (Seattle Thunderbirds) are still going, while Dylan Wells (Peterborough Petes) very recently saw his season end.
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Dylan Wells (playoffs) 12gp, 2.59 .930
Wells has spiked as a prospect and will be moving up my Top 20 ranking this summer, he was No. 20 on the Winter list (No. 3 ranked goalie). His season-over-season-over season numbers (.893, .871 and this season .916) have improved greatly, very encouraging. You’d want him to post another strong year in 2017-18, but if we take into account graduations and such, he probably ranks around No. 10 at this time (before the 2017 draft re-stocks).
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Ethan Bear (playoffs) 11gp, 5-11-16
Bear continues to roll through the final season of his junior career and is currently No. 2 in playoff scoring among defenseman. Bear was a 2015 draft pick and Red Line compared him to Alec Martinez of the Los Angeles Kings on his draft day. I had him No. 6 on the winter list, I will probably rank him No. 2 on the summer list (before the draft adds a few names).
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Aapeli Rasanen (playoffs) 3gp, 0-1-1
Rasanen is easy to overlook but his range of skills makes for an interesting prospect. After going 38gp, 7-18-25, he will play for the Western Conference championship of the USHL beginning tomorrow night. Rasanen has had injury issues this season, but played enough to establish chem with fellow Finn Eeli Tolvanen (who will probably go top 10 at the draft). Ranked him No. 15 on the winter list, he probably ranks No. 10 or so this time around (before the additions on draft weekend).
Kinger_Oil.redux,
I think LT was focusing on the ones still playing. Since we are in the conference championships in the CHL leagues (ie 12 teams total left), this isn’t a surprising number to me. NCAA finished a few weeks ago and most Euro leagues are wrapped up too i believe, so that only really leaves CHL and USHL.
Bruce McCurdy,
Sounds like he was hurt blocking a shot in game 3. Severity of injury not known.
https://sports.mynorthwest.com/272895/rockets-beat-t-birds-4-2-to-even-series-at-two-games-apiece/
Any word on why Ethan Bear was scratched for Game Four in Kelowna last night?
/banned
Carolina did it after missing two years in a row.
Florida and Oilers are tied for longest time outside the playoffs at 10 year, so the record is probably closer to Carolina.
treevojo,
Years ago the Minnesota Wild under Jacques Lemaire were so boring it was like watching paint dry. By comparison to how the Sens play, they were an exciting team. Not even #65 can overcome that.
What is the NHL record for winning the Stanley cup after consecutive years out of the playoffs? Has any team won the Cup after missing the playoffs? How about 2 years missing the playoffs? 11 years?
Well at least you get to watch mediocre coaching.
That’s ridiculous.
What’s wrong with those people.
I get that they play a defensive game but for my money they have one of the top five players in the world to watch.
Effing pathetic
Meanwhile here in Edmonton we have to fight scalpers to watch a sold out away game on the jumbotron. Sad!
*edit* BTW they sold out in less than 30 minutes.
You forgot to include the improvement at center. He drafted that McDavid fella!! 🙂
SayItAin’tSo, Gretz, SayItAin’tSo!,
I still haven’t unclenched from the final moments in game 6 of the Sharks series.
I’m a mess watching games now that they mean something.
Back when the Oilers were awful, I was pretty good at kind of snarking my way threw the experience.
“Of course Scrivens lets one in unscreened from the blue line, haha what a team”
“Of course Ference looks off a wide open Hall on the breakout before firing a pass right to the opposition, haha, what a team.”
It was kind of a joke for awhile. A rather stale one, but easy to process and the reaction was usually more measured for the most part. I knew what to expect.
Now I’m more like
“OH JEEZ NURSE NO STOP DON’T CHASE HIM OK GOOD THEY GOT THE PUCK BACK ANYWAYS OK, PASS TO THE OPEN MAN OH GOD NO NO NO YES!!! TALBOT MADE THE SAVE!!! REBOUND! SCRAMBLE! FUCKFUCKFUCK… *whistle goes* OH THANK GOD” *gasping for air*
It’s a roller coaster of emotion. After game 5 of the Sharks series I almost asked my friend for a smoke, even though I’ve never smoked cigarettes in my life.
The old saying “they’ll sell you a whole seat, but you will only need the edge of it” definitely rings true for these Oilers, I’ll tell you what.
Chris JohnstonVerified account
@reporterchris
Announced attendance was 16,744 in Ottawa tonight — almost 2,000 below capacity.
I totally agree.
Been saying the oilers are a great team all year !!
They would have been a really good team last year too but for injuries.
How about Manson running Draisaitl into the boards just a few moments before that. Then maybe a shift later, up the ice Getzlaf borderline slewfoots Nugent Hopkins.
The Ducks are a bunch of dirt bags, and I’m totally fine if Kassian loses his shit on one of them if the game gets out of reach one of these nights.
Like obviously, keep focusing on playing hockey while the games in the balance. But man. If one team gets up 4 or 5 goals with under 10 minutes left just go for it. I will let your imagination describe what “it” might be but hopefully it results in a Duck losing a few chicklets.
– You mean like an eastern game followed by a western game, day after day, so hockey would be front and centre? That kind of scheduling? Instead of games being played at same time?
– What logic is this you speak of? And looking at times: who doesn’t love 3:00 EST games either!
The kid is still sick from watching Kesler mug the best player in the game and Getzlaf tee off on Lucic’s legs – both without repercussions. Made me puke too.
Because the NHL has no idea how to actually do scheduling. None at all.
Somebody poisoned the waterhole!
(probably Kesler)
Adam Larsson can score at will, he just doesn’t like the attention.
Adam Larsson learned to skate backwards first.
Adam Larsson always closes the toilet seat.
Bank Shot,
– Great post LT! Not many of the prospects playing post-season: is that normal, or a worry?
– As an aside, I’m cheering for Washington. I really like Ovie, and how he plays: great for hockey IMO.
– Caps have been so good, but never able to get to promise land. If they don’t win this year, and lose to Pitts with that tire-fire D: their window has to be closing…
– Bank: “remember when MacT was GM” would be a fun post. I was pretty consistent on this blog over the years with my disdain for him. Probably the only fired coach, who was coaching in AHL to get hired as GM of the team he was fired from. One day, I will meet him and thank him for one thing he facilitated: CMD baby!
Why aren’t the east and west games staggered? Weird to have both east games on at the same time, then have two west games on the alternate day almost overlapping as well.
I really like how the ref went over to the Caps bench and gave them a talking-to after the Williams snow job on MAF.
#neverhappened
Remember when Mact became GM and the first thing he went out and acquired was another scoring winger in Perron.
Man I don’t miss those days. haha
It’s very cool to see just how drastic the change has been under Chiarelli in our two biggest spots of weakness when he arrived.
RHD – Larsson, Benning, Gryba, Bear, Mantha, Berglund, Marino … remember when we only had 2 RHD in the ENTIRE system?
G – Talbot, Brossoit, Ellis, Starrett, Wells, Svoboda
Madness.
Okay okay, I’ve found a reason to complain. I figured we were in store for at least two years of being a “middling” NHL team. Not awful. Not good. Middle of the pack. I feel short-changed by not getting my prescribed dosage of mediocre NHL hockey from the Oilers. They went from awful to good in the blink of an eye.
No fair.
Sorry to hijack but from the last thread
I’ve also felt the calm, but for me its a bit different. It has been slowly building all year but that first series finished off the doubt. The Oilers are a good hockey team. I expect a good hockey team to win. I’m calm now because I honestly think they can win any game they play.
For a decade it was the exact opposite feeling. You knew they were terrible and so if they ever had a lead or won a few in a row you’d be sitting on edge waiting for it to all blow up in your face. This exact scenario happened again and again and again with the comic relief of the coaching carousel and MacT rehire thrown. Things are totally different now. On the ice they are delivering, if they drop down a goal or two we have verifiable evidence from the toughest postseason tournament on the planet that they can fight back and win. They can shut a team out, get roughed up, bend but as of right now they aren’t breaking, in fact they are doing the pushing in better than 50% of the games played.
Connor McDavid won and Art Ross, Talbot set a franchise record for wins.
This year has been such a drastic turn North it has completely obliterated a decades worth of anger and pain in this Oilers fan.
No need to be anxious anymore, these guys are good.
I think it depends if it’s an Oiler or a Duck…
NHL reffing is so confusing. Is eating another player’s brain “unsportsmanlike conduct”?
On the up side he’s going to be pretty hard to hurt once he gets used to being a zombie. Will probably start playing pretty dirty if he gets hungry for a brain
Matt Benning looks like a zombie today. Must be a cold running through the team, or he’s not eating enough, or both. Bags under the eyes, splotches in the skin. . .