Linus Omark was a pretty good comparable for Robert Nilsson who was a pretty good (and faster) comparable for Rob Schremp. The Edmonton Oilers employed all three at one point this century and didn’t get enough from any of them.
There are teams that view good prospects as a never ending resource and have no issue with trading out a developing piece for a shiny new solution. It’s a bad way to develop talent. The Oilers spent most of the first 20 years of this century representing the guy who meets a girl, falls in love, meets another girl, falls in love, and on it goes.
If an NHL team pays its scouts to uncover talent, watches the management group draft that talent, spends time, money and energy to develop that talent in the AHL, then for goodness sake the parent team’s coaching staff needs to see how things play out. It’s the right thing to do.
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 Lowetide: Exploring Oilers prospect Ryan McLeod’s possible NHL path
- Jonathan Willis: What does the path to an Oilers Stanley Cup championship in 2023 look like?
- Daniel Nugent-Bowman: Ales Hemsky on his health, alumni games, tough opponents and the Oilers’ stars
- Lowetide: Swedish export Noel Gunler offers Oilers a worthy draft target
- Scott Wheeler: Why Oilers prospect Raphael Lavoie is the shot creation king.
- Lowetide: How can Andreas Athanasiou — Ken Holland’s big bet — help the Oilers?
- Lowetide: What are Evan Bouchard’s chances of making the Oilers in 2020-21?
- Jonathan Willis and Lowetide: Who are the Oilers’ top 10 prospects and where do they project in the NHL?
- 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
I have some genuine hope for the young players who played for the Bakersfield Condors in 2019-20. I had real hope for the young players who played for the Oklahoma City Barons in 2010-11. There were some fine talents on that OKC team. Here are the even strength numbers for the team’s top prospects that season:
- LW Liam Reddox (24) 37, 12-12-24 [.649]
- RC Mark Arcobello (22) 26, 7-8-15 [.577]
- LW Linus Omark (23) 28, 9-6-15 [.536]
- LW Teemu Hartikainen (20) 66, 10-22-32 [.485]
- RW Colin McDonald (25) 80, 21-13-34 [.425]
- RC Ryan O’Marra (23) 53, 2-15-17 [.321]
- LC Milan Kytnar (21) 78, 12-11-23 [.295]
- RD Jeff Petry (22) 41, 4-7-11 [.268]
- LW Phil Cornet (20) 60, 6-10-16 [.267]
- LC Chris VandeVelde (23) 67, 9-4-13 [.194]
- LD Taylor Chorney (23) 46, 1-6-7 [.152]
- RD Alex Plante (21) 73, 2-9-11 [.151]
This group had several issues, including first overall selections passing them each training camp. There are some good hockey players here, but Jeff Petry is the only man who has delivered what we could call a substantial NHL career.
Omark wasn’t close to Taylor Hall in ability, Hartikainen was slow and the team could sign Jesse Joensuu as his replacement, and on it went. Here’s the thing, though: Even if Joensuu was an upgrade in year one, so what? He’s older and has a bad back. Edmonton wasn’t upgrading enough to make that switch worthwhile.
Why not find out what the outer marker is on your own player? I sat in amazement during the 2010’s as the Oilers, time and again, tried to hurry the process. Imperfect players can be useful, even in the NHL.
CONDORS EVEN STRENGTH 2019-20
- LW Joe Gambardella (25) 50, 13-11-24 [.480]
- RW Kailer Yamamoto (20) 23, 4-6-10 [.435]
- LW Tyler Benson (21) 47, 6-13-19 [.404]
- RC Cooper Marody (22) 30, 3-8-11 [.367]
- RD Evan Bouchard (20) 54, 3-16-19 [.352]
- LC Ryan McLeod (20) 56, 5-13-18 [.321]
- LD William Lagesson (23) 25, 3-5-8 [.320]
- RW Cam Hebig (22) 31, 3-4-7 [.226]
- RW Kirill Maksimov (20) 53, 4-7-11 [.208]
- LD Dmitri Samorukov (20) 47, 2-7-9 [.191]
The Oilers recent efforts to keep first-round picks out of the NHL have already paid dividends, as two men who played for the Condors have encouraging futures. The key will be getting more, from men like Benson and McLeod, allowing those players to develop, make mistakes and become productive NHL players. They are flawed, just like Omark and Hartikainen, but given time and opportunity, they could be part of the solution.
The day Edmonton signed Jesse Joensuu he was 25. His contract was $950,000 times two years. In those two years, he played in 62 games, scoring 5-4-9 and posting a five on five points per 60 of 0.66 and 0.62 in each season.
In Hartainen’s three cups of coffee, he played in 52 games, going 6-7-13. His five on five 60 per year was 1.07, 1.37 and 0.00 (in 194 minutes, that got him fired from the NHL). His cap hit was $875,000.
What would that look like on today’s team? Let’s use Tyler Benson as the Hartikainen character in the updated play. Both men had strong AHL debuts and both men have skating as a worry (Benson’s speed is better than Hartikainen’s so it isn’t a perfect match). If Ken Holland reached out today and signed Sven Andrighetto (he can’t, Andrighetto has another year on his KHL deal), that would be about the same as the Joensuu/Hartikainen maneuvre. Better players involved in the modern example but the premise is the same.
Ken Holland’s style in Detroit was a ‘grow your own’ approach and no doubt we’ll see it here in the years to come. The farm workers can see a light at the end of the tunnel.
Cuervo and Sauza give tequila a bad name. These Mixto tequilas taste vastly inferior to Reposado(rested) or Anejo(aged) tequilas. Do yourself a favour, spend $5 -$10 more and get an excellent tasting Reposado or Anejo tequila. A couple of excellent brands that give you great quality at a reasonable price are Cazadores and El Jimador. Salud!!
A little sage and dried porcini mushrooms.
Harpers Hair,
Any time. I’m not a tequila expert, but did notice a significant uptick in quality and flavour (as did those with whom I shared a dram — and insisted on sipping it neat, per custom).
Be interested to know what you think if you do go out on a limb and pick up a bottle.
OriginalPouzar,
No, I noticed. I’m not swayed.
Yeah it is near impossible to predict. But they could have a good group if things break right…
Benson like you say may or may not be in Bakersfield.
Gambardella should be there, and was #2 in AHL goals per game (I think) 2 years ago. Fell off this season but he has skill.
Currie may or may not be back. We can probably count on him or some similar replacement/depth making it to Bakersfield though (and there was some suggestion Jurco might be back).
Kuffner could (should) be a good player at that level.
Maksimov and/or Lavoie could be ready to produce.
And all those AHL signings have potential…
Hamblin was #3 in WHL scoring.
All of Brousseau, Folkes and Christensen have scored a point per game in college.
It’s far from a sure thing but it’s not hard to imagine 6 quality wingers emerging from that group. Esposito is also in the mix.
$400 bottle of booze. Better be good. What’s next ? Yacht talk on Lowetide. Anyway, The line I wish we could see is AA-McLeod-Puljujarvi
Yeah, I didn’t think it would work. I would love it if they would draft that type of forward this year. Highly skilled type with a non-stop motor. Archie and JoeG just don’t have the hands that are required to play top line minutes.
Specifically the Don Julio 1942 — it’s quite good. Cuervo is mostly bad except for the more rare gran reserve they make, which is excellent. My favorite is something called Tres, Cuatro y Cinco gran reserve extra añejo. It’s a premium tequila that’s very expensive ($400 usd per bottle) but if you like tequila and ever get a chance to try it…..
Congrats to Sammy on his wedding….
Its tough to say at this point what the forward skill level will be like.
Will Benson be on the team and for how long?
Will Currie be re-signed? He’s a UFA. He’s a beast of an AHL player and a fan favorite – my guess is Holland is trying to get him to go the Malone route – throw some extra cash his way to entice him to sign an AHL deal.
Hopefully Maksi can move up to more offensive reps.
Lavoie will add size and skill but who knows who long it will take him to acclimatize to the pro game?
Hamblin will add some skill.
Maybe Kuffner can re-establish himself?
Pretty sure there was some personal reasons on teemu eject.
I love salads in the summer. One of my favourites is Salade Nicoise which is a bit of a misnomer since it is really a meal unto itself.
The ingredients sound a little strange for a salad but trust me, this is a meal you will want more than once.
Because it is a salad the main ingredients do not come in any particular amount so much as portions per person.
Tomatoes – I prefer the grape or cherry size left whole
Potatoes – I prefer the three colour variety from the small potato company cut into halves
Green beans – the best green beans on the market – and I know this is hard to believe – are the President’s Choice frozen haricot verts from Superstore. I know. But trust me.
You will need to cook the potatoes the same way you would boil them for any meal and the beans just enough to take the snap out of them. You need to do this early on because everything in this meal is served at room temperature.
In addition to these three main ingredients you will want a soft boiled egg peeled and sliced lengthwise per person and about 6 anchovies per person according to taste.
One can of good quality chunk tuna for every two people finishes the ingredients. I have had this salad in very fancy restaurants where they use fresh tuna and it is not as good.
Don’t say I didn’t warn you that the ingredients sound strange.
All of these ingredients are placed on a large serving tray – usually with the tomatoes at one end, the potatoes in the middle and the beans at the other end. The tuna sits on top of the potatoes with the eggs placed around the edges and the anchovies are sprinkled whole on top.
What makes this all work, of course, is the vinaigrette.
The juice from a whole lemon with a heaping tablespoon of good mustard like Maille or similar. Salt and pepper and emulsify with oil of your choice. Should be added at the table individually to taste.
I know. It sounds strange. One of the best summertime meals you will ever come across.
Try to look at this from the Ranger’s perspective. GM there has been catching hell for the Liam Andersson pick, which is pretty much universally considered a bust in NY. So you are asking him to take on another probable bust in JP while giving up a 1st for the right to do so. Yah, that should go over well with the Ranger season ticket holders. Probably not a good look if you have any interest in keeping your GM gig.
That’s pretty much exactly how I feel.
Sutter for Russell would be a great trade (from my POV) if Sutter had been generally healthy. And it would still be fine if it’s the best that’s available. But I’d hope for something that would be more certain to fill the 3C spot for the Oilers next season.
Let me know.
I can see both sides of this making sense if Russell’s NTC makes it impossible to move him for a draft pick. A healthy Sutter is a good trade for the Oilers but can or should they take that chance. Russell plays for $1.5M next season. Even if the Oilers have to eat .5M so the acquiring team gets him for $1M I think I prefer to take the $3.5 in cap space and shop for a younger, healthier guy.
Sutter is a reasonable backup plan but I wouldn’t start the shopping there.
Thanks. I thought I’d heard folks saying McLeod got some reps in the top 6 towards the end of the year but could be mistaken. In any case, yes that’s the progression you’d like to see, so hopefully we do with McLeod. Maybe the Condors end up with enough decent wingers to have some skill on 3 lines?
Okay…but I know I’ll add some smoked paprika.
I like my risotto plain. Cooked in chicken stock with lots of good parmesan cheese stirred in. Perfect complement to pork belly imo.
This is true, though the Canucks do need to re-allocate some salary.
My thought was that Holland might prefer to pay something asset-wise to move Russell elsewhere, if needed, and put the $4M to use on a more dependable player than Sutter. But who knows.
Kris Russell is no prize either.
They maybe should. But man, he’s been out of the lineup more than in it for since he joined the Canucks 5 years ago. I wonder whether that’s how Holland wants to address 3C…
I don’t recall McLeod playing any top 6 center although I didn’t watch as much the last month before the shut down. Colby Cave was playing center.
I anticipate that McLeod will be a full time center this season and much of it in the top 6 – that would be natural progression for him in my mind. Second tier type prospects often take a while to get going in the AHL (some say the jump from CHL to AHL is harder than AHL to NHL) and there is often a solid spike in their seond seasons.
Any recommendations for seasoning the risotto to accompany the pork belly?
I am far from a tequila aficionado but have some time on my hands.
Thanks for the recommendations.
You are forgetting the current best asset in the trade – a first round pick coming to the Oilers.
My alcohol tastes are decidedly unsophisticated so I don’t talk about it much. But no, definitely not teetotaling. I’m glad the alcohol supply chain has proven more robust than the toilet paper supply chain.
Yeah hopefully it turns out that way, and certainly Brad Malone fits the 3C mold. I don’t watch the Condors though, did McLeod play 2C at any point this year when Marody/Malone were both healthy? I assume not, though that doesn’t mean he won’t going forward.
duct tape and foil,
Didn’t see this until after I posted, but you’ve nearly perfectly encapsulated my point of view on the matter.
Also, regarding Lias Anderson, I’d hope Old Dutch is wily enough to avoid that trade. Reeks of DoD Oilers pissing away value to me. Let alone the rumoured add of Benson or Sammy. Bad idea made worse. Hard no.
Harpers Hair,
I generally don’t approve of Cuervo or Sauza. After tipping back a few with the bartender at the Hyatt in Cancun I asked him to enlighten me as to quality tequila. Asked him what the best is, and what he drinks on an evening at home with the family.
Don Julio is his top shelf recommendation (I prefer it to Patron, so very smooth), and Cazadores Extra Añejo was the every day spirit I took home from duty free on his recommendation.
Anderson for JP may have some wheels but NYR has to add. Anderson is older, less talented, lower pick, slower boots, less games and less points. Plus the personal issues seem more serious and he is behind JP in terms of rebuilding confidence and value. NYR has to add. If we want a 1st rounder added to Anderson as suggested, then yes another asset is required, and a young LHD makes sense. But I’m not giving up Sammy. Lagesson is more like it. Would prefer Georgiev instead of Anderson to be honest.
There had better be risotto to go with that pork belly or I will be pretty disappointed in the cook book.
Now, you’ve gone and done it.
I have a pork belly in the freezer and will be forced to prepare it.
Beef Wellington tonight, BBQ lobster skewers tomorrow and a succulent pork belly on Tuesday.
Please send help.
And, oh yeah…the Oilers should trade Kris Russel for Brandon Sutter.
So what the NHL should do, by what you are saying, is put those teams with the biggest markets in the playoffs. What a great idea, to hell with skill, or winning record! Pure genius! Sign me up for that! NOT!
You may miss the mark or mislead at times but, and you may not like this, you have a freedom of expression and a give a shit value that I find quite endearing!?
So tasty them there pork bellies.
I was doing well till last night. Then I ran straight into five light beer. When you haven’t really had a drink in two months, it’s amazing what five light beer can do to you.
I do to an extent, in that, I believe Keith is the fall guy for the so called old boys club. The Gretzky name and class are synonymous to me courtesy of Wayne and his Dad. I believe Keith is cut from the same cloth.
Actually many on this site were using him as an extra or sweetener to move Lucic or as an extra to move JP and get a better lottery ticket. There in truth, were few regulars on this site that believed Bear had value beyond an add to a player trade. Using Bear as an example is an error in how you remember the coming of age for Bear. Samorukov is now starting to be mentioned in the same way. As an expendable!
I would think the centers would be:
Marody
McLeod
Malone
Joe G. is a solid AHL player and can likely hold his own as a tweener in the NHL for a game here or there.
I understand your premise re: style of play but I don’t see Joseph Gambardella as a fit on a top NHL line.
I think that player was Josh Archibald this past year.
So, it seems y’all are teetollaling during the Covid Break since not a word about libations for many weeks.
In order to reverse that disturbing trend, let me introduce you to an offbeat but surprisingly delicious summer drink I picked up on a whim yesterday.
While picking up a bottle of Chilean red to go with tonight’s Beef Wellington, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a bottle that was on sale for a very agreeable price.
Jose Cuervo tequila infused with Grand Marinier and being marketed as Golden Margarita.
Oh my…delicious and just a blender full of ice from being a spectacular long weekend drink.
Also, as I discovered last night, very satisfying on the rocks.
Yes, I’m turning into a corpulent hog…so sue me.
I thought they had walked away from this but apparently it is not dead yet.
“After indications earlier in the month that the NHL was favoring a June draft, little has come out of that so far. However, that may change soon. The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun (subscription required) writes that NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly indicated a decision should come shortly and likely will be part of the discussion with the NHL Board of Governors at their meeting on Monday afternoon.
A June draft before the NHL 2019-20 season ends has become a controversial discussion since introduced with the general belief that many GMs are against conducting a draft in the middle of the season. However, LeBrun notes that the draft does not need an official Board of Governors vote, meaning that if commissioner Gary Bettman believes it will be in the NHL’s best interest in conducting the draft in June, it can happen that way.”
Well, a mini-Holland would be just fine (and I think Holland has adjusted along with the game).
I would agree with that – the addition of the NYR first rounder turns the deal though and I query what level of prospect would be required to close – Sammy or better I would anticipate.
Ya, Sammy was the prospect that came to my mind – as I said, don’t see that Rangers giving up their 1st unless the prospect added to Jesse is Sammy level or better.
Not sure what type of trade value a guy like Sammy has across the league – I would reckon his potential value on the Oilers (potential) is greater than his trade value.
So, in other words..a bunch of meh for a first round pick.
Mull is a genius…still shows up in cameos from time to time.
Also an accomplished recording artist responsible for the legendary album Sex and Violins featuring “I Haven’t the Vegas Idea”.
If it were me, I wouldn’t be trading much in the way of future to the Rags. With the elite players they have, getting Jesse will likely be a really key piece on their first or second line. If it was me, I’d be looking to move some other pieces who are unlikely to sign here, but might have more interest in playing in New York.
I’d be looking at:
To Edmonton:
B Prospect + 1st Roudner
To New York Rangers:
Rights to Jesse Puljujdarvi; one of Anton Slepishev or Bogdan Yakimov; and one of Ostap Safin or Marcus Niemelainen
That 3rd line on the Rangers… it looks like the Oilers 3rd but worse…
My issue with Drafts is that there is a lot of Voodoo involved.
Did the player simply dominate his boy peers with superior Strength/Speed/Skills that will not translate to playing against grown men who are vastly more mature?
Are they coachable? Or did they just use their natural skills and in fact they don’t even want to change.
The biggest factor is luck, and avoiding injury. No one ever looks at injuries when evaluating past draft picks and “busts”.
ReDrafts are Double Voodoo. You get the Voodoo from the original draft compared to all the factors I mentioned (plus more) and then evaluate the Draftor based on whether or not their pick got hurt.