This is the projected 2015 rookie camp roster, including invites as the day approached. The level of excitement was at fever pitch that summer, with Connor McDavid’s every move reported and discussed. The heart of the current team was there, with Leon Draisaitl and Darnell Nurse completing the Oilers trinity. This year’s camp is decidedly different, but there is talent here. In fact, after a summer that included a trade for the best prospect in the system and another deal to acquire a first-round pick, prospects are looking up compared to the trade deadline. Here’s a look.
THE 2024 PENTICTION ROSTER
Connor Ungar is 22 and has some real momentum entering pro hockey. He delivered a strong season in junior (2022-23) with a .925 save percentage for the Moose Jaw Warriors and was even more impressive (.932 SP) for Brock University in the OUAA last season. I’d expect he will see ECHL action most of the time in 2023-24, that’s the Oilers way. I would like to see him play with the Condors at least a little this season.
Brett Brochu is also 22 and owns a good resume. His OHL performances were solid and he was quality in the ECHL (.920) for the Fort Wayne Komets one year ago. I’m not sure an NHL contract is in his future but he stops pucks at the levels he’s played and that has value.
Nathaniel Day is 19 and has yet to hit .900 in the OHL. His .868 SP for the Flint Firebirds a year ago was well clear of the backup (.853) and he has size (6.03, 185) and that will give him pro chances. He is third on the depth chart in age and quality of resume.
DEFENSE
Max Wanner is 21 and a rising prospect in the Oilers system. He’s a shutdown type with some range and adjusted quickly to pro hockey. That’s a somewhat rare thing to do, and gives him elevated status in the system. He is easily the most experience defenseman at the rookie camp.
Beau Akey is 19 and has 56 points in his most recent 70 OHL games. Unfortunately, he missed all but 14 games a year ago, and the Oilers will be hoping for better health from one of their top prospects. I like him plenty as a prospect, but he was drafted by the Holland management group and that could leave him vulnerable to trade at the deadline. For now, a good showing at rookie camp should be expected.
Frankie Marrelli is a highly touted OHL prospect Brock Otten says “is an intense competitor. He makes you compete for every inch of ice when he’s out there; he never takes a shift off. He has great defensive instincts too. He blocks shots. He deflects passes. He is largely a very effective rush defender because of how aggressive he is. I mean, those who watched the U18’s this year got to see how valuable he can be in his own end. It’s just a matter of whether that translates to the next level.” Interesting player.
Marc Lajoie is a giant (6.06) defenseman from St. Albert who plays for the Edmonton Oil Kings. Edmonton signed him to an ATO in March and he played in one AHL game for the Bakersfield Condors. He is 21, and dominated the WHL (as one would expect) as an offensive defender and did well on defense for an overwhelmed team. I have zero idea if he has a pro future, but believe teams should sign defenders with size and skill. He is one.
Rhys Pederson is a RH defenseman (who just turned 18) who also played for the Edmonton Oil Kings a year ago. He’s a defense-first player who scored a few more points than might have been expected from a young player in his role. Nate Corbett is a lefty defenseman with good size who played forward in a pinch last season for the Medicine Hat Tigers. He has tremendous work ethic and plays a rugged style (seven fights a year ago).
Hyde Davidson is 18 and has played the past two seasons with the Vancouver Giants of the WHL. He seems to have taken a step back year-over-year, but is an interesting defensive prospect.
FORWARDS
Matt Savoie is 20 and undersized (5.10, 179) with fantastic skills. I appear to be the only one who sees this player as a strong point-per-game candidate in the AHL, but for me the only issues are deployment. If the Oilers plan to use him at center and fade his power-play time, he’ll probably land around 30 points over the season. If the club runs him on the wing with a strong center, and gives him PP time, he’s going to post some handsome numbers. I can see him getting NHL time this season.
Sam O’Reilly is my favourite player type: Two-way center who plays an intelligent game and can help offensively. How much offense will he bring? Don’t know. We are just getting to know him, so the games to come in Penticton will give us all a starting point on him. Expect quality. He is 1-5-6 in two preseason games with the London Knights so far this season.
Matvey Petrov is 21 and has a full year of AHL experience on his resume. He got lost in the flood a year ago, Condors coach Colin Chaulk having so many skill wingers who were in entry deals he couldn’t find room for them. I think Petrov’s presence here might be connected to Savoie. If these two men can develop some early chemistry, both might benefit in California this season.
Jayden Grubbe is 21 and is a big man in this group (6.03, 200). I’ll suggest that no prospect forward made more progress in the AHL last season than Grubbe. His future NHL role, should he get there, will be on a depth line, probably at center. He might be the new Jujhar Khaira in a couple of years, that kind of thing. He’s an impressive player.
Carl Berglund is 24 and also a center, with plenty of college and pro. He’s played 18 AHL games now, and makes plays, wins battles and can do things like win faceoffs and kill penalties. I don’t see a path to the NHL for him but he’s a good hockey player and should have an AHL career (or Europe).
Dalyn Wakely is 20 and a RH center with skill. He could make the Condors or go back to junior, I’m not sure the Bakersfield depth chart is going to be inviting. Some of that depends on how many of Lane Pederson, James Hamblin and Noah Philp get sent out. He’s skilled, and the Oilers need that in the middle. I’d like to see him in Bakersfield.
Ethan de Jong is 25 and a two-way winger who had a quality college career. He played in the ECHL a year ago because the Condors were so backed up with wingers, but I think a coaching staff in the AHL would value his responsible game. He’ll be among the smartest forwards in Penticton.
James Stefan is 21 and scored 50 goals in the WHL last season. I’m not sure he’ll be in Bakersfield this season, the RW depth chart could be Raphael Lavoie, Seth Griffith and Cameron Wright assuming Matthew Savoie is at center. He could land with the Komets, in fact that’s a likely destination.
Connor Clattenburg, is an Oilers draft choice from this summer. He is a tough OHL winger has has a goal in the pre-season so far. If he does have some real skill, it wasn’t in evidence a year ago. He’s 6.02, 197 and has several miles of pims.
Brayden Boehm is 20, a Medicine Hat winger coming back from knee injury. He has speed and played on both special teams before being hurt a year ago.
Vincent Desjardins is a RW from the QMJHL, small but has skill. He’s described as quick and shifty, and is 18. I think he’ll go unnoticed this camp, and his five-on-five goal share was lower than average for his team (source: Adam Sherren) but he was a point-per-game in the QMJHL playoffs and has room to grow.
Jesse Heslop is basically the WHL version of Desjardins. He is 18, skill winger for Everett undersized but his numbers make him interesting. Unlike Desjardins, he did not spike in the playoffs.
William Nicholl has skill and two-way acumen. He was a draft and follow this summer for the Oilers and has many supporters among those who saw him last season.
Brady Stonehouse was signed as a free agent last summer and did not deliver the same kind of season last year. I’ll guess the ECHL will be his landing spot this season, and one hopes he gets plenty of playing time.
At noon today, Sports 1440, we’ll be on the air for two hours of sports talk. The rookie tournament, Oilers lines and pairings, plus NFL Week 2 and CFL Week 15 (need a loss from the Stamps) will be subjects of discussion. Bagged Milk from Oilers Nation will be our feature guest and Declan Krueger’s Declanations will include NCAA football content. I’m at Lowetide on twitter, in the comments section here and on the Sports 1440 text line at 1.833.401.1440 directly.
Beau Akey was on the ice for practice today which is good news given Escott mentioning he may or may night play in games.
Don’t get alot of interviews with Petrov but, from his piece today, he’s a very personable kid.
How’s his English?
Excellent.
That bodes well.
Hard to fit in if you can’t make yourself understood.
Niemo heading to Germany – per Matty.
I remember hearing a month ago or so that he dealt with some personal issues this past- I think family related but can’t quite remember so don’t take that as fact.
Top 20 defensemen ranked.
https://eprinkside.com/2024/09/12/ep-rinksides-top-20-defencemen-going-into-the-2024-25-nhl-season
Interesting that he doesn’t even mention Bouchard’s shot. Hmm
Interesting that all the other rankings that have Bouchard in the 5-7 range have not been posted.
Perhaps you should do so.
Here mate.
https://www.nhl.com/news/nhl-fantasy-hockey-top-50-defenseman-rankings-pools-282830728
Bouchard is 3rd.
A survey of NHL players and executives.
https://www.espn.com/nhl/insider/story/_/id/39512945/ranking-nhl-top-defensemen-players-vote-best-2023-2024
I expect that is covered in “outside shots” and “finishing” where he ranked Bouchard was ranked 9/10 in both.
Gonna be interesting to see if Makar and Toews brutal play away from MacKinnon is a feature and not a one off. Sure looked pedestrian and disinterested in playing defense last season.
Bouchard will probably crack 100 this year with two stellar lines to work with.
First September having a place in penticton!!!!…..I’m staying in Alberta for emergency dental work….next year!!
Fml
So while lost and wandering the web I ran across an interesting study on injuries.
https://lukaswadya.com/2019/07/24/predicting-nhl-injuries/
Interesting bits here include
Player size has minimal impact on injuries. Injury history is truly a thing, being the biggest driver of future injuries. Age is a small factor in getting injured.
Logically, injury history is a function of age.
I don’t think you can separate age from previous injuries. You don’t get injured because you are in your 30s, which is younger for a human if older for an athlete, you accumulate wear and tear in a contact sport and that might make a person more likely to be injured. If you get through years in the league with less damage you aren’t that different than a younger player
I think age is a bigger factor than his analysis methods would have identified.
If you don’t correct for survivorship bias, which you really can’t with publicly available data, you’re going to miss this.
The publicly available data for injuries is quite poor, in general.
I’m not able to see the figures or tables in the article (not sure if others can), but this:
would seem to indicate that age itself/alone was not predictive/correlated with more injuries.
Perhaps you’re correct about survivorship bias, but I think it would be fair to say that based on the analysis we have at hand, there is ‘some very weak evidence’ that age is associated with more injuries.
Alcohol consumption has saved me from many injuries. Only time I ever got hurt was stone cold sober.
This has been done before at Copper N Blue or CoH can’t remember, it was over 10 years ago. I think the buckets are so large it’s not really saying that much. For example if Yama avoided contact he might be in a better NHL place, or Gallagher or Ellis. But I am certain smaller players that don’t avoid contact break down faster and further, it’s physics. This also suggests that smaller players that do avoid contact are probably perimeter players. How the player plays probably is the determinant of accumulating damage, and some luck
Dennis King
@DKingBH
Where do they get 2.55M in cap? Also, can’t defend
Kulak goes the other way replaced with a $1.2M guy would be my guess. Not sure what else would be involved.
I say that because from a cap efficiency perspective his $2.75 for 3LD is the contract that is most out of whack.
Not advocating. Just speculating on what it would have to look like were it to happen.
I assume it was mentioned in the context of a TD deal?
It’s funny. When I first read that, I thought, “Rasmus Andersson at half retained, hell ya!”
Retained salary for 3 years seems unlikely.
Ristolainen’s numbers have improved tremendously in Philadelphia though (including relative to team).
He
is no longershould no longer be the butt of jokes about being a bad hockey player.His numbers have improved because his role has been reduced. He averaged 16:41 last year on a poor Philly team.
His numbers were much better (than in Buffalo) even in year 1 with Philadelphia. I did not realize how much his TOI had dropped in the past 2 seasons though.
Can you imagine? Ristolainen would be Ceci redux.
Anyone else see the quote by Mathews on Sportsnet with Mathews saying Connor loves the Leafs?
If they don’t sign Marner they will wine and dine Connor for max percentage of the Cap.
Matthews’ contract expires the same year as Hyman’s. He’d make a good triggerman for McDavid!
Matthews would be a solid 3rd line center for the Oilers.
That would be horrible
I’m also thinking Mathews isnt exactly telling the truth. I can’t seem to see Connor saying that while still Oilers property.
Can’t be doing that unless he’s a free agent, and he won’t get to UFA as an Oiler
Anyway, even if he is a Leafs fan, and they would give him max, it’s a mediocre team that can’t win in the playoffs, and wouldn’t have money to have a good team anyways
Marner has been training with MacKinnon,
Would not be surprised to see him in Colorado.
They don’t have the ability to talk to McDavid and wine him until July 1, 2026, if he’s not re-signed by then.
That sounds like underpants is messing with his pal. I’m sure he was a Leafs fan growing up
Holloway is a Flamer for life. Armstrong dangled a few handful of G-notes in his direction and he jumped on it like a cat in heat.
He said the Oilers weren’t really trying to make a deal with him. Maybe because his zoom calls were in his flames pajamas
Salary cap efficiency ratings.
https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/news/2024-nhl-team-salary-cap-rankings-8-1
To me gathering numbers with arbitrary parameters produces no valuable conclusions
I think I heard Gregor mention that physicals are tomorrow – will be interesting to hear if there is anything official said about Kane in the coming days.
In light of the news that darnell may not be ready i am unsure why stanny b has not got a PTO done with Giordano.
He fills a veteran componant for preseason games and scrimmages etc. If darnell is going to be out for a few weeks i would rather have a greybearded vet play real NHL minutes than throw noel hoefenmayer or ben gleason out there.
also having watched some marc lajoie he scores all his goals from deep in the ozone…. not as a dman walking the line etc. i wonder if they can see him becoming a patrick maroon type forward. Wingspan, shot, and size.
he definitely looks more lw than lhd to me.
They’re expecting Nurse back soon
This was my response although, at the same time, I remember hearing every second day that Ekholm was close and we’d see him soon and then we didn’t until game 2 where he was still clearly laboring (or well out of game shape).
They would still hopefully have Ek Kulak Dermott, could be worse
Berezkin keeps up his PPG with a third period assist (still ongoing, up 6-2).
The one one beef I have with the young stars tournament is there’s usually a few injuries because of the nature of how competitive these games are for certain individuals on the Canadian teams. This is a chance for the bruisers to smash and get noticed before some players are up to so called game speed.
Doesn’t even need to be a tournament. The Leafs’ 1st round pick got Ben Eagered in camp today.
Some verification that Nurse was dealing with injury through the playoffs.
There was a fairly inconsequential hit in that early SCF game that put him out for the entire game – I think we now have verification that it aggravated something he was dealing with through the playoffs.
This doesn’t “excuse” his terrible playoffs but it is a mitigating factor to take in to account when discussing what a fully healthy Nurse should give the lineup.
It does need to be mentioned that, this very career-durable player (rarely misses games) has been highly limited due to injury for multiple playoff years.
This is the story of Oiler cup fortunes. Can they get through playoffs healthy enough to win it? I think they could have won one or both of the last two playoffs if they were less damaged
You could say that about a few teams.
Would the Oilers have got past Vancouver with a healthy Demko, Pettersson and Boeser?
Likely.
Maybe not, it was a weird series. My comment is based on it being 3 playoffs with injury issues to key players. Florida was too banged up to compete in the 23 finals, healthy this year. It’s our turn! Turns!
The dice have no memory and building the oldest team in the league doesn’t augur well for staying healthy.
Would it have even gone 5 games with a healthy McDavid?
Boeser missed one game – the Oilers beat a “with Boeser” 3 times.
Blood clots are not known to arise overnight.
Actually they are. In fact they can arise in something as short as a long car ride
Kane was the difference in the Florida series it took Leon’s accidental Messier like hit to get us going. The 3 Barbara Ann Scott’s are gone. Even Desi turned into a cream puff and was scratched against a physical forecheck.
With the nightmare start to the season the boys were chasing their tails for 95 games. With not being rammed up to the cap with a short roster allows us to rotate players in and out for rest periods. We might even be able to give players in the A that are playing well a cup of coffee and a paycheque. I know this is a foreign concept for us for the last few years but hopefully Bowman and the Committee aren’t as hard ass as the last administration.
Kenny was anything but hard ass, that was a part of the problem, he wouldn’t make room. The ass part was the Cap handing Kenny his in a hat
This gets thrown out alot but its not often reasonably feasible for a team that is tight to the cap unless there are waivers exempt players they are willing to send down for these tryouts.
Also, they had the opportunity to bring Broberg up weeks before they did – they had their spot solidified but refused to give any of the d-men rest, or Broberg reps, until the last two games – it was mind-boggling.
On April 11, with 5 games to go in the schedule and having just beat Vegas 5-1, the Oilers still had a reasonable chance to overtake Vancouver, Winnipeg and Colorado in the standings. The Oilers had 2 games in hand on all of them and the coaches mind set was ice the available line up with the best chance to win.
If they had won all 5 they would have jumped all of those teams in the standings finishing 2nd in the Conference behind Dallas and 4th in the NHL. With that record, they would have had home ice even against Florida.
In hindsight, it didn’t work out, and maybe you would decide differently, but hardly mind-boggling that they waited till the last 2 games where their final place in the standings was mostly out of their control.
It was certainly mind-boggling to me (along with various others who were wondering why the call-up, which the GM and head coach both said was coming) was taking so long – not to mention the fact that there were active d-men banged up during that period, missing practices, etc.
There is no hindsight – this positions was expressed at the time.
What is the “verification” that it aggregated something Nurse had already been dealing with? I’m not saying it’s not there, I just haven’t heard or read that.
It’s out there he is still recovering from playoff injury, and might not start camp/play ex games
When Nurse got walked by I believe Verhaeghe in game 4 it reminded me of the end of Al Hamilton career when a Ranger walked him in like a 9-2 loss. If there wasn’t something wrong with Nurse hip we are in deep puppy doo-doo. Nurse has been rode hard it’s time to rest him up then give him some freedom with a stay at home partner.
That’s it really what I asked. I am well aware that Nurse got injured on a hit in the corner against the Panthers. In his posting OP said there is “verification” that this aggravated an injury Nurse was dealing with through the playoffs.
What’s the verification that Nurse was playing an injury prior to that hit?
Great article from Drance at the Athletic today on top 10 prospects to watch in Penticton. Unsurprisingly all the higher end prospects for each team listed, but in addition to Savoie and Akey, he listed Jesse Heslop as well who is certainly the least heralded one there. Notable indeed.
No Jarventie is disappointing. Any word on his recovery?
Photos of him in full gear at the captain’s skate yesterday. A positive sign even if it may take several weeks or months to get up to full speed.
The trade did seem lopsided without a few strings attached.
Want to say it was back in July, they talked about the trade for Jarventie on Jason Gregor’s show. He had someone on who mentioned that the knee injury was significant and he might not be until after the season gets started.
Essentially, it was trade of prospects with big question marks.
It’s why I’ve been fascinated that it has received so little attention, because it’s going to take him some time to get back up to speed physically.
He’s been participating in the informal skates.
I reach out and was told he’s not invited due to having played two full pro seasons already.
I also am anxiously awaiting him being a full participant in main camp but there isn’t any indication otherwise.
Frankie Marrelli. Had to look him up, but he led his team in +/- as a 17/18 year old. His +30 last year was nearly double the next best teammates +16.
Seems like there’s something there.
https://thehockeywriters.com/frankie-marrelli-2024-nhl-draft-prospect-profile/
I’ve already nicknamed him Barstool in my mind in case he becomes a star.
He was on my Draft list, I had him as going in either the 4th or 5th round, I was very surprised he went thru undrafted.
I’ll throw Max Wanner in the conversation for prospect that made the most progress.
I wonder what Philp’s re-arrival does for Grubbe and if it even shifts him to the wing? I mean, if Savoie plays center, they’ve got Savoie, Philp, Pederson, Hamblin and Grubbe.
I would shift Hamblin or Pederson to the wing to allow the “real prospects” to play center.
Philp and O’Riley arriving are not great for Grubbe’s long-term changes. O’Riley is a few years away from being in the NHL conversation but Philp should hold the RC NHL spot until O’Riley is ready.
I deliberately put prospect ‘forward’ in the sentence haha. Wanner had such a good year that I don’t recall the last time a depth draft pick had a better AHL debut. Bear, probably.
Any road, my original sentence stands. Among forwards, Grubbe had the best season in terms of personal progress.
Fair, enough, I missed that “forward” – my bad.
My expectation for Savoie is at least a PPG and potentially something like 48 points in 43 games when the call-up comes.
A Stankoven-type rookie pro season is not unreasonable.
Both Gretzky and Chaulk have talked about him getting a big role and lots of ice, along with Jarventie, if he/they are not in the NHL.
Does that mean PP1 or PP2 time?
What if he plays center along with, say, Jarventie (or Lavoie) and, hmmm, Griffith.
That would be an opportunity to produce, no?
I have a lot of hope for Savoie, but am I the only person who worries that Chaulk will turn him into a checker and limit his offensive development?
Chaulk and Gretzky have both talked about the big role and lots of ice he will get if he does not make the NHL team.
If the Oilers go Elkholm hunting for a RD, Akey imo is going to be woven into that arrow.
Quite likely. I’m not sure how much value he has right now due to health issues though. By the time the deadline rolls around he may have a bunch of value again.
IMO, Akey is a massive piece of the future.
Didn’t look near good enough last year to be one. Maybe he improves a bunch…but they’ve missed on a lot of these swings lately.
How did Akey look “not near good enough last year”. He was a star at rookie camp, he looked good in his one exhibition game and had a decent start to the OHL season prior to, first breaking his nose, and then the shoulder thing.
Lets not forget he’s very young for his draft calls – no eligible for the AHL in draft plus 1 or draft plus 2.
He barely played due to injury, he has the skating and skill and looked very good in his 1 exhibition game….
Thanks for the Penticton player rundown, LT. Very informative.
Really? I did not know there’s been push back or that level of skepticism on the player.
For whatever it’s worth, I agree with you.
And I also think/hope he gets NHL time this season.
I was about to make the same comment when I read yours. I thought everybody was on board with him having a great season and getting a call up late in the season.
In the media his light has been dimming from when he was drafted
The best WHL points/game outside Bedard in more than 20 years.
Not sure what the media was hoping for.
Ever since he got traded they’ve been fading him hard.
I agree. My guess would be a disappointing world juniors.
Also, in the WHL playoffs/Memorial Cup, Savoie was 3rd/4th in scoring on his team behind Firkus and Mateychuk. Granted, those two are good prospects too, but Firkus was a late first-rounder and Mateychuk is a defenseman.
and I see no reason other than injury risk to have that light dimmed.
From accounts he dominated the rookie tournament last season and was on his way to making Buffalo (perhaps ahead of Benson) prior to getting hurt.
He then did very well in a short AHL stint (as a 19 year old, with no camp and coming off an injury) before lighting up the WHL.
Both McDavid and Drai with contract quotes from NHL showcase when McDavid was asked if he felt a responsibility to set a new bar for rising salaries.
Drai stated he didn’t feel he pushed as much as he could but he’s happy with the deal.
McDavid was non-committal with regard to setting a new bar and spoke about what’s best for his family and for winning.
I wonder if he might sign a contract that is exactly the same as Drai. Dare to dream.
I think McDavid is so dialed in to the culture of this club that he takes an identical $14M to Drai’s stack.
That sounds crazy, right?
There’s something about being “not above the team” reflected in both on-ice play and salary that would motivate him to take the same contract as 29. And since Draisaitl was so underpaid on his last contract ($32M total less than McDavid), $14M apiece enables them to end up closer in career earnings.
McDavid is all about the team, and being on the same plane as his buddy.
It was widely thought Drai was overpaid when he signed the last contract, he just out performed it. Worked out for the team, may have not worked out. Connor isn’t doing 14M, it will be 16-17 is my guess
They are both taking less than the max so in a sense it’s team friendly – so they can ‘win’. However I don’t think any player is worth max no matter how good, hockey isn’t a sport that can be driven by one or two players, as we know
I can’t imagine that but I do think that $16MM might be a reasonable range.
I’ve been dreaming exactly this since they confirmed the Drai number.
Not at you OP, but man I find the way those in and around hockey talk about contracts and the cap irritating. Holland talking about ‘raises’ was the worst. In essence pro athletes or any entertainment industry people paid by contract are mercenaries, win the last battle maybe you get more next time, based on what’s going on at the time
I love Connor of course, my favourite player, but talk about a ‘new bar’ could also take the shape of you didn’t get the most goals or points last season and don’t have a Cup, because nothing else matters in pro sports except championships, it’s the entire point of it. That’s his real responsibility – win cups. Personal accomplishments have no actual value to anyone but the player
I think these conversations of a new bar kind of bring three different things to my mind:
1) A player setting the high bar as a personal accomplishment. These guys are competitive. This happens. Does McDavid care? Doubt it. He is so far above others, this is not a meaningful accomplishment for him. (he WILL set a new bar though)
2) A player setting the high bar as a way of paving the way for others. This seemed like it may have been one thing that happened when Babcock signed for big in TO. Paving the way for fellow coaches to get compensated more fairly. This is important when there is not equity. Womens soccer in Canada perhaps? Certainly does not apply to NHL superstars setting high bars.
3) Just getting what you can get. I mean we all want to maintain, and even enhance our standard of living, and set ourselves and our families up well for the future. How much of a raise does Connor need to keep up with inflation? Probably needs more than 14M. I think this way with my own pay, why wouldn’t Connor, just in a scaled up conversation.
The players don’t even really need to push do they? Their agents would have the important conversations, give advice etc. Connor would have to actually have a conversation with his agent about holding back. He would actively have to push for less. That would be something. (Note those other players who took less, had to to be a part of this team. Connor does not have to take less to be a part of this team. I think there is a difference there.)
What I find unappealing in how it’s talked about is equating pay from one of the 4 major NA sports with working people, the vast majority of people. It happens because things get brought to the conversation that don’t belong there as time goes by, and it rarely gets punted back out because it’s not worth it to the media people. If they offended players talking about it they can lose access. Or they might not be informed or smart enough to figure it out
I don’t often hear wealthy people in business talk about their income as if they are making typical incomes. They know it would be offensive, if anything they qualify that they aren’t affected by inflation personally. I can see a player wanting to make the most money because they think they are the best or are competitive that way. In hockey it would also be selfish, because the team and their team mates would suffer
There is no ‘fair’ pay level in the NHL. They are all paid very well. The worst player makes ~1M CDN a season. As the league grows and becomes more competitive because there is more money to be made, players coaches and staff will see higher pay as time goes by. There is a cap limiting things, but 1M becomes 1.5M becomes 2M. Those are huge increases compared to wage earners
In pro sports there can’t be equity between sports or men vs women. Pay is based on revenue and profits. More profits, more competition, higher pay. Profits pay for it, they have to be there in the first place. If we’re talking about ‘amateur’ sports like women’s national team soccer etc, there is an argument to be made for equity for sure, because tax payers are funding it mostly
The concept of a giant defenceman leading his WHL team (no matter how weak) in goals is rather fascinating. Would need to see how he scored them to make any kind of call on what we’re looking at here.
Also worth considering a forward conversion if there’s any question about how he defends/first passes.
A 6’7” winger crashing down on the forecheck, blocking out the sun in front and then finishing could be big time found money.
Found em. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCLFH_BmAHc
Almost all from what could be described as a forward’s position. Many on the powerplay. Almost all shots.
I think he’s ultimately a forward based on that video.
Beau Akey missed his 15 year old season due to Covid and most of his 18 year old season.
Those are 2 peak development years lost for this kid. I think most would agree he is a good prospect, but losing that kind of development time stunts the peak of a player.
If Nurse isn’t ready for camp at this point it’s concerning. 10 days until the first pre season game. Leave him out until 100% please, I doubt there’s enough time to be close to 100% if he’s not now
The Nurse story should be way bigger news imo.
For all the issues with his contract, he fills a big role and the Oilers are not exactly deep at D.
Absolutely no way he should play a game this year until he is 100%. Way to valuable to this team when the games really matter and his struggles in the playoffs due to injury were “material” and a significant factor in Stanley surfing off the coast of FLA rather than bouncing around downtown Edmonton.
Its interesting that he’s been taking part in most of the skates and doesn’t seem limited at all (from accounts) but won’t be a full participant for the start of camp.
Of course, no contact or crazy battles during the informal skates.
To cite he’s expected to join camp part way through is interesting.
Lets all not forget how short the off-season was for these guys. Drai himself said earlier in the week he wish he had three more weeks to get ready.
Escott mentioned last night that Akey may. It participate on ice this weekend. A bit disappointing as I believe surgery was last November.
Packing up the family and heading to Penticton tomorrow to take in a couple games. Haven’t been since McDavid was there. Looking forward to it.
Update us if you can, sir!
I’ll do what I can. Kids wanted to sit along the glass in the corner for one game, so I’ll deliver some reporting on net front happenings. We’re up a little higher for the Saturday game.
Definitely a good time though. Last time we went, I remember seeing tons of coaching and management staff walking around the building. My kids (who were then babies) made it on TV in their tiny McDavid jerseys. All for around $20 for any seat in the building.
It’s a great time for sure. I’ll bet your kids will talk about it for a long time.
Not sure if it is in the cards for you being there with your kids but a lot of the media like to drink late into the night and they have great stories. 😇