The Edmonton Oilers broke out of a scoring slump last night, popping four goals while also receiving strong performances from several hopefuls. I’m not convinced we’re any closer to roster certainty today but the prospects showed up and performed on a night when the pressure was on.
Ken Holland's final lap as Oilers GM: Is there one loud trade still to come?https://t.co/0hhHqgWA7T
The top line battled, Connor McDavid scoring and Leon Draisaitl with several great chances (his aim isn’t true yet). Zach Hyman had zero HDSC which is unusual.
Dylan Holloway had two HDSC, skated miles and showed up in good places. I think he’ll be on the third line, but there may be chances during the year to move up the depth chart. Derek Ryan and Mattias Janmark provided steady play, with Janmark cashing an EN goal late.
Raphael Lavoie had two shots, drew a penalty and to my eye once again advanced his cause. I think he’s shown enough to make the team, which isn’t the same as saying he will make the team.
Brad Malone has a chance to make the team. I don’t think he’ll do it, but he has done everything asked and then some. Seth Griffith is also having a fine camp, don’t see a path for a job.
Xavier Bourgault scored two impressive goals and has shown a great deal of skill and guile in this camp. Young winger has been dragged heavily in some parts of the Oilers universe for not being the goalie fans wanted with the pick, but he’s quality and close to NHL-ready.
Adam Erne played well and the Oilers want an edgy forward in the bottom six. I don’t think he makes it.
Philip Broberg is having a fine camp, showing calm feet and some real passing flair. It has gone unnoticed by some, but I think we’re seeing a maturing defender grow into his own. He was a raw prospect with great tools, you can see him refining his talent each night.
Cody Ceci was effective as a veteran presence and I think playing second or third pair will benefit him in a big way. He may spot start with Nurse, but seems best suited to being away from the top flight offensive contributors on the team.
Ben Gleason is a preseason star for the Oilers and I’m wondering if the club is tempted to make room for him. I know it’s preseason but good lord he looks fully formed. NO idea how one gets him on the roster without trading Broberg.
Vincent Desharnais has played too much. He looks exhausted.
Cam Dineen looked like the sixth best defender to me, plenty of chasing and not as much offensive contributions for opportunities given. That’s a wall, and there’s no sin in it. I expect he’ll be one of the next cuts.
Phil Kemp caught my eye several times in a good way. I like him and believe he may see NHL ice this season.
Jack Campbell has delivered two quality starts in a row. That’s huge. If he can recover and post a strong SP, this Oilers team is going to have a fine season.
At noon we hit the airwaves on Sports 1440. Daniel Nugent-Bowman from The Athletic will stop in, we’ll preview the Jays-Twins and talk about the impact of minor hockey in the Edmonton area. You can leave comments here, @Lowetide on twitter or text us 1.833.401.1440 directly.
From what I have read about him, Bourgeault seems like the winger-version of Nuge (uh, wait…) and I like the idea of them being paired together in the near future.
No mention of if they will get a preseason game? I thought McLeod was expected to play a game this weekend that just passed.
Last edited 6 months ago by Bank Shot
Harpers Hair
October 3, 2023 2:00 pm
For students of the game, Pete DeBoer explains how having two centres on each line pays off.
“As DeBoer mentioned, this all begins with the personnel on the roster. Of the 13 forwards currently on the NHL payroll and projected to be on the roster in some fashion, 10 are capable centers, either as their primary or secondary position.“
Guys that can play center either as primary or secondary that are likely on the Oilers roster:
McDavid
Drai
Nuge
McLeod
Ryan
Holloway
Janmark
Perhaps Pederson and even Lavoie is listed as a center (and played a bit of it as a fill in in the Q) and would be on one’s list if he was in the Dallas org.
Warren Foegele was a full time center his 1.5 seasons with Kingston in the OHL. After being traded to Erie for the last half season of his junior career, he platooned between wing and center (Erie had Dylan Strome and Anthony Cirelli down the middle, and played Foegele a lot on one of their lines. Once playing on Carolina’s farm team in the AHL he became a LW.
Foegele didn’t take many draws for the Oilers last season but he was 53%. In his NHL career he is 49% in only 135 draws, so he hasn’t gotten a lot of opportunity but he holds his own. In the OHL over 2 full seasons, he was 1,048 wins in 1,831 draws for a 57% winning percentage. If given the chance, he might do well taking some draws. Have him play LW with Nuge, but let Warren take the draws 😉.
All of these players have significant PRO hockey experience at centre.
————
Knocking on the door:
Logan Stankhoven
Mavrik Bourque
The Stars could ice a competitive lineup employing nothing but natural centres and a couple of high end wingers.
Their draft record shows this is NOT an accident and that they realize spending high picks on wingers is a waste of draft capital since centres can play wing far easier than wingers can convert to centre as well as wingers being plentiful and relatively cheap to acquire.
Oilers top 6 center duo in a tier all by themselves.
The vaunted Stars top 6 center duo in tier 4.
———————-
Oh, right, depth – well, if the Oilers wanted to, they could put 104 point producer (52nd most points among forwards at 5 on 5) as the third line center.
Best thing for Bourgault is to go fill the net for the Bakersfield Condors.
If he’s leading the team in scoring and can prove he’s too good for the AHL, he could play middle-six for the big club come the New Year.
Lane Pederson will likely lead the team in scoring but Bourgault will, hopefully, produce at a 0.8 P/G rate while playing PK1 and being out in “all-situations”.
Harpers Hair
October 3, 2023 12:07 pm
Elliotte Friedman @FriedgeHNIC
Now on waivers: Regula, Renouf, Richard, Walsh, Wotherspoon (BOS); Griffith (EDM); Kallgren (NJ); Bernard-Docker, Highmore, Larsson, Sokolov (OTT); Laczynski & Cal Petersen (PHI)
cowboy bill
October 3, 2023 11:03 am
So, there’re plenty of options for that 12th forward.
Is there an option that stands out as being the best. I don’t know.
I’m not sure it really matters who is slotted in with the fourth line duo of Janmark & Ryan.
They will be effective and if they go 11/7 it will matter even less.
To add another option, if they want to try Holloway as the four C, how about,
Janmark-Holloway-Lavoie and use Ryan with Foegele & MacLeod on the third line, as Jason Gregor suggests. Man, the possibilities are plentiful.
It’s a little annoying that the Oilers don’t have 12 bonafide NHL forwards going into the season. I know they can fix it at the deadline, but if you get a a few injuries in a cluster and start running 11 forwards with 2-3 being replacement level or worse you risk running into trouble.
How do you define bona fide NHL forwards? Sometimes its the team they play and the roles that need to be filled that impact whether they are full time or not. Who is to say that Lavoie wouldn’t have already secured a full time NHL spot if he played in Arizona, Montreal or Anaheim to name a few. Lane Pederson was potentially finally making the leap to full time NHL player last season, when he got injured in Columbus and had to miss the rest of the season. Erne has played 350 NHL games, including being close to full time with Detroit the last 2 seasons, with a one month stint in the minors. Sam Gagner was a still full time NHL player last season and if he returns to full health after the hip surgery could very well be again. Even Bourgault might have had a decent shot to be an NHL regular starting this season if he was playing for a rebuilding club and not one already very set in its top 8 or 9 and going for a cup.
I am hoping to see
Janmark-mcdrai-ryan
Great dzone line with both wingers being defensive and good at suppressing HD scoring chances. Also gives 2 centers one for either side or if one is waived out of the circle.
I am wanting to see an 11 7 deployment most games. I see people not wanting this due to overplaying mcd or drai. The way around that is more minutes for the third line and spreading the scoring wingers over the 3 lines.
Sounds good to me. That leaves Lavoie & Pederson. One or the other.
OriginalPouzar
October 3, 2023 10:43 am
Xavier Bourgault scored two impressive goals and has shown a great deal of skill and guile in this camp. Young winger has been dragged heavily in some parts of the Oilers universe for not being the goalie fans wanted with the pick, but he’s quality and close to NHL-ready.
Remember when Skinner got a shutout and then sent to the AHL? Well, I think Bourgault is going to score a pair of goals and then get sent to the AHL.
Good on the kid for showing strong later in camp.
His smarts and PK are going to be very useful skills in the medium term.
‘been “all in” on Bourgault since his junior days….he is so subtle, so sneekey in finding open ice, and will never hurt you defensively…..he`s not the blazing hard slapper type of player, but he makes plays and is a winner.
Whoever we have looking and poking around the Q lately is a keeper…as in Lavoie and Bourgault.
OriginalPouzar
October 3, 2023 10:42 am
Raphael Lavoie had two shots, drew a penalty and to my eye once again advanced his cause. I think he’s shown enough to make the team, which isn’t the same as saying he will make the team.
Brad Malone has a chance to make the team. I don’t think he’ll do it, but he has done everything asked and then some. Seth Griffith is also having a fine camp, don’t see a path for a job.
Ya, I could see Malone making the team over Lavoie due to the fact that he’s a center and, well, the coach’s former captain.
We know that Malone’s value to the org is as captain of the Condors but, then again, we knew that last year and, well, he was in the opening night lineup.
At the end of the day, they simply can’t keep Malone and try and slide Lavoie through waivers. Its not like Malone has separated vis-a-vis impact on the ice and he’s not going to “fix the PK” by being on the team.
It would behoove the org to not keep Malone due to being a center, try Ryan (and even Holloway) as the stop-gap center and see how Lavoie looks in NHL games.
They can always call Malone up during the season – that opportunity MIGHT not be there for Lavoie.
Pretty much this. He’s a lefty centre who has 2 points in 43 games for the Oilers. If he was a righty, he’d have been in the conversation awhile ago but now he’s a tweener that they won’t lose a player over.
I’m pretty done with seeing Malone in Oilers silks. Cool story for him I guess when they trot out an old tweener, but the dude is a boat anchor at the NHL level.
I hope no world but, potentially, I Jay Woodcroft’s world – the same world that had Brad Malone in the opening night lineup (and, in the previous game, had Brad Malone take the defensive zone faceoff on the play where the Oilers were eliminated from the playoffs).
They waived Malone on October 8th and sent him down on the 18th after playing 5 mins or so in 2 games. They kept him because he made exactly $762,500 and they needed that salary on the roster to maximize their LTIR. Janmark was sent down because he made too much money to put on the roster until someone got injured. The Oilers don’t have that problem to start this season.
Durag
October 3, 2023 10:01 am
That was a nice set up by Broberg for Bourgault’s second. He showed some good offensive instincts hanging on to the puck as long as he did and making the backhand pass that no Kraken seemed to expect. I’m still holding out hope he can be Klefbom-ish.
He made an under-stated very good play the prior game for Lavoie’s goal. A solid defensive play, used his feet to move the puck out of danger, showed patience for the passing lane to open and a short pass to Lavoie in stride.
Munny 2.0
October 3, 2023 9:33 am
Gleason could have difficulty getting through waivers.
I don’t see Lavoie as any risk at all. Teams don’t normally take unproven youngsters that they have to keep on their NHL roster, especially when they’re having a middling camp. Gleason is 25, has played in the NHL, looks more fully formed, has offense, and plays a position that all teams wish they had more depth at. He’s playing like he wants into the NHL and knows that waivers is one of those paths.
Fagemo and his 13 NHL games just got claimed. He’s in about the same track record as Lavoie (and taken 12 spots later in the same draft). Lavoie could definitely be claimed.
A credit to you, good sir, for putting an argument forward.
It appears though, from the ratio of thumbs down to number of arguments, that there isn’t a lot of basis for people’s fears in this regard. And while one argument isn’t exactly overwhelming, it deserves a hearing, so lets take a look at it….
Good comp in that both are RHS, both goal-scorers and both from the same draft, with similar slots. Thirteen NHL games however is a wealth of evidence compared to zero NHL games. Fagemo has also substantially out-performed Lavoie’s numbers at the AHL level. He is also the more famous player due to a better international career than Lavoie and on top of it makes $100K less per annum. And he’s been PKing for three years in the A, so a wider range of skills. Poor move by Blake giving another team a free look. That’s why you wait to waive guys like this. So waiver strategy was a contributing factor. That said, Fagemo may still end up back in the Kings org.
As a thought experiment, if you could only take one man and there were only two RHS forwards available on the waiver wire and it was these two young men, Fagemo would clearly be the one taken.
That’s not to say it is impossible for Lavoie to get claimed. That’s not my stance. My stance is the risk is small, smaller than it seems to be perceived on this site. Gleason looks more likely IMO. I’d put the risk on Lavoie at around 10% without going through all the rosters of those teams with cap space, but maybe it’s as high as 20%. Prima facie that seems a reach to me though. Gleason OTOH looks more like the 40-50% chance range to my eye.
The problem with your argument though, is that you’re cherry picking your numbers and disregarding the whole. Lavoie had 45 points in 61 last year to Fagemo’s 32 in 56. Both played Swe-1 in 2020-21 with Lavoie having 45 points in 51 games to Fagemo’s 11 in 18 and they both scored at .5 pts/game in the AHL that year. Fagemo did better in 2021-22 but worse than Lavoie in 2022-23. Lavoie is 6’4″ to Fagemo’s 6’0″. 3 points and a -6 in 13 games isn’t world-beating numbers (you’d never take Malone over Lavoie just because he’s got NHL games). If you waive Lavoie, you have to assume you lose him forever. Even though that isn’t a certainty, it would have to be worth it.
Except there are a handful of teams not even pretending to try for a playoff spot who have nowhere near than a full roster of NHL players. Chicago, Anaheim, even Montreal have zero expectations of being competitive. It would be irrational for them not to claim a young player who has shown he can make a difference in the AHL and stick them in the lineup for 30-40 games to see if they find an NHL’er.
What OP said…. Good for him for playing well and becoming a call-up option, but that’s all he is. No contender will pick him up, and no bottom feeder will pick up a 25 year old with 4 NHL games.
jtblack
October 3, 2023 9:33 am
LT – Hope you are getting through the start of your 1st season w/o Mrs. Lowetide.
You don’t really believe Edm would trade Broberg, do you?
Edm has invested so much in Broberg, Lavioe, Holloway and the Bourgault – now is not the time to move them. When Edmonton wins Stanley all 4 of those guys will play a part.
Edmonton would trade Broberg if they thought they could get better (as in acquire an all-star player like Hellebuyck or Montour) but would not trade him for a pick and/or a prospect. Nobody “wants” to trade good young players but they do because the return makes the team better. It would be surprising to see Broberg traded now but less surprising at the deadline.
kgo
October 3, 2023 9:10 am
I think Desi vs Neimo is interesting…Neimo, if Right handed, would be ahead of Desi on the depth chart. Neimo getting thru waivers is 50/50 imo.
Gleason and Dineen look like great injury coverage, both could play 20 games this year and should be fine.
Lavoie has made this team, he’ll get 20 games to settle in, if he falters he probably clears waivers and spends the rest of the season in AHL and tries again next year.
I would say that Niemo getting through waivers in 90/10.
Todd Macallan
October 3, 2023 9:04 am
Borg and Holloway continue to stand out to me eye in these games, and if the title today is a nod to Frasier I am very much here for it.
Red wolf
October 3, 2023 9:01 am
That line of Holloway McDavid and Lavoie was the best!
Chelios is a Dinosaur
October 3, 2023 8:53 am
Really like both Bourgoals. First one he stops up to let his coverage pass him while realising a hard shot-pass was coming and he would need a more space and time then crashing the net would allow.
Second goal he pulls up to find just a sliver of open air allowing a quick release.
Just don’t see any way that a waist-high shot, sent far side and played off the blocker as being a shot pass. But… your guy has a lane and is shooting so make sure you’re ready and in a good spot, going the right way, and Bourgault did. He’s a smart player, but we all knew that.
Guys who can process things at NHL game speed like Bourgault are the ones who always seem to find the soft ice and be in the right position. So many players just steamroll to the net and the rebound gets deflected past them by the goalie.
€√¥£€^$
October 3, 2023 8:45 am
I think Vinny has not had a good camp. Of the 11 (?) dmen left in camp who have played he looks like he has only “outplayed”Dineen to my eyes.
I agree but I do think the coaching staff will give him the benefit of the doubt and he’ll be on the roster over Gleason (and Niemo and Kemp).
Its exhibition season and, while he’s not really a vet, we do need guard against putting too much in to play.
I mean, there are years and years of evidence that Gleason isn’t an NHL d-man but he sure looks like one. How much can we trust it?
Vinny is struggling and there is every chance that last ceiling was a heater and his career season – hope not but its definitely not out of the realm of possibility.
We shouldn’t read much of anything into NHL pre-season games. They are mostly a way to milk some ticket money off of fans watching the home team dress 10 NHLers to play against the AHL team of the opponent.
I’ve said off-season after off-season after off-season, that performance by young prospects in exhibition games means very little as far as NHL readiness.
At the same time, performance by prospects can earn them the opportunity to prove NHL readiness in the regular season (as Lavoie is doing) and can leave impressions that will taking in to account at call up time (i.e. Bourgault) and can bump a player up in to a conversation (Gleason).
Not that it matters but The Athletic’s Maths Projections folks have the Oilers in the top 2 this year with Carolina.
Top Two
Lots of talk about center depth lately
so here’s this
https://theathletic.com/4918597/2023/10/03/nhl-ranking-center-duos-oilers/?source=user_shared_article
From what I have read about him, Bourgeault seems like the winger-version of Nuge (uh, wait…) and I like the idea of them being paired together in the near future.
Let’s say they’re paired. Who’s your driver on that line (if not Drai)?
Assuming this is a third line… Holloway? (I am not talking about beginning of the season).
Per DNB:
Jay Woodcroft says it’s “bumps and bruises” for all absent players. He said he expects Ryan McLeod and Mattias Ekholm to be ready to start the season.
No mention of if they will get a preseason game? I thought McLeod was expected to play a game this weekend that just passed.
For students of the game, Pete DeBoer explains how having two centres on each line pays off.
“As DeBoer mentioned, this all begins with the personnel on the roster. Of the 13 forwards currently on the NHL payroll and projected to be on the roster in some fashion, 10 are capable centers, either as their primary or secondary position.“
https://theathletic.com/4924505/2023/10/03/dallas-stars-pete-deboer-lineup-flexibility/?source=user_shared_article
Worth noting that since 2017, Dallas’ first pick in every draft has been either a C or D so this approach pre-dates DeBoer’s reign in Dallas.
As I’ve mentioned before, since Dallas is absolutely loaded with centres, they been hoarding RHD prospects at the draft.
Yup. The Oilers look pretty good through this lens.
Its worth noting that out of the 12 forwards the Oilers will break camp with this year, all 12 are centers.
SIX.
No 12. They are all centers. The defence and goalies are also centers. Skinner can dangle when he gets going.
Aren’t you the guy that insisted Nuge played 3C all last season?
Aren’t you the guy that insisted Ty Smith was better than Bouchard?
Guys that can play center either as primary or secondary that are likely on the Oilers roster:
McDavid
Drai
Nuge
McLeod
Ryan
Holloway
Janmark
Perhaps Pederson and even Lavoie is listed as a center (and played a bit of it as a fill in in the Q) and would be on one’s list if he was in the Dallas org.
Warren Foegele was a full time center his 1.5 seasons with Kingston in the OHL. After being traded to Erie for the last half season of his junior career, he platooned between wing and center (Erie had Dylan Strome and Anthony Cirelli down the middle, and played Foegele a lot on one of their lines. Once playing on Carolina’s farm team in the AHL he became a LW.
Foegele didn’t take many draws for the Oilers last season but he was 53%. In his NHL career he is 49% in only 135 draws, so he hasn’t gotten a lot of opportunity but he holds his own. In the OHL over 2 full seasons, he was 1,048 wins in 1,831 draws for a 57% winning percentage. If given the chance, he might do well taking some draws. Have him play LW with Nuge, but let Warren take the draws 😉.
That’s a HUGE reach.
Hintz
Johnston
Duchene
Seguin
Benn
Faksa
Dellandrea
Steel
All of these players have significant PRO hockey experience at centre.
————
Knocking on the door:
Logan Stankhoven
Mavrik Bourque
The Stars could ice a competitive lineup employing nothing but natural centres and a couple of high end wingers.
Their draft record shows this is NOT an accident and that they realize spending high picks on wingers is a waste of draft capital since centres can play wing far easier than wingers can convert to centre as well as wingers being plentiful and relatively cheap to acquire.
Good point. I like all the 0 cups they’ve won employing that strategy.
Drafting good hockey players makes your team good. Who knew.
They been to the cup final and the conference final in the last 4 seasons.
Sure beats the alternative.
Its too bad that Dallas team is too old to be a winner. Better luck next year.
It’s too bad the Oilers haven’t been to a conference final in the last couple of seasons……oh wait….
Per DNB:
Lines and pairings at Oilers practice:
Kane-McDavid-Brown
RNH-Draisaitl-Hyman
Holloway/Lavoie-Pederson-Foegele
Erne-Malone-Janmark/Ryan
Nurse-Bouchard
Broberg-Ceci
Gleason-Desharnais
Dineen-Kemp
Absent: Ekholm, Kulak, McLeod
Pederson clearly a placeholder for McLeod and likely not on roster.
Interesting to see both Lavoie and Holloway get reps with Foegele on the 3rd line.
Lavoie and Holloway together could deliver some excellent chaos in the opposing end
Either Pederson is a placeholder or the org sees him as the likely 4th line center.
I think he’s placeholding for McLeod and coach said today he expects both McLeod and Ekholm to be ready for game 1.
No Niemo?
From Spec…
Loaned to Bakersfield:
Xavier Bourgault (F)
James Hamblin (F)
Hamblin back to the bake.
https://theathletic.com/4918597/2023/10/03/nhl-ranking-center-duos-oilers/
Oilers top 6 center duo in a tier all by themselves.
The vaunted Stars top 6 center duo in tier 4.
———————-
Oh, right, depth – well, if the Oilers wanted to, they could put 104 point producer (52nd most points among forwards at 5 on 5) as the third line center.
Many years ago Ray Ferraro called him a 3rd line centre
If you’re talking about the Nuge, that was Hrudey.
I think that was Kelly Hrudey, no?
Bourgault reassigned.
Best thing for Bourgault is to go fill the net for the Bakersfield Condors.
If he’s leading the team in scoring and can prove he’s too good for the AHL, he could play middle-six for the big club come the New Year.
Lane Pederson will likely lead the team in scoring but Bourgault will, hopefully, produce at a 0.8 P/G rate while playing PK1 and being out in “all-situations”.
Elliotte Friedman
@FriedgeHNIC
Now on waivers: Regula, Renouf, Richard, Walsh, Wotherspoon (BOS); Griffith (EDM); Kallgren (NJ); Bernard-Docker, Highmore, Larsson, Sokolov (OTT); Laczynski & Cal Petersen (PHI)
So, there’re plenty of options for that 12th forward.
Janmark-Ryan-Lavoie
Janmark-Ryan-Bourgault
Janmark-Pederson-Ryan
Erne-Ryan-Janmark
Janmark-Malone-Ryan
Is there an option that stands out as being the best. I don’t know.
I’m not sure it really matters who is slotted in with the fourth line duo of Janmark & Ryan.
They will be effective and if they go 11/7 it will matter even less.
To add another option, if they want to try Holloway as the four C, how about,
Janmark-Holloway-Lavoie and use Ryan with Foegele & MacLeod on the third line, as Jason Gregor suggests. Man, the possibilities are plentiful.
It’s a little annoying that the Oilers don’t have 12 bonafide NHL forwards going into the season. I know they can fix it at the deadline, but if you get a a few injuries in a cluster and start running 11 forwards with 2-3 being replacement level or worse you risk running into trouble.
How do you define bona fide NHL forwards? Sometimes its the team they play and the roles that need to be filled that impact whether they are full time or not. Who is to say that Lavoie wouldn’t have already secured a full time NHL spot if he played in Arizona, Montreal or Anaheim to name a few. Lane Pederson was potentially finally making the leap to full time NHL player last season, when he got injured in Columbus and had to miss the rest of the season. Erne has played 350 NHL games, including being close to full time with Detroit the last 2 seasons, with a one month stint in the minors. Sam Gagner was a still full time NHL player last season and if he returns to full health after the hip surgery could very well be again. Even Bourgault might have had a decent shot to be an NHL regular starting this season if he was playing for a rebuilding club and not one already very set in its top 8 or 9 and going for a cup.
I am hoping to see
Janmark-mcdrai-ryan
Great dzone line with both wingers being defensive and good at suppressing HD scoring chances. Also gives 2 centers one for either side or if one is waived out of the circle.
I am wanting to see an 11 7 deployment most games. I see people not wanting this due to overplaying mcd or drai. The way around that is more minutes for the third line and spreading the scoring wingers over the 3 lines.
I don’t want to see 11/7 because it effs with the d-man deployment, not because of forward deployment.
Any option with Malone or Erne stands out as being disqualified from being the best – can we agree on that?
Sounds good to me. That leaves Lavoie & Pederson. One or the other.
Remember when Skinner got a shutout and then sent to the AHL? Well, I think Bourgault is going to score a pair of goals and then get sent to the AHL.
Good on the kid for showing strong later in camp.
His smarts and PK are going to be very useful skills in the medium term.
Possibly the short term too. How healthy is Connor Brown?
He’s a strong candidate to be called up in December and never sent back depending on the injury situation.
There is no indication that Brown is anything less than 100% and he isn’t a big injury risk given his past.
Confirmed – a couple of goals and a plane ticket to California!
Look forward to him starting strong in Bako!
you called that one 🙂
‘been “all in” on Bourgault since his junior days….he is so subtle, so sneekey in finding open ice, and will never hurt you defensively…..he`s not the blazing hard slapper type of player, but he makes plays and is a winner.
Whoever we have looking and poking around the Q lately is a keeper…as in Lavoie and Bourgault.
Ya, I could see Malone making the team over Lavoie due to the fact that he’s a center and, well, the coach’s former captain.
We know that Malone’s value to the org is as captain of the Condors but, then again, we knew that last year and, well, he was in the opening night lineup.
At the end of the day, they simply can’t keep Malone and try and slide Lavoie through waivers. Its not like Malone has separated vis-a-vis impact on the ice and he’s not going to “fix the PK” by being on the team.
It would behoove the org to not keep Malone due to being a center, try Ryan (and even Holloway) as the stop-gap center and see how Lavoie looks in NHL games.
They can always call Malone up during the season – that opportunity MIGHT not be there for Lavoie.
Malone is thirty-four years old. Pretty sure management has him surrounded by now.
Pretty much this. He’s a lefty centre who has 2 points in 43 games for the Oilers. If he was a righty, he’d have been in the conversation awhile ago but now he’s a tweener that they won’t lose a player over.
I’m pretty done with seeing Malone in Oilers silks. Cool story for him I guess when they trot out an old tweener, but the dude is a boat anchor at the NHL level.
All of these posts are valid and true and I agree with the substantce of them all.
At the same time, each of them was just as applicable last season and Malone was in the opening night lineup.
Malone was Woody’s captain in Bako – we know he has certain guys that he “trusts” and defaults to.
I don’t think it happens again this season but the chances are not zero.
Yes, but a year ago he was 33 and management had him surrounded – he was in the opening night NHL lineup…..
So they will keep Malone and waive Lavoie? In what world does that happen?
I hope no world but, potentially, I Jay Woodcroft’s world – the same world that had Brad Malone in the opening night lineup (and, in the previous game, had Brad Malone take the defensive zone faceoff on the play where the Oilers were eliminated from the playoffs).
They waived Malone on October 8th and sent him down on the 18th after playing 5 mins or so in 2 games. They kept him because he made exactly $762,500 and they needed that salary on the roster to maximize their LTIR. Janmark was sent down because he made too much money to put on the roster until someone got injured. The Oilers don’t have that problem to start this season.
That was a nice set up by Broberg for Bourgault’s second. He showed some good offensive instincts hanging on to the puck as long as he did and making the backhand pass that no Kraken seemed to expect. I’m still holding out hope he can be Klefbom-ish.
He made an under-stated very good play the prior game for Lavoie’s goal. A solid defensive play, used his feet to move the puck out of danger, showed patience for the passing lane to open and a short pass to Lavoie in stride.
Gleason could have difficulty getting through waivers.
I think Lavoie is the only risk for getting claimed. And they won’t risk that.
I don’t see Lavoie as any risk at all. Teams don’t normally take unproven youngsters that they have to keep on their NHL roster, especially when they’re having a middling camp. Gleason is 25, has played in the NHL, looks more fully formed, has offense, and plays a position that all teams wish they had more depth at. He’s playing like he wants into the NHL and knows that waivers is one of those paths.
Fagemo and his 13 NHL games just got claimed. He’s in about the same track record as Lavoie (and taken 12 spots later in the same draft). Lavoie could definitely be claimed.
A credit to you, good sir, for putting an argument forward.
It appears though, from the ratio of thumbs down to number of arguments, that there isn’t a lot of basis for people’s fears in this regard. And while one argument isn’t exactly overwhelming, it deserves a hearing, so lets take a look at it….
Good comp in that both are RHS, both goal-scorers and both from the same draft, with similar slots. Thirteen NHL games however is a wealth of evidence compared to zero NHL games. Fagemo has also substantially out-performed Lavoie’s numbers at the AHL level. He is also the more famous player due to a better international career than Lavoie and on top of it makes $100K less per annum. And he’s been PKing for three years in the A, so a wider range of skills. Poor move by Blake giving another team a free look. That’s why you wait to waive guys like this. So waiver strategy was a contributing factor. That said, Fagemo may still end up back in the Kings org.
As a thought experiment, if you could only take one man and there were only two RHS forwards available on the waiver wire and it was these two young men, Fagemo would clearly be the one taken.
That’s not to say it is impossible for Lavoie to get claimed. That’s not my stance. My stance is the risk is small, smaller than it seems to be perceived on this site. Gleason looks more likely IMO. I’d put the risk on Lavoie at around 10% without going through all the rosters of those teams with cap space, but maybe it’s as high as 20%. Prima facie that seems a reach to me though. Gleason OTOH looks more like the 40-50% chance range to my eye.
The problem with your argument though, is that you’re cherry picking your numbers and disregarding the whole. Lavoie had 45 points in 61 last year to Fagemo’s 32 in 56. Both played Swe-1 in 2020-21 with Lavoie having 45 points in 51 games to Fagemo’s 11 in 18 and they both scored at .5 pts/game in the AHL that year. Fagemo did better in 2021-22 but worse than Lavoie in 2022-23. Lavoie is 6’4″ to Fagemo’s 6’0″. 3 points and a -6 in 13 games isn’t world-beating numbers (you’d never take Malone over Lavoie just because he’s got NHL games). If you waive Lavoie, you have to assume you lose him forever. Even though that isn’t a certainty, it would have to be worth it.
Except there are a handful of teams not even pretending to try for a playoff spot who have nowhere near than a full roster of NHL players. Chicago, Anaheim, even Montreal have zero expectations of being competitive. It would be irrational for them not to claim a young player who has shown he can make a difference in the AHL and stick them in the lineup for 30-40 games to see if they find an NHL’er.
but those teams just passed on two former 1st round pick d-men (Smith and Docker), one of which has had success in the NHL (Smith).
There are non-competitive teams every season and plenty of player in the Lavoie range get waived and not claimed.
Docker dies not clear until tomorrow.
Ty Smith and Jacob Bernard-Docker, both 1st round picks and much younger than Gleason, just cleared waivers.
25 yea old, 4 NHL game, Ben Gleason will surely not get claimed based on a couple of good exhibition games.
In my opinion.
What OP said…. Good for him for playing well and becoming a call-up option, but that’s all he is. No contender will pick him up, and no bottom feeder will pick up a 25 year old with 4 NHL games.
LT – Hope you are getting through the start of your 1st season w/o Mrs. Lowetide.
You don’t really believe Edm would trade Broberg, do you?
Edm has invested so much in Broberg, Lavioe, Holloway and the Bourgault – now is not the time to move them. When Edmonton wins Stanley all 4 of those guys will play a part.
Edmonton would trade Broberg if they thought they could get better (as in acquire an all-star player like Hellebuyck or Montour) but would not trade him for a pick and/or a prospect. Nobody “wants” to trade good young players but they do because the return makes the team better. It would be surprising to see Broberg traded now but less surprising at the deadline.
I think Desi vs Neimo is interesting…Neimo, if Right handed, would be ahead of Desi on the depth chart. Neimo getting thru waivers is 50/50 imo.
Gleason and Dineen look like great injury coverage, both could play 20 games this year and should be fine.
Lavoie has made this team, he’ll get 20 games to settle in, if he falters he probably clears waivers and spends the rest of the season in AHL and tries again next year.
I would say that Niemo getting through waivers in 90/10.
Borg and Holloway continue to stand out to me eye in these games, and if the title today is a nod to Frasier I am very much here for it.
That line of Holloway McDavid and Lavoie was the best!
Really like both Bourgoals. First one he stops up to let his coverage pass him while realising a hard shot-pass was coming and he would need a more space and time then crashing the net would allow.
Second goal he pulls up to find just a sliver of open air allowing a quick release.
Really smart, both. “Goal scorers’ goals” …
No chance that was a shot pass. Just a rebound, but you still have to be in the right spot for them.
Whatever it was he knew what was coming.
Yup, that’s what I said.
Just don’t see any way that a waist-high shot, sent far side and played off the blocker as being a shot pass. But… your guy has a lane and is shooting so make sure you’re ready and in a good spot, going the right way, and Bourgault did. He’s a smart player, but we all knew that.
Guys who can process things at NHL game speed like Bourgault are the ones who always seem to find the soft ice and be in the right position. So many players just steamroll to the net and the rebound gets deflected past them by the goalie.
I think Vinny has not had a good camp. Of the 11 (?) dmen left in camp who have played he looks like he has only “outplayed”Dineen to my eyes.
Looking for a consensus +/-
Agreed, I definetly have Gleason and Kemp ahead of him, probably Niemelainen too.
I agree but I do think the coaching staff will give him the benefit of the doubt and he’ll be on the roster over Gleason (and Niemo and Kemp).
Its exhibition season and, while he’s not really a vet, we do need guard against putting too much in to play.
I mean, there are years and years of evidence that Gleason isn’t an NHL d-man but he sure looks like one. How much can we trust it?
Vinny is struggling and there is every chance that last ceiling was a heater and his career season – hope not but its definitely not out of the realm of possibility.
We shouldn’t read much of anything into NHL pre-season games. They are mostly a way to milk some ticket money off of fans watching the home team dress 10 NHLers to play against the AHL team of the opponent.
I’ve said off-season after off-season after off-season, that performance by young prospects in exhibition games means very little as far as NHL readiness.
At the same time, performance by prospects can earn them the opportunity to prove NHL readiness in the regular season (as Lavoie is doing) and can leave impressions that will taking in to account at call up time (i.e. Bourgault) and can bump a player up in to a conversation (Gleason).