The WHL is something close to home base for the Edmonton Oilers, the team’s devotion to its backyard league is detailed here. The organization skipped ‘the dub’ last season, spending precious resources instead in the OHL, QMJHL, Finnish Jr and schools in the New Hampshire townships. The way this year’s draft is setting up, it’s a good bet we’ll see at least one pick from the WHL in 2019. Photo by Rob Ferguson.
THE ATHLETIC!
The Athletic Edmonton features a fabulous cluster of stories (some linked below, some on the site). Great perspective from a ridiculous group of writers and analysts. Proud to be part of the group.INSANE NEW OFFER IS HERE!
- New Jonathan Willis: Is Ken Holland yesterday’s man or the ideal GM candidate for the Oilers?
- New Lowetide: Jesse Puljujarvi and his uncertain future with the Oilers
- New Lowetide: ‘I see something special’: Are Oilers prepared to make Caleb Jones a fixture on the roster next season?
- New Jonathan Willis: Gritty comeback performance sends Edmonton’s farm team to the second round of the AHL playoffs.
- New Lowetide: Dylan Cozens might be ideal fit for Oilers at No. 8 overall in the 2019 draft
- Daniel Nugent-Bowman: ‘Hard to please, but easy to work for’: How Sean Burke’s philosophy as a GM would benefit the Oilers.
- Daniel Nugent-Bowman: A dogged realist, Kelly McCrimmon’s resume makes him an attractive candidate for the Oilers GM job
- New Lowetide: Is this the season the Oilers take the plunge and draft a USHL player in the first round?
- Jonathan Willis: Top Oilers prospect Evan Bouchard stars in his first AHL game as Condors dominate.
- Lowetide: Adam Larsson’s importance to the Oilers and why trading him is a bad idea.
- Lowetide: Tyler Benson’s comparables offer Oilers fans plenty of hope for the future.
- Lowetide: Making the call on the Oilers’ RFAs with a new general manager on the way.
- Lowetide: Red Wings front office shuffle could impact Oilers’ future.
- Jonathan Willis: Potential coaching candidates and why the Oilers don’t need to rush the GM search to get one
- Lowetide: What would Glen Sather do with these Oilers?
- Jonathan Willis: Some creative solutions to address the Oilers’ goalie problem
- Lowetide: The Milan Lucic saga rolls into Year 4 for Oilers with no easy answers
- Jonathan Willis: Who stays and who goes? An early projection of which players will remain on the Oilers’ roster in 2019-20
- Lowetide: How high can these Condors fly?
- Lowetide: The Oilers possible summer trade pieces, and which longtime players might be saying goodbye.
- Daniel Nugent-Bowman: Ten prospects likely to be available when the Oilers make their first-round pick
WHL’S BEST, 2019
- Bowen Byram, LHD, Vancouver Giants. 67, 26-45-71 (1.06)
- Kirby Dach, RHC, Saskatoon Blades. 62, 25-48-73 (1.18)
- Dylan Cozens, RHC, Lethbridge Hurricanes. 68, 34-50-84 (1.24)
- Peyton Krebs, LW, Kootenay Ice. 64, 19-49-68 (1.06)
- Matthew Robertson, LHD, Edmonton Oil Kings. 52, 7-26-33 (0.63)
- Brett Leason, RW, Prince Albert Raiders. 55, 36-53-89 (1.62) (OA)
- Brayden Tracey, LW, Moose Jaw Warriors. 66, 36-45-81 (1.23)
- Lassi Thomson, RHD, Kelowna Rockets. 63, 17-24-41 (0.65)
- Mads Sogaard, G Medicine Hat Tigers. 37, 2.64 .921
- Nolan Foote, LW, Kelowna Rockets. 66, 36-27-63 (0.95)
- Luka Burzan LHC, Brandon Wheat Kings. 68, 40-38-78 (1.15) (OA)
- Adam Beckman, LW, Spokane Chiefs. 68, 32-30-62 (0.91)
- Kaedan Korczak, RD, Kelowna Rockets. 68, 4-29-33 (0.49)
- Dillon Hamaliuk, LW, Seattle Thunderbirds. 31, 11-15-26 (.84)
- Oleg Zaitsev, LHC, Red Deer Rebels. 66, 13-30-54 (0.65)
- Trent Miner, G, Vancouver Giants. 32, 1.98 .924.
- Alexei Protas, LC, Prince Albert Raiders. 61, 11-29-40 (0.66)
- Gianni Fairbrother, LHD, Everett Silvertips. 64, 10-26-36 (0.56)
- Sasha Mutala, RW, Tri-City Americans. 65, 20-21-41 (0.63)
- Reece Newkirk, LHC, Portland Winterhawks. 68, 23-36-59 (0.87)
- Josh Williams, RW, Edmonton Oil Kings. 66, 14-19-33 (0.50)
- Quinn Schmiemann, LHD, Kamloops Blazers. 58, 5-23-28 (0.48)
- Dustin Wolf, Everett Silvertips. 61, 1.69 .936
- Martin Lang, RW, Kamloops Blazers. 65, 11-22-33 (0.51)
- Luke Toporowski, LHC, Spokane Chiefs. 67, 21-28-49 (0.73)
- Ben McCartney, LW, Brandon Wheat Kings. 67, 21-20-41 (0.61)
- Vladimir Alistrov, LW, Edmonton Oil Kings. 62, 12-26-38 (0.61)
- Henry Rybinski, RW, Seattle Thunderbirds. 33, 7-28-35 (1.06)
- Mark Kastelic, RHC, Calgary Hitmen. 66, 47-30-77 (1.17) (OA)
- Cole Moberg, RHD, Prince George Cougars. 61, 13-27-40 (0.66) (OA)
- Jackson van de Leest, LHD, Calgary Hitmen. 67, 1-20-21 (0.31)
- Krystof Hrabik, LHC, Tri-City Americans. 63, 21-30-51 (0.81) (OA)
- Jake Lee, LHD, Seattle Thunderbirds. 67, 3-21-24 (0.36)
This is my WHL list. I have two players that still have me wondering. Brett Leason is an overager, not sure if my ranking is too high. He’s a famous older prospect, and that helps him no doubt. That said, he’s also talented. The other player is Brayden Tracey, who played on a line that zoomed him. I haven’t decided on those two men yet, the rest are fairly set.
ELLIOTTE FRIEDMAN
Yesterday, people were still wondering what Rod Pedersen was talking about, but now Holland is part of a trio at the top along with Mark Hunter and Kelly McCrimmon. The wording around McCrimmon’s availability is vague, so his inclusion might be overstating. Please click on Mr. Friedman’s link here.
Gathering up all of the wayward bits and pieces I have heard and read, I think we have one of those elementary school math questions that is really two questions in one (a train leaves Edmonton averaging x miles an hour..).
It sounds like the job belongs to Ken Holland if he wants it. I imagine the Oilers would make efforts to retain Keith Gretzky and have him working alongside the same way as Holland did with Jim Devellano in the 1990’s. Holland trumps all. Jon’s article from yesterday (link above) is an excellent assessment of Holland.
Next up is Kelly McCrimmon, who apparently isn’t free to take the job. The wording by Mr. Friedman has the look of parsing, so one imagines the two sides are a little way down the road, perhaps to the point where Vegas may have to elevate McCrimmon to keep him. As in the case of Holland, Edmonton doesn’t control the story.
As for autonomy, it’s easily promised but the Oilers themselves may not have a firm grasp on the request. The organization is so set in its ways McCrimmon may be talking about a world the Oilers don’t understand. Edmonton is still in the days of receiving your phone messages by picking up a bunch of pink message slips after a two-hour lunch. It’s 1975. Analytics is available to them, but they need someone who can explain it, and more importantly, someone they respect enough to listen and learn from, applying it in real time.
Mark Hunter appears to be the first man on the list who is available and has both met the standards and wants the opportunity. I read somewhere Nicholson wanted to wrap this up in the next week to 10 days, that benefits Hunter more than anyone. Sean Burke may also be idling in the driveway.
THE 2014 DRAFT
Around these parts, once the draft slot was known, the mantra was “stay idle for Draisaitl” and Craig MacTavish delivered. That accomplishment sometimes gets obscured by other events but Edmonton won a major victory over the other lottery teams that day.
MacT mentioned analytics on draft weekend, specifically the idea of dealing down for basically equal talent. Although I have written thousands of words about Anton Slepyshev, William Carrier and Valentin Zykov, I don’t think it hurt the Oilers to make those trades. Sometimes good risks have less than ideal outcomes, doesn’t mean they were bad risks after the fact.
2014 NHLE’s
- Sam Bennett (OHL) 16-23-39
- Robby Fabri (OHL) 19-18-37
- Sam Reinhart (WHL) 13-24-37
- Nikolaj Ehlers (QMJHL) 17-18-35
- Michael Dal Colle (OHL) 14-21-35
- Leon Draisaitl (WHL) 13-22-35
- Nick Ritchie (OHL) 16-14-30
- Ivan Barbashev (QMJHL) 11-19-30
- Brendan Perlini (OHL) 14-16-30
- Jake Virtanen (WHL) 14-7-21
2014 Bruce McCurdy on Leon Draisaitl: The big centre (listed as 6’1, 209) was neither overly physically aggressive nor a speedster, but largely impressed this observer with his overall command of the game. The play went through his stick constantly, and for the most part, good or at least promising things developed thereafter. He showed a couple of bursts of what I would term “situational speed” but his A game is clearly one of controlling the play rather than pushing it. As I said to my voice recorder at one point, “When the puck is on Draisaitl’s stick, he owns it. Even if there’s a guy in his kitchen he’s in full control.” And later, “Very calm with the puck on his stick, not quite nonchalant but knows how much time he’s got, which in this league is a lot. Big and strong and can dangle the puck out of reach of the man who’s on him, pick his spot and distribute… A lot of subtle stuff, some little mistakes at the end of shifts, but with the puck on his stick he makes a lot of good decisions.”
I have been hard on the rest of the 2014 draft (beyond Leon), but William Lagesson might just save the entire endeavor. Edmonton can’t bitch no matter, Draisaitl alone is plenty for one draft. Lagesson has the look of a player who will spend some time in the NHL. Will it be 100 games? 250? 500?
Edmonton also received a trade tree by dealing Liam Coughlin to Chicago for the rights to Anders Nilsson. Graham McPhee is the current asset on the tree. Perhaps they’ll trade him to Vegas for McCrimmon. Tyler Vesel also remains in the system from the 2014 draft.
ERIC RODGERS GOALIE STATS
Eric passed along a fascinating view of AHL goalies, Starrett clearly the best option and the two freshman have miles to go. There is separation between Wells and Skinner for sure. If Starrett gets some NHL games next season, could he be consistently good?
LOWDOWN WITH LOWETIDE
A busy morning with three fun guests. It all gets started at 10, with our friend Bruce McCurdy from the Cult of Hockey at the Edmonton Journal dropping in around 10:20. We’ll chat about the GM possibilities and about Leon in his draft year. Gabe Lacques from USA Today will chat about the Jays and the rotation, plus the BoSox and their challenging start. Jon Campbell from OddsShark will chime in on the Kentucky Derby, NBA and NHL playoffs. 10-1260 text, @Lowetide on twitter. Talk soon!
With Yamamoto and Skinner graduating to pro hockey, it was odd not having any prospects in the WHL last year. Its never a bad thing to focus on the OHL in my opinion.
It seems likely that the pick at #8 will likely be a USHL or WHL player.
Sam Bennett (OHL) 16-23-39
Robby Fabri (OHL) 19-18-37
Sam Reinhart (WHL) 13-24-37
Nikolaj Ehlers (QMJHL) 17-18-35
Michael Dal Colle (OHL) 14-21-35
Leon Draisaitl (WHL) 13-22-35
Nick Ritchie (OHL) 16-14-
Question is, would a fully stocked Analytics Department have selected Draisaitl over Bennett and the others. I dont thnk so.
Wasn’t WIlliam Lagesson a 2014 pick?
To this point, a solid pick and a player that has been developed perfectly by the organization which is about to reap the benefits.
Good. We cant seem to evaluate/handle/develop players who dont play their Junior Hockey in North America.
” Edmonton is still in the days of receiving your phone messages by picking up a bunch of pink message slips after a two-hour lunch.”
Whoever ordered stationary in 75 had a great sense of humor ordering those slips in pink. Long running joke in many offices. What the Oil need is some pink slips that mean it.
So, Cooper Marody is “day to day”. Kailer Yamamoto has been “day to day” for weeks but hasn’t played a second. Hopefully Marody’s “day to day” is actual “day to day”.
I wonder what happens if he can’t go? The assumption is that Ryan McLeod will be signed an on his way to join the Condors prior to the weekend.
They could slot him right in a 1C with Benson and Currie although I doubt they would actually do that and think they’d move up someone like Vesel or Callahan and play McLeod down the lineup.
Of course, McLeod may not even see the ice even with the Marody injury – Cameron Hebig has been a healthy scratch the last few games (as they have gone with 11F and 7D to make room for Bouchard’s extremely sheltered minutes). There is a valid argument that Hebig deserves ice over McLeod – in the name of team success.
Will be curious to see how this plays out. I would love to see Marody healthy enough to play, of course, and McLeod in the lineup – doubt we see that though.
Also worth noting, we wiffed on Yak, but our other 1OV’s turned out just fine: Hall, RNH, McDavid.
And now we can add Draisatil to the list because in a 2014 redraft he goes #1OV and its not even close.
– I’ll keep posting this untill they announce a new GM (I say they have untill early June, which still gives a month before draft),
– Pretty good take-up so far: this off-season seems “easier” ?
– So armchair GM bragging rights for next season, winner gets a LT PayPal donation
– What will the Oilers do this off-season:
Please respond
1
2
3
…
1) Who is the Oiler’s first pick?
2) Who is the Oilers GM?
3) Who is the Oilers Coach?
4) How many draft and develop players make the roster opening night from existing AHL playoff roster/Europe/College/Draft pick, etc
5) What team is Lucic on next year?
6) What team is Pool on next year?
7) Which of Sek, Larsson, Benning, Nurse, Klef, Russell aren’t on open game line-up?
8) Number of roster player for roster player(s) trades? Bonus for calling it
9) Biggest off-season free-agent signing (by salary)
10) Who is Koski’s back-up game 1?
11) Which members of “OBC” sail on ?
what is the separation between Wells and Skinner?
True enough. It is important to remember there is no infallible path to the right decision. Collect as much information as possible from every source you can access, close your eyes, hold your nose and make a decision.
And live with it.
That last part is what so many never master.
How has Dal Colle not made it? I know he played a couple games this year. Had such a great story. Slow boots??
Still lovin the use of colour in the blog.
My pick for 4th or 6th round selection ……
Sasha Mutala, RW, Tri-City Americans. 65, 20-21-41 (0.63)
This would be a skill pick. Pedigree is there. Haven’t seen him enough to know beyond he finished fairly strong and should blow up the WHL next year. I would hope a 40 Goal season is in him. Bottom line is he has skill, so perhaps he can be developed and land in Edmonton in Draft + 4 or 5
I see Lagesson is mentioned later in the blog, rightfully so.
I think he sees a fulsome NHL career – hopefully its as an Oiler – the only reason that would suggest it may not be is if Jones truly pops and plays the left side and Lagesson is blocked and used as a trade sweetener – Samorukov the other wild card there but he’s a ways away from the NHL conversation.
+1. No team or person could ever accurately predict each draft. They can slighly increase their odds by using every tool and technique available, but can never know for sure.
How to you measure drive? Intensity? Training Habits? Off ice Habits?
How do you know if a player is more prone to substance abuse?
How do you know if a player has been so talented they haven’t had to apply themselves and didn’t work that hard compared to a player that was 100% dedicated.
It’s a crap shoot. But even with that said, some teams are clearly better at the entire Draft the correct person, develop players a certain way, insert into big club.
yes LT. +1.
just double check that your links are underlined? like the Friedman one doesn’t seem to be …
Here’s hoping that 3 years form now in a 2018 redraft, Bouchard is top 5 and Samorukov top 10.
~ And that they play for the Oil. ~
Just a smally LT, but can you make the links more pronounced? Ta.
6 degrees.
When is the last time a #1/2 defenseman was drafted out of the third round? I’ve heard some people say Samorukov has all the tools to be a top pair guy. Curious about the chances of that actually happening.
We’ll have to Starrett them for a year or two more to get a better idea, I think.
I see what you did there. But what do you think about the Condors recent healthy scratch? Some people think he’s undersized for the NHL but personally I think Hebig enough.
Mark Spector
@SportsnetSpec
·
5m
Looks like C Ryan McLeod will sign an Amateur Try Out with Edmonton, and also his three-year Entry Level Contract. The ATO means he doesn’t burn a year when assigned to AHL
@Condors
this week.
Deal should be done today.
Carolina’s top 3 defencemen by ATOi went in the 4th (Slavin), 2nd (Faulk) & 3rd (Pesce) rounds.
St. Louis drafted Colten Parayko in the 3rd.
Pretty sure there are more examples out there.
LT has anyone done the NHLE’s on this year’s WHL corpse?
I’ve mentioned a few times I’m slightly down on the scoring rates of Dach, Cozens and Krebs, though Cozens has the best 5v5 scoring rates of the 3.
Draisaitl
D-1 64 games 21-37 = 58 points
D 64 games 38 – 67=105 points
Dach
D-1 52 games 7-39=46 points
D 62 games – 25-248=73 points
Sam Reinhart
2012-13 72 games 35 50 85
2013-14 60 games 36 69 105
Dylan Cozens
2017-18 57 games 22 31 53
2018-19 68 games 34 50 84
Peyton Krebs
2017-18 67 games 17 37 54 40 -22
2018-19 64 games 19 49 68 63 -50
Granted Draisaitl is an October birthday but he took off in his draft year. Reinhart was scoring as well in his D-1 season as Krebs, Dach, Cozens were this year.
Krebs and Dach are January birthdays and Cozens February.
Obviously this isn’t weighted for overall team and league scoring, I just don’t particularly see these players, at least by their scoring, as being elite.
I’d hazard the guess that analytics is more reliable for pro scouting than amateur, since young amateur players are very much still developing and have all sorts of unquantifiable factors in play.
Klingberg went in the 5th
1) Who is the Oiler’s first pick?
2) Who is the Oilers GM?
3) Who is the Oilers Coach?
4) How many draft and develop players make the roster opening night from existing AHL playoff roster/Europe/College/Draft pick, etc
5) What team is Lucic on next year?
6) What team is Pool on next year?
7) Which of Sek, Larsson, Benning, Nurse, Klef, Russell aren’t on open game line-up?
8) Number of roster player for roster player(s) trades? Bonus for calling it
9) Biggest off-season free-agent signing (by salary)
10) Who is Koski’s back-up game 1?
11) Which members of “OBC” sail on ?
1 D. Cozens
2 M. Hunter
3 K. Hitchcock
4 Four [C. Marody, J. Gambardella, C. Jones, J. Persson]
5 Oilers
6 Oilers
7 K. Russell
8 One [Russell for A. MacDonald, on or after July 1, once Philly signs Tyler Myers]
9 M. Ferland [4 x $3.5MM]
10 C. McElhinney
11 None
Nit64,
Happens fairly often. Off the top of my head I can think of Josi, Slavin, Klingberg, Bufglen, Giordano. These guys were all drafted later, or not at all.
I think William Lagesson managed his own development path…i.e. chosing to go to US college, and then back to Sweden, staying as far away from the OIlers as he could for as long as possible.
Jacob Slavin, 4th round.
Brett Pesce, 3rd round.
I know they’re from the 2nd, but Josi and Weber?
I believe the Oilers were part of these decisions, in particular heading to Sweden for the one year (which is proving to be a massive benefit to his development, or at least it seems that way – somewhat impossible to “prove”).
1) Who is the Oiler’s first pick? – Cozens
2) Who is the Oilers GM? – Hunter
3) Who is the Oilers Coach? – Gulutzan
4) How many draft and develop players make the roster opening night from existing AHL playoff roster/Europe/College/Draft pick, etc – 2 (Jones and Gambardella)
5) What team is Lucic on next year? – Flo Rida
6) What team is Pool on next year? – Carolina
7) Which of Sek, Larsson, Benning, Nurse, Klef, Russell aren’t on open game line-up? – Benning and Sekera gone I think
8) Number of roster player for roster player(s) trades? Bonus for calling it – I’ll say two.
9) Biggest off-season free-agent signing (by salary) – Connolly – 4 x $4.5m
10) Who is Koski’s back-up game 1? – Elliott seems like the logical choice. Would have loved Mrazek.
11) Which members of “OBC” sail on ? – none, they’ll just stay in the background.
The NHL screwed up once again with Marchand.
Big time.
Bertuzzi-esque.
Lindell in the 3rd.
1975 LoL
“Gotta make it home for the start of Starsky and Hutch”
I didn’t care for the first couple iterations of colour ie: rich blue and red, but I’m liking the current colour schemes of the blog, it’s a nice change
Vishnovsky 4th round
Lidstrom 3rd round
Sekera 3rd round
Vlasic 2nd round
Yandle 4th round
PK 2nd round
Hamonic 2nd round
Spurgeon 6th(!) round
Demers 7th(!) round
Barrie 3rd round
Gudas 3rd round
Josh Manson 6th round
Ghost Bear 3rd round
If you knew that would happen, would it make trading Klefbom for Ehlers plus this summer more palatable?
I think your question is correct. Do we want Ehlers and a prospect OR Klefbom, Connelly and Nash?
If we didn’t have all these defensemen I would keep Klefbom. But if the goal is to create a second scoring line I think you got to make the trade. Ehlers is that good. I’m not sure Connelly and Nash are going to make a difference.
If you look at our forward group we have very little high end talent after the big 3
Ehlers would make it 4
Nashville has done well ..
JOSI – 2nd Round
WEBER – 2nd Round
EKHOLM – 4th Round
Rafa Nadal,
Esa Lindell, Shane Gostibehere and Colton Parayko all came out of the 3rd round in 2012 but all took 2-3 years before even playing an NHL game. Bonus points for Erik Gustafsson taken just inside the fourth round and put up 60 points this year and was even an Oilers draft pick that we inexplicably decided not to sign.
Talking to a former NHL amateur scout, the best way to find out about these things is to talk to the trainers. For a cup of good coffee and a doughnut, most of them will tell you everything with brutal honesty.
yah good point.
I heard Krebs is a workout machine, very dedicated off ice …. just sayin’
Duncan Keith – Round 2
Looks like lots of Good / Great D man come out of round 2 + …..
There has been lots of talk of moving Sekera or Russell for no return to make cap space to pay for offensive talent in the top six. The only actual option may be what you describe. Trade Klefbom for the offensive talent. Have Sekera stay in the top 4 for a year until Jones et al fully establish themselves for a year and away we go.
Just another way of re-assigning all the money being spent on the back end to some higher end forward talent (admittedly less desirable than shedding Russell instead)
As long as they continue to deal with outcomes instead of behaviours they’ll fail to meaningfully protect the players. (And they’ll keep making the stupid Eakin call).
It is a mistake to trade players like Klefbom entering the prime of their career. The Oilers have been doing this for the last decade.
The core of any team is its players aged 25-29, plus superstars. The Oilers have maintained a donut hole in the 25-29 years age range for a decade. It is why they have been awful.
The guy the Oilers draft at #8 will be 25 when McDavid likely plays his last game as an Oiler 7 years from now. We are drafted the guy who with be taking the torch…so Cozens or Krebs rather than Caulfield.
Quite shocking.
https://theprovince.com/sports/hockey/jason-botchford-popular-vancouver-sports-writer-dead-at-48
Good teams keep players like Klefbom and Nurse and are able to trade away players like Sekera and Russell to clear cap.
Lucic is another story though, that will be a hard contract to clear.