Among signed forwards for 2020-21, Joe Gambardella isn’t famous. He has played in the NHL, showing his forechecking ability and some semblance of offensive ability. He got some NHL time in 2018-19 but none this past season under new coaching and management. This season, his final one under contract with Edmonton, is a big one for Gambardella’s future. He has some things to recommend him.
THE ATHLETIC!
Great perspective from a ridiculous group of writers and analysts. I am proud to be part of The Athletic. Here are the most recent Oilers stories.
- New Lowetide: Setting the record straight on Oilers prospect Cooper Marody’s future
- New Lowetide: Tough decisions face Oilers’ Ken Holland as cap forces painful choices
- Lowetide: How Oilers winger Kailer Yamamoto can increase his value
- Lowetide: Everything you forgot (but need to know) about Oilers’ 2019-20 season
- Eric Duhatschek: Q&A: Wayne Gretzky on making whisky, learning to like IPAs and loving cheap wine
- Lowetide: Injury is biggest factor in the Oilers’ hopes for extended playoff run
- Lowetide: Tyler Benson’s struggle to score might affect future role with Oilers
- Lowetide: Ken Holland’s second Oilers draft should deliver high-octane offence
- Daniel Nugent-Bowman: ‘It’s all surreal’: Kevin Lowe’s Hall of Fame nod nets surprise and satisfaction
- Lowetide: 10 things to look for at Oilers training camp and the 2020 playoffs
- Lowetide: Ethan Bear, Caleb Jones and the Oilers’ need for veteran insurance
- Daniel Nugent-Bowman: Why the Oilers should protect these 8 skaters in the Seattle expansion draft
- Jonathan Willis: Why Carl Soderberg is an intriguing free agent possibility for the Oilers
- Lowetide: Oilers prospect Raphael Lavoie’s possible impact in his first year pro
- Lowetide: Every prospect in the Oilers system and what’s next for each player
- Daniel Nugent-Bowman: Projecting the Oilers’ black aces and how much they’ll play
- Jonathan Willis: Projecting the Oilers’ lineup for their play-in series versus the Blackhawks
2019-20 AHL stats: 50, 14-14-28, 13-11-24 evens; EV GF-GA 30-48
1 Boy you never give up do you? I like Gambardella as a player but this was a tough season for him. I knew his shooting percentage would come down but the even strength goal differential plus the offense cut in half is a bitter pill.
2 How much did his shooting percentage fall? He scored 29 goals on 97 shots in 2018-19, that’s 29.9 percent (led the AHL) and not sustainable. In 2019-20, Gambardella scored 14 goals on 93 shots, that’s a 15.1 shooting percentage.
3 Still good, no? Sure, and his AHL shooting percentage for his career is 21.1 so he’s above average as a shooter at this level. Yakov Trenin led the AHL in 2019-20 with a 28.2 shooting percentage.
4 Do you still see him as an NHL option? It’ll be tough now, beyond injury recall. Extremely unlikely he makes the opening night roster.
5 Who does he have to catch? The depth chart on LW has seen several players pass him. At this point the NHL LW depth chart is Nuge, AA, James Neal, Tyler Benson, Joakim Nygard, Gambardella, Kuffner, Safin. Plus Jujhar Khaira if he plays the wing.
5 What does he have to recommend him? Great forechecker, has had brilliant outscoring seasons in both college and AHL, he is a small m chance machine and has a good idea about the defensive side of the game.
6 And yet you’re not convinced he’ll play in Edmonton 2020-21? The strongest indicator a coach can give is playing time. Gambardella played one game (11 five on five minutes) in the 2019-20 pre-season. Patrick Russell received six games and 67 total minutes, he won a job with a new coach. That was Gambardella’s opening.
7 Maybe they just wanted a right wing? That’s true, they also spent a lot of time with Tyler Benson and wanted to look at Anton Burdasov.
8 Who? Anton Burdasov. Holland signed him to a professional tryout contract, he played two games, 25 minutes total, had an assist, five shots. Intriguing player, just didn’t have enough time to show his stuff.
9 I think you’re making this up. No, he played for Edmonton, but let’s move on.
10 How many of these training camp hopeful dealies will you do? More this year cause of the Covid.
11 How many training camp hopefuls have you done in the past? Eight in 2016. Dillon Simpson (I predicted four games, he played three), Anton Slepyshev (I predicted one game, he played 41), Joey Laleggia (four games predicted, he played none), Jere Sallinen (two, none), Taylor Beck (10, 5), Tyler Pitlick (10, 31), David Musil (10, 0) and Drake Caggiula (25, 60).
12 You suck. Oilers would have been better off taking one of those RW’s and sending Puljuarvi to Bakersfield.
13 Maybe he’ll get into the playoff games upcoming. Doesn’t look like it, Jim Matheson has what looks like the list here and Gambardella isn’t on it.
14 Well, it’s a tough list to make, lots of forwards under contract aren’t on it. Forwards not on that list who are under contract for 2019-20 are Gambardella, Kuffner, Nolan Vesey, Kirill Maksimov, Ostap Safin, Cam Hebig, Tomas Jurco, Brad Malone, Josh Currie.
15 He’s probably next man up! Not sure that’s true. Jurco and Currie would be in the mix. I think the absence of Gambardella is a tell.
16 Are you looking forward to the hockey? I’m concerned about the health of the players. I’m uncertain they can be completely protected. I selfishly want to see hockey. I am a conflicted hockey human.
Gambarella Projected 2020-21 AHL stats: 54 games, 19-20-39 .72 points per game
LOWDOWN WITH LOWETIDE
It’s Monday and there is much to discuss, beginning at 10 on TSN1260. We’ll talk NHL RTP and CBA, plus Derek Taylor (Roughriders play by play) will talk the CFL pulse and Jason Gregor from TSN1260 will chat about the Oilers and the NHL. A busy one, your comments welcome at 10-1260 or @Lowetide on twitter!
Just shocked whenever a forward arrives before a defender.
It very well could end up true that Zegra was the “correct pick” but that is far far far from determined, even given team needs.
Zegras will almost assuredly “arrive first” but the outcome of this likely isn’t known for many years – even if Zegras in the next couple.
Pre internet he kicked the Coombs goat on bad hair days. This is safer
Haha, that’s the HH we know and love: a bastion of objectivity and fairness – and humble about it, too!
Hahaha that’s a very good one buddy, thanks for the laugh
digger50,
I would have taken Krebs over Zegras in a heartbeat. Still would.
But I believe Holland was looking at succession planning for either of Klefbom or Nurse. It was a bold but smart move considering the leftorium was already in place.
Broberg is a fine prospect.
But given the Oilers needs, Zegras would have been the correct pick. He could have been a significant, even gigantic help in the top 6 starting as early as this year.
Holland made the Broberg pick. And in my opinion he did so thinking about Detroits needs, he did not have full understanding of Edmontons prospects.
I would trade Broberg for Zegras in a second.
https://www.prohockeyrumors.com/
With the NHL set to ratify a new extension for the Collective Bargaining Agreement, labor peace will be guaranteed for at least the next six years. That comes as very welcome news for hockey fans that have been waiting to see their favorite players back on the ice for several months. With any CBA negotiation, however, small changes will be made that benefit one side or the other—the NHL and NHLPA.
One of those changes, as reported by Michael Russo of The Athletic and explained by Frank Seravalli in his latest piece for TSN, is to the rules governing recapture penalties. Previously, a complicated formula would force substantial cap penalties onto teams if a player with a front-loaded contract retired before its expiration. Now, that penalty cannot eclipse the original contract’s cap hit in a single year.
So far only Roberto Luongo has created such penalties with his retirement last year.
When Luongo hung up his pads, the Vancouver Canucks and Florida Panthers were each forced to deal with penalties against their salary cap, with the former suffering the bigger charge. The Canucks have a $3.033MM penalty through the 2021-22 season and unfortunately will not receive any relief from this rule change given Luongo’s cap hit was $5.33MM.
The biggest winner (if you can even call it that) out of this new change may be the Nashville Predators, who were in danger of a potential ~$24.6MM cap charge if Shea Weber had retired just before the 2025-26 season. That number will now not eclipse the $7.86MM cap hit he carries, though that means it would be spread out over several years as the entire penalty must still be paid eventually.
The Minnesota Wild are another team who could be affected, given the front-loaded nature of contracts signed by Ryan Suter and Zach Parise in 2012. Those deals don’t expire until 2025 but will have paid out $88MM of the initial $98MM guarantee by the end of next season.
Seravalli has a comprehensive list of the other changes, but they include an increase to minimum salaries and a rule that no-trade clauses will remain in contracts even if the player is traded before the clause kicks in. Previously, the acquiring team was given the option to honor them—something the Predators chose not to do when they acquired P.K. Subban in 2016, days before the clause kicked in.
I like yours better…but you’d hope nearly no one could get gaslit over hockey fan matters…Right?
“Shameless ____” and “disingenuous drivel” works though.
Shameless gaslighting with a healthy does deliberate disingenuous drivel?
I don’t know why anyone is seeking clarity as to what DSF’s purpose is…he’s bored this blog is active daily and people keep throwing buckets of troll feed under his bridge. Yes, he does bring some interesting perspective SOMETIMES…most of the time though it’s simply trying to stir up useless never solid debanter (debate and banter put together…as it’s not really debate fully and it lacks enough wit for banter sake…I dunno what to call it.)
Ya, I don’t know what happened there.
Yup, true info on players opting out and signing in Europe – won’t be able to play in the NHL next season.
Wow, what a load this is
There is nothing about your views on Canuck players & prospects that is balanced, you bloat & inflate just to compare against Oiler players to try and suggest that they are superior as if it would change anyone’s opinion on the blog.
Do you not realize that you share the exact same perspectives as 3 Million other Canuck fans? which is the very definition of Group Think.
OriginalPouzar,
That’s the wrong quote, you mean Berglund I assume?
On the content of the mis-quote. Is that for real? That would be odd and interesting.
Anyone that claims they wouldn’t trade prospect Rafferty for prospect Bouchard or proven NHL top 4 d-men Bear or Klefbom cannot have an objective, balanced view of prospects.
– Anyone who reads that one article and analyzes it to say “the Kings have the top 4 prospects out there” and then read Wheeler’s piece and talks about how Bouchard has so many prospects “breathing down his neck” does not have an objective, balanced view of prospects.
You know hockey and can have great insights, however, its clear and without a doubt that you will ALWAYS stretch to find the negative as it relates to the Oilers and change criteria and move goal posts and make incorrect inferences to try and propagate that narrative.
Ya, Berglund re-united with an old coach of his.
Haha.
I did indeed have a run in with Messier in a bar back in the day…what a dick.
Not sure why you think an objective, balanced view of prospects is a vice.
Group think has never been my thing.
Some solid details coming out on important CBA/contract type matters.
– 3 days after ratification, players on contracts with one year left can re-sign – wonder if we hear anything on the likes of Larsson and Nuge.
– 7 days after ratification, players on the 7 non-participating teams or that opt-out, can sign in Europe. I believe that Granlund was coming back for camp and phase 4 but he wasn’t on Stauffer’s projected roster – I wonder if he opts out and signs in the KHL (as, from accounts, he already has a deal agreed to).
Of note, if a players opts out and signs in Europe for next year, he is not eligible to play in the NHL next season.
This could be interesting for someone like Lias Andersson who the Rangers asked to come back and he refused.
The way the game used to be played?
Not sure what you think Broberg’s game is. Or what you think I think it is.
The players I listed above are all 1st pairing defensemen who provide offense. Broberg projects at the top of that group if you look at role and production at 18.
I’m not claiming he’s actually at the top of that group or expecting to score like Karlsson or Klingberg but I absolutely think 30-35 points is a RE, with a good all around game. IE, a strong 2-way D. Turns out your poster boy 2-way D scored 35 and 33 points in his 2 seasons (he just turned 21 by the way).
Broberg is still a prospect so we can’t project his as Heiskanan obviously. But I do think he’s fully on track to be a 2 way D that provides Heiskanen level offense.
So, what makes you do this? You otherwise seem like a good person….
But this other stuff is borderline ugly. Did you have a run-in with Messier back in the day, or have you always been this way towards Oiler fans?
I don’t understand what is driving you. You could be amongst friends here, if you wanted, but you don’t seem to want that. What are you getting out of this? Seriously.
Didn’t realize Berglund switched teams too. So yeah Skelleftea’s top 2 scoring D have departed.
Berglund has moved to Linkoping for one.
Pudas to Jokerit (KHL) for two.
Oh, I think he’s a quality prospect but you’re looking back at the way the game used to be played.
High value D now are expected to contribute offensively at a very high level.
Miro Heiskanen is the poster boy for elite two way D and his numbers are far superior and he turned 20 last month with two NHL seasons under his belt.
Is Broberg the next CFP?
Does it matter?
If you value big extremely mobile D that have a range of skills and are for the Swedes being used more than average at a young age, then perhaps Broberg is a prospect with such game dominating potential you have to like him, a lot.
It depends what you think is key to the position.
For me I s what he has in his tool kit.
Plus skating, good size, already defensive awareness, not timid, not puck averse.
Yes, the teams main offensive D went to the KHL.
Must have been a rough day for HH today.
Ah, #1D. A new conversation. OK.
Did anyone call Klefbom a #1D? Or Broberg? And did anyone say Broberg would/should score more than offense-first guys Makar and Hughes?
So how did Broberg do compared to the best Swedish defensemen in the NHL?
Broberg scored 45-1-7-8 in the SHL at age 18 (0.18 points/game). The 1OV picks (Hedberg and Dahlin) scored 20 points in their draft years. Not the same thing. But there’s also no shame in that.
Other Swedish D by NHL sorted by points per game this year (who also played 22 minutes per game):
Erik Karlsson SHL age 18 45-5-5-10
Alex Edler was in the Swedish U20 league at 18 (0.7 p/game)
John Klingberg SHL age 18 26-0-5-5
Oscar Klefbom SHL age 18 33-2-0-2
Mattias Ekholm Swedish D1 age 18 38-2-11-13
Oliver Ekman-Larsson Swedish D1 age 18 42-9-18-27
That’s everyone over 0.4 pts/game and 22 minutes a night who played in Sweden age 18.
So Broberg scored better than most, and his calling card isn’t offense. It’s mobility and shutdown tools.
I dunno, looks like a quality prospect.
Why do you think it will change?
Has the team shed the players who were on the PP last season?
I believe that the NHL boys will stay in the bubble,
sneaking someone in past security, well that’s another matter.
We know that no contraband has ever found it’s way inside any prison ever
Six defensemen who were drafted a year later are breathing down his neck.
Giddy up.
Broberg doesn’t get PP time, that’s going to change this year. I wrote about it here, he’s in the range with Brannstrom and Soderstrom at even strength. You can’t punish a man for not scoring on a power play he isn’t a part of, folks.
https://theathletic.com/1688239/2020/03/21/lowetide-should-oilers-prospect-philip-broberg-play-in-north-america-next-year/
1 defenseman
Did you see how many players drafted a year later are ahead of him?
Did you see who was the second highest D prospect in his rating?
and, as I said, I wouldn’t expect Broberg to be there – we know Wheeler’s views on him.
Erik Brannstrom was drafted 15th overall and doubled Broberg’s offence as an 18 year old.
Much talk has gone on re: Oilers not even allowed their own dressing room.
As per Terry Jones:
As reported here in Friday editions, the NHL is taking “home dressing room advantage” away from the Oilers and Maple Leafs.
They won’t reside in their own room when the tournament begins. A home team and an away team will be designated for each game. The higher positioned team in the standings will be the home team with home dressing room, home bench, last line change, etc. for Games 1-2 and 5 in the ‘play-in’ best-of-five series and Games 1-2, 5 and 7 in the traditional best-of-sevens to follow.
It is believed the home team for the first and third games of the three-games-per-day schedule will get the Oilers dressing room and the other team the visitors room. For the middle game, the expectation is that the home team will get the Oil Kings room and the visitors the WHL visitors room.
Let’s do this:
The NHLPA exec vote should really be a rubber stamp but let’s get the full membership vote going. I am very confidant it will pass (just needs simple majority and the CBA extension is a massive win for the players, in my opinion) but it won’t be close to unanimous- will be curious to see how high the “no vote” is – 30% perhaps.
https://twitter.com/thefourthperiod/status/1280284863363506178?s=21
The penalties for doing so are severe and could include the team losing draft picks.
While there may be the odd example, I doubt “sneaking out” is going to be a common occurance and, even if it does happen a few times, its not like the “culprits” will be out and about in any sort of public place.
It may happen but the risk of it shutting things down seem very slim to me.
————–
Also:
– the players (as a general group) deserve a little more credit than you give them (I think) – they aren’t all Jake Virtanan…..
– 8 teams are gone in a week and then 8 more 10 days later – the number of players gets cut down pretty damn quick.
Yes and he was cited as the best d-man prospect in a decade plus, a potential generational d-man and lock 1st overall.
Ex-Oiler Mark Zanier gave, what I thought was, a solid report a month ago or so (can’t remember if it was the Lowetide or OilCan). While I think he was a bit more optimistic, potential offensive limitations are a bit of a concern – I don’t think it has to do with his point production as a teenager, more style of play.
I don’t see him play as much, obviously, but many skills can be developed between 18 and 23 years old and I won’t shut the door on his offensively abilities quite yet.
Yep.
But Klefbom is hardly the definition of a #1D.
If Broberg can clean up his defensive game, he should be fine but hardly a game breaker like Dahlin, Makar and and Hughes.
Yes, I did yesterday and posted about it in yesterday’s thread – it was a very very good interview and I loved it.
Some solid info on the Oilers college prospects as well.
Bah.
There are five 19 year old defensemen in the top 50.
Sched A bonus max is going from $850K to $1M for ELCs.
I wonder if that automatically attaches to Bouchard’s contract?
Yup the #1 overall scored more then Broberg. And there are other examples, no question.
But take a look through the top scoring Swedish D in the NHL. Many scored the same or less than Broberg at the same age. As a for instance he’s scored better than Klefbom did in the same leagues.
Bah – I posted this earlier this morning in yesterday’s thread……..
As a just turned 19-year old dman in Sweden, I wouldn’t expect Broberg to be there and I couldn’t care less about Zegras being near the top.
I think the verbal out there on Broberg is going to be much different next off-season after another season in Skelfeeta and, I anticipate, a massive role for Sweden at the World Juniors (here is hoping there is a World Juniors)……
Kudos to NHL.com, I think they nailed the game 1 lineup (subject to camp surprises).
I would play Jones (and Mikko unless Smith is clearly better in camp) but think Tip and Playfair will go with Rusty and this lineup:
https://www.nhl.com/news/edmonton-oilers-training-camp-preview/c-317309874
David Pagnotta
@TheFourthPeriod
·
17m
Players like Sorokin, Kaprizov, Romanov, etc. can sign their entry-level contracts now and burn a year off their ELCs, but can’t play this season.
In the case of Sorokin, he can only sign a 1-year ELC. If he does, he’s an RFA. I’m told there has been recent traction on talks.
Still don’t think the NHL and definitely the NBA will be able to pull this off. When your young, single and filthy rich it’s almost impossible to expect these lads will stay true and in the Bubble.