Pictures of Home

A quick early evening note to say we’re back and the morning item is gone with the wind. It reminds me that, at some point, I’m going to have to let this old ship sail out to sea and start anew with a more modern model. In the meantime, the Oilers are damn good and I suspect fans are pretty happy with the group. Bakersfield plays tonight, I’ll update as much as possible if OP doesn’t, this is an important time of year for young men on the Condors. Signings we have seen recently will put pressure on the incumbents and that Bakersfield roster will look different this fall, guaranteed.

I wanted to talk about James Stefan a little, so will put it here. He’s an offensive impact player in the WHL, expected because he’s 20. That shouldn’t discourage you from cheering for the young man, because 48 goals in your back yard or on the street is damned fine production. In the WHL it’s worth an NHL contract. I had him second round in the 2022 draft and mentioned him in a Q&A in the summer of 2023 on this blog. It is reproduced in its entirety below.

1. Why bother doing this the Oilers aren’t in the draft! Well, the club has three picks and my guess is they add a fourth. Since last season had just four, and Reid Schaefer was traded, some pieces need to be added.
2. Who is the best possible option for Edmonton? Using RLR as the guide, my top player available who is outside the top 55 (Edmonton picks No. 56) is Jayden Perron.
3. Where would he rank on Edmonton’s prospect list? Around No. 5 on my list.
4. Wow. That’s some crappy list! Going back to last summer and my top 20, six names are graduated or traded. Graduates are Philip Broberg, Dylan Holloway and Stuart Skinner.
5. And gone? Reid Schaefer, Dmitri Samorukov and Mike Kesselring were traded.
6. Anyone else gone? Tyler Benson is UFA, he should probably get a second opinion. Some of the later choices may not make the list this time.
7. How many prospects does Edmonton hold the rights for currently? My line in the sand is 50 NHL games for skaters, 25 for goalies. So, Markus Niemelainen, Vincent Desharnais and Cam Dineen are all considered prospects. Including those three men, and excluding Benson until his free agent status is known, I get a total of 26.
8. 26? Holy lord above! The 2015 list had 41 names.
9. You’re a liar! I’ll post it at the end so you can see. Unfair to the Oilers of course, they were building then toward what we see today.
10. None of them played though. Actually 20 of 41, damn near 50 percent. The list of men from the 2015 summer list who made it to the NHL: Leon Draisaitl 638; Connor McDavid 569; Darnell Nurse 559; Tyler Pitlick 386; Jujhar Khaira 336; Brad Hunt 288; John Marino 253; Ethan Bear 251; Caleb Jones 217; Brandon Davidson 180; Anders Nilsson 161; Iiro Pakarinen 134; Laurent Brossoit 125; Anton Slepyshev 102; William Lagesson 60; Griffin Reinhart 37; Andrew Miller 15; David Musil 4; Dillon Simpson 3; Bogdan Yakimov 1.
11. That was a rebuilding team. Yes, I said that. A major factor. Edmonton does need to gather assets though, and this year’s draft gives them a shot at some quality.
12. What would you do? I’d sign Dmytro Timashev, Theo Rochette and Landon Kosier.
13. NO, what would you do at the draft? I’d trade down and get two picks in the top-100 overall, and then I’d get three in the last round for a total of seven. Then I’d draft pure skill in each position.
14. There isn’t enough skill for that kind of thing. Sure there is. Let me give you an example. Last year’s Lowetide list had 125 players. I had Theo Rochette No. 48, Jacob Guevin No. 58, James Stefan No. 59 and Otto Salin at No. 60. Pano Fimis was No. 71, Jeremy Wilmer No. 72, Mathew Ward No. 81. They are always there, but teams hesitate.
15. Why? Don’t want to be wrong. Instead they take safer picks. Death by a thousand cuts.
16. Who will the Oilers pick at No. 56? I’ll say Coulson Pitre or Etienne Morin.
17. Is this the most words in any post ever? Maybe.