If you look at the Oilers draft handiwork in the decade just ended, as it pertains to Russia, things have been plenty awful. Too much tundra, very little usable oil. Into that great wide open came two picks from the vast Russian terrain in 2019, giving the decade a fascinating bookend to the Nail Yakupov selection. Where do we go from here?
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 Athletic, check it out here.
- New Jonathan Willis and Lowetide: Who are the Oilers’ top 10 prospects and where do they project in the NHL?
- New Jonathan Willis: How do Connor McDavid’s first five NHL seasons compare to the all-time greats?
- Lowetide: Oilers 2020 draft: Are fans ready for Oil Kings’ Jake Neighbours?
- Jonathan Willis: Oilers need to keep feeding their currently rich pipeline of defensive prospects
- Daniel Nugent-Bowman: How a series of oddball jobs prepared Ken Holland for his front-office career
- Jonathan Willis: 2020 NHL offseason goalie market: Team needs, free agents and trade possibilities
- Lowetide: Oilers Ryan Nugent-Hopkins far more than ‘also in photo’ contributor
- Jonathan Willis: Building the best all-time Oilers roster, with a twist
- Lowetide: What are Tyler Benson’s chances of making the Oilers in 2020-21?
- Daniel Nugent-Bowman: ‘They were looking outside the box’: Oilers’ distinctive third jerseys still stand out
- Lowetide: If Oilers draft for skill, Seth Jarvis likely to be best available
- Jonathan Willis and Lowetide: Should the Oilers pursue Taylor Hall this summer?
- Daniel Nugent-Bowman and Jonathan Willis: The results are in: How you voted in our inaugural Oilers fan survey
- Daniel Nugent-Bowman: How the Oilers are preparing for an NHL draft in June
- Jonathan Willis: How Gaetan Haas, Joakim Nygard and Riley Sheahan draw calls that lead to goals
- James Mirtle: Ranking every NHL team’s salary cap situation, from best to worst
- Lowetide: Can the Oilers find Connor McDavid’s ideal winger this summer?
- Daniel Nugent-Bowman: The two coaches who had the biggest influence on Dave Tippett
- Jonathan Willis: The 5 reasons why the Oilers re-signed Gaetan Haas
- Jonathan Willis: Can (and should) the Oilers trade Kris Russell?
- Jonathan Willis: How Edmonton could have left 2010 draft with both Taylor Hall and Ryan Johansen
- Lowetide: Kailer Yamamoto’s NHL comparables offer Oilers fans hope for the future
- Lowetide: Top 20 prospect update: A lot of movement and some impressive graduations
FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE, 2020 DRAFT
- G Yaroslav Askarov. He plays an unusual style. June 2002, has a .923 VHL save percentage.
- LW Rodion Amirov. Scouts love the tools and he’s a fast train in a draft season with slow boats.
- RW Alexander Pashin.Small winger with impressive skill, can score and pass.
- LC Marat Khusnutdinov. Small (5.09, 165) two-way center with great wheels. Offense is the worry.
- LD Shakir Mukhamadullin. He’s 6.04, 178. Good speed, talent, raw.
- LW Maxim Groshev. 6.02, 187, he’s skilled and determined with the puck on his stick.
- LW Maxim Beryozkin. Size, speed, skill, shot. Average speed is the worry.
- LHD Alexander Nikishin. Good skater, plus shot, he’s a throwback who hits to hurt.
Askarov and Amirov could either be gone or available when Edmonton picks in the first round. I’m not sure Holland would draft a goalie in the first round but Amirov fits the player type he would pursue.
RUSSIANS 2019
- R Vasili Podkolzin. Smart player with tons of offensive ability, but also possesses good two-way instincts.
- 2 L Pavel Dorofeyev. Dangerous skill winger who has a quick release, heavy shot.
- 3 LC Yegor Spiridonov. Tenacious two-way winger with impressive skill.
- 4 LD Daniil Misyul. Offers NHL teams an intriguing size/speed combination on the blue line.
- R Dmitri Sheshin. Undersized skill winger is something of a wizard with the puck.
- L Ilya Nikolayev. May fill a complementary offensive role or serve as a checker.
- L Yegor Chizhikov. July birthday and scores in every league they send him to.
Sheshin and Chizikov didn’t get drafted last year, both are eligible in 2020. Russia drafting is a very dangerous game in this era.
HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY
Moms are the best. I’m amazed at how much Mrs. Lowetide does every day for her family. Heart and soul and the best listener our home could hope for, while finding enough time to hammer me senseless when we play cribbage and Yahtzee.
This time, the Covid time, is especially difficult for Moms. The normal pressures to keep things together have stretched both Mom and Dad, but if you’ve followed the headlines across this country then you know women are especially vulnerable right now.
My Mom and Dad had a good relationship, but when my Dad couldn’t find work in the fall and winter of 1972, she had to take a job at the Pine Island Lodge in Maidstone. My Dad hated it, he was absolutely miserable until he got a job at Husky early spring. I remember that time because my brother and I missed Mom (she worked 11pm-7am) and Dad was impossible. It was a real strain on everyone, I’ve remembered it for 50 years so it had an impact.
If you know a family going through tough times, or suspect abuse, or are having difficult times in your own home, there are resources available and places to go. We have seen real tragedy in our communities and elsewhere, it’s important to send help now where it’s needed. Let’s look after Moms with the same care they’ve shown us, even if it means getting out of our own comfort zones to make a difference. Finally, for Moms everywhere, who can’t be with their children today due to social distancing and other regulations, know that you are loved and appreciated.
JUJHAR KHAIRA AND RILEY SHEAHAN
Jim Matheson had an item yesterday pertaining to Riley Sheahan and the cost of a new contract. Sounds like the organization and player aren’t close on a deal, meaning that spot could be open for 2020-21.
Jujhar Khaira (all numbers five on five from Natural Stat Trick) played center in March, winning 21 of 39 (53.85 percent) and hitting everything in sight. He had seven giveaways, an assist, a takeaway, four shots on goal, 43 percent Corsi, 39 percent shot differential, 3-0 goals, the result of 19 percent shooting percentage and 100 percent save percentage. Center after the 97-29-93 trio remains wobbly.
BornInAGretzkyJersey,
Yeah Khaira is an odd case. He was awful at 5v5 this season but was much better scoring and goal differential-wise in previous years. And he’s a very good penalty killer. I’d be happy to give him a chance to rebound and there’s no rush to offload him IMO.
And on who the next 3C might be, no idea. It could come from your list or any number of other places. Trade for a younger long term replacement or one for an older player. My guess would probably be trade for a vet with 1 year left on his deal, but I also suspect Holland isn’t married to any one kind of solution.
Are u sure Zacha can play? At a glance he doesnt look like an upgrade. On the other hand Tampa paid a lot for Coleman and got unlucky but hes legit and on a great contract so it should work out. Tampa is loaded!
Get Zacha out of NJD somehow. Right age, good size, decent wheels, plus PK and a 3C who can piss a drop. Would NJD have any interest in JP+? Maybe depending what the + is. He’s playing behind Hischier and Hughes and they also have Zajac and McLeod
BTW
Where is Wilde?
Has anyone checked in on him, is he okay?
jp,
This is the challenge of the UFA market.
Flog ChiaPete as one will/must, he did find a few diamonds amongst the rough. That’s the path forward, methinks.
So that begs the question… who’s our 3C, J. Larsson? Are we talking a guy like E. Staal, M. Koivu, M. Granlund, or someone totally out of left field who proves our collective analysis is woefully inadequate?
jp,
I really like this baseline evaluation technique.
Really helps suss out the signal from the noise.
jp,
For the record, I like JJ.
If he could piss a drop again, I’d love the man.
Without a crystal ball, I’d wager freedom to wheel within the system is responsible for a goodly proportion of his (net) positive results this year. Maybe next year will be different, and he’ll score again. IDK.
Sample sizes are weird. He has scored before… just not lately.
€√¥£€^$,
When compiling a draft list, one must always allow for the proclivities of other teams.
Broberg and Seider were both telegraphed last year. They may have went a bit earlier than expected based on various lists, but they were in the range. Teams regularly draft for need. I wonder if that planned variability is what has Bourque or Jarvis or Mysak going so low in LTs recent lists. IDK. I’m a passive observer, not a scout.
Munny,
Thanks.
I have a few lists.
Two amongst which are UFAs.
Ones that can help next year, and those who can help beyond.
The other two lists include trade acquisitions, as well as internal acquisitions.
I looked at the Sheahan/Khaira/Archibald WOWYs recently when looking at the Oilers with their 3 best forwards off ice. I don’t think there was anything redeeming for any of the 3. They were all fed tough zone starts but not very difficult competition and it didn’t go well. I was actually looking for someone dragging someone else down but they were all bad together or apart.
Sheahan/Khaira/Haas are fine as 4C/5C but yeah, hopefully Holland can improve on 3C.
Agreed this is probably the most likely way the Oilers next 3C lands in Edmonton. I feel good about Holland being in on what’s available but it’s near impossible to predict.
Your FA list looks solid too. I don’t have any players to add but would say I did look at Larsson’s numbers after Willis/LT mentioned him a while back and was impressed. He doesn’t bring any more offense than Sheahan but based on DFF% and TOI vs elites he seems like a better bet to saw off in that role. And he shouldn’t cost a ton (though probably 25 teams feel that way).
As I said, I think Sheahan and Khaira are both good penalty killers. Both have had generally good numbers for multiple years.
In terms of how much would/could be be lost in replacing Sheahan. I think Khaira is a good illustration. He was the #2 penalty killer in the NHL last season by GA/60. Replacing him with a league average GA/60 player (which would have been much worse than the Oilers as a team performed), would have cost 7GA. Best in the league to average, with zero credit given to the team around him and coaching staff equals 7 goals.
Replacing Sheahan, who was a bit better than league average but worse than Oilers average, would be very very unlikely to cost 7GA.
He is a valuable contributor to the PK. But the effect a player can have on the PK is relatively minor compared to what they can achieve (good or bad) in 10 even strength minutes a night.
defmn,
You’re welcome.
I hadn’t read this when I wrote my more recent post.
So yes, I definitely agree that small samples can and do have a huge effect on PK numbers. Also lots of room for slumps or hot stretches to matter.
System is likely very important too, I was just trying to see how much difference a great penalty killer could make. True ability or not, he only saved the Oilers ~3 goals vs league average. Khaira was the best PKer in the league and saved his team 7GA vs average. That’s best case scenario, giving the system zero credit. It doesn’t come close to erasing their 5v5 results.
I’d definitely like to see Holland find an upgrade if he can.
Much appreciated. Thank you for doing that.
BornInAGretzkyJersey,
I don’t think he will make it past 15, I actually “sanitized” my list and took out players that I think will be gone by this pick to make it more realistic. My actual top 3 is: Holloway, Jarvis, Amirov. Bourque is 6th, but this list is downstairs right now.
I created my list based on who could fall (Holloway due to low offense, Jarvis due to size, etc). I have Lundell in my top 10 due to foot speed questions, but I really doubt he makes it to 11.
You never know how far some players will fall and we just might see a Team like NJ fall in love with a Dman like Justin Barron or Shakir Mukhamadullin and one of them could unexpectedly land in the top 10 like Broberg and Moritz Seider did last year.
I wasn’t saying anything to that effect either. Just something to be aware of.
Team context would probably be useful first (as it would have been in my original post).
The Oilers were #2 in the NHL at 5.13GA/60 this season.
So Larsson. Overall on the year he was 5th among Oilers D in total TOI and TOI/game (just 79 minutes and 1:36/game).
But performance-wise, he was #1 on the team in GA/60 at 3.05. Shit, he was #1 in the NHL among D with 60+ minutes this year. So yeah, he was pretty good (even including his injury recovery).
From Jan 1st on he played 50 minutes (3rd on the team and 4th in TOI/game) and was only on ice for 1 GA. That’s 1.2GA/60 (again 1st in the NHL over that period). Impressive.
I should throw a word of caution on Larsson though. And this is really a word of caution about special teams more generally. It’s beware of small sample sizes. Larsson played 79 minutes on the PK the entire year. That’s like 5 games of even strength TOI. A few goals either direction makes a big difference.
So in SA/60 Larsson on the year was 3rd of 5 Oilers D >60 min in SA. He was 88th of 141 NHL D >60 minutes. He was better after Jan 1st, but not to the extent it would support his GA number.
His PK numbers for his Oilers career are quite middling (not bad, just average). So I’d guess that Khaira and Sheahan might actually be more valuable penalty killers in reality than Larsson is, relative to their teammates.
Khaira provides a good example of the variability in small samples, as well as his own success. Larsson is there for comparison.
Khaira
17-18 44.1SA/60 (13th) 4.1GA/60 (12th) of 179F
18-19 51.4SA/60 (93rd) 8.7GA/60 (154th) of 177F
19-20 42.5SA/60 (22nd) 2.4GA/60 (2nd) of 152F
Larsson the same years:
17-18 50.3SA/60 (41st) 6.9GA/60 (82nd) of 153D
18-19 51.3SA/60 (80th) 9.0GA/60 (131st) of 148D
19-20 54.9SA/60 (88th) 3.1GA/60 (1st) of 141D
Khaira was elite in GA and SA 2 of the 3 years. Larsson was fine 3 of 3 years (with an amazing GA number one of those years). That’s my take anyway.
1984 SCF Game 5 was not a good day for Brother Duane.
That’s a pretty good list.
€√¥£€^$,
Thanks for this. Impressive work.
I’m going to have fun digging into the names/rankings you’ve offered here.
Much appreciated.
Quick question.
Why would you rank your choices at 23OV higher than Mavrik Borque? I’m a bit enamoured with him, he seems an ideal fit. Is it because you believe he’ll be selected prior, or isn’t the best available?
Thanks again.
Greats posts OP and JP! Might be a good wowy exercise btw JJ and Sheahan to see if we can tell who was dragging who. PuckIQ is unavailable right now or I would. I remember when looking at the shift data that Sheahan played the most dzone shifts of all the C and posted the worst GF and DFF. We know that JJ and Sheahan struggled on 5v5 but excelled on the PK and its hard to know how much credit to give them for the PK results. They deserve credit for sure. But Sheahans 5v5 numbers imo make him 4th line and he should therefore be paid like one. Find a Lars Eller or 24 year old Phillip Daneault to play 3C. Easier said than done but if you can do it the team improves a ton 5v5.
€√¥£€^$,
This post is like found money.
Thank you for being so willing to offer a public stance.
I’m going to enjoy digging into the players you mention, even if I disagree. That’s the fun of the process, after all.
Scungilli Slushy,
Rough year for 3C UFA.
Great year on the 1A/B UFA market, though.
I think dumping KRusty is imperative to gaining one or even both of the above, depending on how much Kenny grinds on the team’s RFA contracts.
Also, I do worry a bit about how much we may tend to overvalue KRusty’s worth to other organizations but then I look at the recent trade market and Forbort and Frolik come to mind. Is it unfair to peg KRusty’s value at a 4th round pick with nothing retained? I don’t think so. He’s still a good to decent player with high character, if overpaid relative to cap.
Our best bet for 3C is likely to be had in a salary dump for underappreciated player swap, like the way we got Kassian or Maroon. Chia wasn’t the most adroit manager, but he did have some success whilst nibbling around the edges. I’d like to see Old Holland pull off something similar this off season. Would be like adding a Bear or Yamamoto or Jones. Yuge!
jp,
JJ was a good to plus PKer before here, and I don’t pretend to know how Sheahan was prior to his Oilers stint.
I’d tend to agree that there’s a bit more to the system than the individual player (see: Eakins, Swarm, for example). And the sample sizes involved in a single season may lead you to draw an inaccurate conclusion about the team/player relationship but perhaps you’re on to something here when you weigh the 5v5 + 4v5 balance of results.
One thing I’d ask is about slumps and consistency. Does a bad month or so while integrating into a new team deserve a conclusion of a player’s ability? As I recall, (seen ’em good/bad analysis alert) RS was poor to start the year and then gained steam. Does an early poor stretch of play doom a player? Does a promising stretch redeem him? Not sure, genuinely asking.
I’d say that on the whole there’s not much to give between RS and JJ right now. Except JJ skates better and is more physical. And also the younger player, so I’d assume his ceiling *should be a bit higher (draft pedigree be damned) based on the on-ice results to date.
All I can say with a high degree of certainty is that I’d be uncomfortable with either player as the 3C for a material stretch next year. An upgrade is imperative to team success, now and sustained in the future.
Glovjuice,
Both posters, while adversarial have contributed to the knowledge base of the forum in myriad ways individually over the years.
Still waiting on you to contribute.
I’d love to, but to be honest, I rejigged my list again today. What I have now won’t be my final version. I am still rooting around for potential value late-rounders.
As well, I have some players a bit too high and several way too low, so I had planned to post it about 1 week prior to the draft.
This isn’t a comprehensive list from 1 to 300, it is a list of 50 players surrounding the 23rd, 85th, 147th, 178th & 209th picks.
Maybe I will post it the day after they officially announce the Draft and post my updated list a couple of times the week of the Draft. I would right now, but I am not 100% on few of the players even now.
But since you asked, my top 3 per Round (keep in mind my #10 for the previous Round, if not picked, would be #1 the following round, so this List might lack context for some folks) are:
23 OV: 1.Rodion Amirov. 2. Hendrix Lapierre. 3. JJ Peterka
85 OV: 1.Jack Finley 2. Dmitri Ovchinmikov. 3. Roby Jarventie
147 OV: 1. Brandon Coe 2. Oskar Magnussen 3. Alex Young
178 OV: 1. Blake Biondi 2. Colby Ambrosio 3. Kyle Crnkovic
208 OV:. 1. Parker Ford 2. Pavel Gogolev 3. Grant Slukynsky
I will likely end up moving both Biondi and Slukynsky up a round, they are both college-bound USHS prospects and might go much higher than I have them slotted. I dinged them because they didn’t face the best competition, so their success could be attributed to their physical superiority vs their peers.
Not what I’m saying at all.
While I have no issue with him starting in the AHL (I am just fine with keeping the right side as it currently is), that has nothing to do with his bonuses.
I was just bringing them up as a topic of conversation.
My two cents: on the Cult of Hockey, mistakes on scoring chances against, Larsson made the least (per 2 min) among the D on the PK (like Sheahan for the forwards).
Don’t disagree with you and Bouch could very well leapfrog Bear but, then again, from watching quite a bit of the Condors, Bouchard wasn’t a dominant PP presence (I was a bit underwhelmed with that part of his game) – of course, put him on the ice with Drai, McDavid, Nuge and XXX…..
Whoosh
Good detailed research – thank you.
As per my post, I questioned how much would be lost by replacing him with another on the PP and I don’t know the answer to it.
A couple of things:
1) as per my post, the Cult of Hockey determined that he made the least amount of mistakes leading to scoring chances against on the PK (per 60 or per 2 minutes as they cite it). That’s a bit subjective but I believe McCurdy vets through all the data and I trust his analysis to be generally pretty accurate. Riley must be a large part of the success
2) As far as GA numbers, lets not forget, the vast majority of the time, Sheahan is starting against a fresh PP1 with the faceoff in the own zone – that’s the toughest PK minutes.
I think it’s a rough year for UFAs.
So happy Chia is gone, teams are in the driver’s seat.
Also a rough year for salary dumps, but Russelll is still a good option for low budget teams looking to hit the Cap floor. Or that need a cheap experienced multi capable D.
My question to you both. Are what you are saying is we should keep him in the AHL? What is good for the player is good for the team. What you appear to be saying is can we afford for him to be good or exceed expectations. This seems to be counter productive to becoming a better team.
Those oversized EGO’s get in the way some times.
P.S. the YAK trade was old news already by the time it was reposted by you know who.
Can you break out the defensive pairings for PK as well? I’m wondering if Larsson shows up in a good way after he had a chance to recover from his early season injury.
You’re right about the slide, I’d forgotten. That’s great for the Oilers.
We will see on the PP time. He won’t be handed PP1 right away but I don’t know it will be long. He very well may leap frog Bear (who really has no hold on any PP time right now, just people who THINK he should be playing over Nurse/Klefbom).
How much was Sheahan’s PK work worth really? No one (I think) can disentangle the player from the system. But we can quantify how much better/worse a player is vs average in allowing goals on the PK (as we can at even strength).
So Sheahan was the Oilers most used PK forward, but among the 4 who played 60+ minutes on the PK he had the worst GA/60 (I’m using 4v5 minutes here actually). It was still a very good number. If you move the cutoff to 30+ minutes Sheahan allowed essentially half the GA/60 of 2 of the players who got added to the list (Russell and Granlund). And if you go back to 60+ minute cutoff Sheahan was 45th of 152 forwards in the NHL in GA/60.
I know team context matters, but if we take that ranking/number (5.53GA/60) at face value, and believe that was all in Sheahan’s control, what did that really mean? How many goals against did it save the Oilers? Well not that many.
So of those 152 forwards who played at least 60 minutes 4v5, the median GA/60 was 6.57. If you take that number and translate it to the 152 minutes Sheahan played you get 16.67GA. Sheahan actually allowed 14 in those minutes. So Sheahan’s PK work (if he owns all of it) was worth 3 goals to the Oilers, if you round up.
For a player who was -20 5v5 you might rightly wonder whether those (almost) 3GA saved vs league average on the PK was worth it (acknowledging also that likely not all 3Cs should be expected to break even at 5v5).
Khaira was the 2nd worst Oiler player 5v5 (-19). He played 99 minutes 4v5 and remarkably allowed only 4GA. His rate (2.43GA/60) was actually 2nd best in the NHL. If he gave up the average number of goals/60 in his minutes he’d have allowed 10.8 goals, so his actual saved the Oilers basically 7GA overall. Makes his 5v5 number look a little better but obviously still not good.
Take this with a grain of salt obviously. The main take-home for me would be that even if you believe Sheahan is an excellent penalty killer it’s not worth that many goals.
I think both Khaira and Sheahan are very good penalty killers (Sheahan has been a regular on the PK for the last 5 years and has never been above that league median number of 6.57GA/60. Khaira has been on the PK for 3 years, was over 1 year but remarkable the other 2). They’re legit for sure. But I don’t know how much bleeding 5v5 that does (or should) buy them.
More selfish, petulant behaviour from OP and HH on Lowetide’s blog. Its utterly disgusting how narcissistic these two people are.
duct tape and foil,
Didn’t the team have injuries, slumps and suspensions to contend with and still sits in a playoff spot?
I don’t disagree that some upgrades are required, but I think that’s more from an evolution/growth perspective than an outright need to toss a stick of dynamite into the locker room than anything.
Also agree that Sheahan is capped out at the Archie contract. Unless he somehow manages to pop in 10-15 goals and 30+ points while being a plus player GF% wise and a rockstar on the PK. Too long were his troughs and too slim were his crests to pay more, usage be damned.
I’d keep Benning, he’s a quality player as a 3RD even if he may be a tad over payed. I like what he brings, and he’s good insurance for injury plus sets a reasonably high bar for Bouchard to break into the league. The rest of the players you mention are also on my short list of personnel to move on from this off season.
The team is nowhere near good enough to stand pat this summer. That’s a recipe for missing the playoffs if something goes wrong (injuries, bad goalering).
Sheahan was very good on the PK but also very medioce at ES. He got caved at ES early on and was getting caved again when the season stopped. I’ve got time for the guy as a 4th line center with speedy wingers, but not interested in him as a 3C, at any salary over $1.25 million, or for more than 1 year. If he can get more elsewhere, then good for Riley, he should grab it.
Russell, Benning, Smith and Sheahan are the guys I’d move out, and if done clean, gets you almost $10 million to upgrade.
€√¥£€^$,
Would love to see your list, unless you’re waiting for LT to publish his final draft list to unveil yours.
No sir, not unless he plays 10 games this year – his ELC will slide this year.
I agree with you the he will be sheltered on the third pairing with some likely PP time. The thing is, how much PP time? PP2 barely plays and I don’t think that will change much and, also, I think Bear is in line ahead of him as well……
That’s nice – I posted it the hour after it was quoted the other day – people miss stuff (similar to how you must have missed my post on Yakupov being traded yesterday as you posted that “new info” hours later).
OriginalPouzar,
I see him in the 25-35 range. He played with Kalyev and Jenik, (for a short stint before JJ’s injury) so it makes it pretty tough to argue he didn’t get a lot of help.
I have focused primarily on LW and RC in this draft and have come up with a top 10 list for each of the Oiler picks. Many may not be there, but this is a fascinating Draft and I am excited to see where my selections land. I also am trying to see it I can nail an Oil pick. If they select anty G, D or RWs, I am hooped. I’ve only got 1 D and a handful of RW’s on my list.
LT is a legend in my mind for singling out Bear and Berglund in their Drafts.
FWIW, I have Mysak as my 6th choice in this spot, so still an intriguing talent, but likely not the best available player when the Oil make the pick, IMHO..
The Oil have gone through about a dozen Sheahan types over the past 15 years. Kenny H will find another one…. at his price.
If you can’t focus on the hockey talk today I offer you this very, very long thread on Angela Lanbury as teapots.
https://twitter.com/Pandamoanimum/status/1259207916403462144?s=19
This is an area where a richer owner can be beneficial.
There is no maximum salary for an AHL contract so Gretzky/Holland/Katz could offer him a solid premium to sign the AHL deal (and keep him off the 50)?
I anticipate this is what got Brad Malone to sign an AHL deal coming off a series of NHL contracts.
Of course, in order to do this, the player would essentially have to officially realize his NHL dream was over (at least for the term of the new contract).
They definitely need another rightie, for sure as, from what I can tell, the right side for the Bake is:
Bouchard
Jacks
Deharnais
Bouchard may only play a handful of games for them as well – shit, he might not play any.
Ya, I was surprised with Jurco but I’d be fine with him back for some depth – it would definitely be fully buryable unless he somehow convinces Holland to give him Granlund’s contract and a $500K raise……
I know very little about the undrafted prospects after the “famous” ones at the top but I am starting to read (and listen) more about them and the guy in the Oilers’ range that intrigues me right now is
Jan Myšák.
I wonder if he could be a bit under-rated simply because of only playing 22 games in the CHL before things got shut down? He was a big minus in those 22 games but so was everyone else and 15G/25P is damn good after crossing the ocean, no?