On the day we brought Ziggy home, we took her to the pet store on St. Albert trail and she picked out her lifelong pal. Through almost a decade and one half, that hedgehog has been somewhere in the house. Oh, the stories it could tell.
This weekend’s young stars tournament isn’t giving us the headlines hoped for, mostly due to the inexperience of the defense. I’m not going to blame an 18-year old for being unable to keep pace with someone several years older. The Oilers must have known going in the Edmonton side would be outmatched.
Why would they do that? Easy answer. You can find out things about a player who is in a tough situation. I would say that Max Wanner, Matt Savoie and Sam O’Reilly showed some spine in this two-game series, even though the offense is lagging. I think the goaltenders did well overall, we need to be mindful of the defense in front of him.
As I always do, I’ve been paying attention to the cats we may never see dancing in an Oilers uniform again. Brayden Boehm keeps showing up in good places. Ethan de Jong looks so damn good in these games, I really like his playing style. Big Brain.
Among Oilers picks who are not famous, I’m pleasantly surprise by Connor Clattenburg. I had in my mind he was the second coming of Cameron Abney, but Clattenburg is in the play often and can make plays with the puck. His offense wasn’t fab during his draft season, but he can skate, brings an edge and I think his hands are better than the numbers imply.
William Nicholl is my early favourite to be my early favourite. He gets to so many plays. And he’s a kid against men in this tournament. Great motor, smart player. Great combination. Dalyn Wakely has also had moments, I hope he goes pro.
There are some downbeat stories, Matvey Petrov has looked pedestrian and we know that isn’t his game. I don’t think anyone should pass any great judgement on him, this is such a ridiculously small sample.
There’s a game tomorrow, I would expect the same result. Edmonton’s management had to know going in this would be a huge test, and so, for me, the youngest top-end player (Sam O’Reilly) has done well. In all honesty, the rest is interesting, but that must be what they came to find out.
New for The Athletic: Can the Edmonton Oilers become more responsible with the salary cap?
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5766840/2024/09/15/edmonton-oilers-salary-cap-responsible/
Newly signed Marcus Niemelainen opens the scoring in a 3-0 win for Berlin!
JVR signs for $900K in Columbus.
The Jackets still about $1 million under the cap floor.
I believe they will probably get a special exemption this year.
Ziggy safe and sound, not in Springfield. But here’s no fake news: “They’re eating the hedgehogs!”
Haha.
The boys in Penticton for the Young Stars are spending today’s off day at Duncan Keith’s house. I think I remember them doing that last year as well and I think there are a “ton of toys” to play with.
Max Wanner, in his 3-minute interview, talking about how he’s in a position to make a much bigger impact this season at main camp – love his attitude.
Ziggy is so cute.
You know ever experienced hockey GM wants to do a deal with the new GM, I have a bad feeling JJ is the new guy.
I’m OK with his deals with other GMs to this point:
1) with Kevyn Adams
2) with Doug Armstrong
3) with Patrck Allvin
4) with Steve Staios
I like each of the McLeod/Savoie, Fischer and 3rd for futures, Podz for a 4th, Bourgault and Chiasson for Javenties and Ceci + 3rd for Emberson and the cap space.
5) Mike Grier
Reid and Jay had Matt McConnell (Utah, former AZ, play by play guy) on their show and he spoke about Dermott.
Thinks its a good move by Edmonton. He was very very effective. Kind of an “under the radar guy” at this point in his career. When he was in Arizona, he never looked out of place. Pretty steady. Fairly stay at home, would block the occasional shot. Thought he had a pretty good reach. He can help the team and he’s a great person.
When asked if played the right side “I think they used him in both situations – coach is not afraid to put a left shot guy on the right point”.
“He’s stealthy good as a depth guy – at least he was in Arizona”
Thanks. It could turn out to be something; it could turn out to be nothing.
I still maintain that Kulak is the guy next in line to be moved for cap purposes as and when necessary since he is a luxury item at $2.75M as 3LD.
But only if they have a legitimate 3LD ready to slide in to replace him.
No idea if Dermott can do that but as injury cover or a ‘just in case’ it is prudent of management to be looking for that guy.
I’m seeing some love for Carl Berglund from the two Young Stars games. Is that an indication we see him full-time in the AHL? He seems to have had OK numbers 12gp 1g-3a-4p +7. I know plus-minus is shady but that’s huge for such a small sample.
Doubtful, haven’t seen much love for him from Chaulk, and speed is a major worry. He is in the same mold as Grubbe, hardworking, positionally sound & responsible, minimal offensive skill, he is basically a net front guy on both ends of the ice.
He will probably spend several games in Fort Wayne. Has been in a sparingly used 4C or 4LW.
But, who knows how the season unfolds…
I spent over a decade believing that most Oilers prospects would become valuable pieces of a contending team. Players that I had lots of faith in:
Schremp
Omark
Paajarvi
Puljujarvi
Benson
Tkachev (not officially Oilers prospect)
Rajala
Lander
Hartikainen
Pitlick
Slepyshev
Yakimov
Hamilton
Chase
Martindale
Marincin
Musil
Simpson
Laleggia
Bear
Jones
Paigin
Gernat
Betker
Bourgault and Schaffer (whose stories aren’t finished yet but not looking good)
And that’s just off the top of my head, I’m sure I forget some.
Being a fan is about hope so I don’t have a problem with anyone believing in any prospect will be the next Horcoff or maybe Desharnias (a prime candidate for there is always a chance).
For me though, enough disappointing ends have been witnessed to become skeptical.
As it stands, there are three Oilers prospects I believe in:
Savoie
Wanner
O’Reilly
Two more who I believed in a year ago before they missed a season which is a major flag and they need a massive comeback season:
Philp
Akey
And then any just drafted player has the opportunity to pop in draft+1 but until they do remain suspect:
Clattenburg and Nichols are examples.
Goalies are excluded as they are beyond comprehension.
Berglund (the defenseman)
Niemelainen
Samorukov
Three more that I just remembered.
Curtis Hamilton – I was so sure.
Hamilton: injuries. Might be the number one early sign of a prospect not making it.
I had very high hopes for Samorukov, as well as Lagesson.
Also, Kesselring – I was right on that one.
How about Jarventie if he returns to form he’s definitely a candidate for bottom six role.
Jarventie is a better bet than guys like Grubbe and Petrov, but the time for him to show something is now and he’s coming off of a major injury which is typically a sign of doom.
Yakupov?
Everytime Lowetide posts those old prospect lists, I faintly hear those names being rattled off in the manner of, “We Didn’t Start the Fire.”
It would be interesting to see how these guys are doing elsewhere. Rajala had a PPG season in the AHL and then went back to Europe. He’s been near PPG for several years in the Swiss league.
Niemo is running a goal per game pace in the DEL for Eisbären Berlin. It has only been one game (+2).
Was Corey signed mainly for PR purposes? First an appearance on Friday Night Smackdown and, now, joining Leon at the CCMA’s last night?
More fodder for the opinion that he didn’t need to grind the Oilers for that $250K performance bonus (10 games played) or even the $375K over league min for his cap hit this season – I mean, with all these appearance fees….
This overpay in my opinion was almost as strange as the Brown 3 year contract.
I agree with you here – those were the two baffling contracts of the off-season, in my opinion.
The oilers didn’t need to sign up for any of that, haha. They agreed to it. Not sure how that is Perry’s problemo
The appearance fee line was simply a joke.
Only thing grinding is you with that axe.
What I believe I have is an opinion, an opinion that Perry is $375K to high on the cap and an opinion that a $250K performance bonus for 10 games played should not have been agreed to be Jackson.
Do you have a (substantive) hockey related opinion on this?
I agree and I’m a bit disappointed in both Grubbe and Petrov as, going in to their 2nd years of pro, I had hoped they’d be more “noticeably impactful” from shift to shift.
They were both “OK”, I mean Petrov did send Berglund (I think) in on a breakaway last night and made some deft passes of the puck and looked to shoot but I had hoped he’d stand-out.
Grubbe was, well, Grubbe, understatedly solid but players that are on NHL trajectories should be able to move the needle in this type of tournament going in to their 2nd year pro – in my opinion.
Petrov’s offensive game is entirely predicated on having the puck. His game falls off without it. I don’t see an NHL player. Still a good bet at the draft position he was taken at.
Fair analysis. I would note that, in his first pro season in Bako, he did put in alot of work and materially developed his “away from the puck” 2-way game to be a solid responsible player.
He just doesn’t have the motor to be an NHl player. Looks better suited to the larger ice in Europe.
I’m not near ready to put a black and white dagger in his NHL chances.
I disagree with this take, he makes plays and he has a helluva one timer. It would be nice to see him place in a position for success.
I have yet to see this in his brief pro career to date. It doesn’t help that he is displaced on the Youngstars depth chart by the less-experienced and less-skilled Clattenburg.
He was on the left point/half boards on PP1 for both games
Pracey’s spot on Oilers Now on Friday was very informative and a great listen of you have 15 minutes.
A couple of things I noted:
“We went out of our way with those four late round draft picks – we were looking for those jagged resumes. Players with something to prove. Players that he had been by-passed. Players where we liked their trajectory. We liked the ripple effect of their development events.”
When Stauff asked about analytics in amateur scouting/drafting:
“Personally we use it alot. More in a framing of trying to find value. More in a framing of trying to understand their environment. They create a weekly report for myself. They know what’s important to me and they share things that are important from their standpoint. We blend it in to Kind of “a spreadsheet from hell but lots of pertinent info. Its all about finding value and trying to understand players in different situations and getting a different perspective on guys. We use it.”.
They better be right.
Drafting guys with <0.5PPG? Drafting 20-year-olds? (Would Wakely not have been available to sign for free?)
Maybe they know something we don’t. Maybe they’re the smartest men in the room.
But then, Boston had their own special drafting strategy when at 13/14/15, they took Zboril/Debrusk/Senyshyn, instead of Barzal/Connor/Chabot.
Winnipeg always just seems to take the McKenzie consensus BPA at every spot, and they’ve done remarkably well at the draft.
We looked for jagged resumes and keep a lot of data in a spreadsheet. Is the analytics team really as good as we hope??
Deleted because you have to use quotes.
At least they didn’t take him in the Mitch Moroz draft pick spot. So that’s an improvement over the decade of darkness.
apologies – an un-intentional mistake.
This was about Clattenburg and some dictated quotes from Pracey that I thought were interesting (ON Friday Night if anyone wants to listen).
There is a block quote feature.
Clattenburg had me pleasantly surprised at his speed maybe it was a optical illusion but I had flashbacks of Kelly Buchberger.
Reminds me of Curt Brackenbury. Take no prisoners.
Yes that’s a better comparison I can’t believe Curt dates so far back. I would of guessed that Kelly and Curt are definitely within a decade age wise when in fact it’s 15 years difference.
Now there’s a character
Brackenbury was definitely a fun watch, can’t say I’ve seen a player in the NHL, since his first season in Edmonton. Last time I heard about him, was he was training to be a art of the Canadian crew for the America’s Cup when that was a big deal in around the mid-80’s.
Back to Clattenberg, Bowman didn’t draft him, so who knows if he ever gets a cup of coffee, but he is an interesting player to follow. I will state again though, he has no business on a line with 2 first rounders.
Chaulk and whoever employed the strategy I have suggested for Connor. These tournies can be rough as we know. Two skill guys, one tiny, and a guy to create havoc and keep them honest, have them looking for him so they don’t get run over, not for Savoie. It creates room, and second guesses, especially in a situation where the good guys are in tough
Unless the skill guys are big and tough enough to do that themselves, at times at least I think it’s good. In this case the others are older and more experienced. In the NHL, if skill lines are too vanilla some teams can affect them with physicality and after whistle stuff, push them to the walls
IMO, as I posted the other day was this:
Petrov – Berglund – Savoie
Berglund scored on a Savoie set-up last night (the only goal in 120 minutes) – so Berglund brings experience, size and responsible positioning, not really an offensively skilled player, but he was the #2 scorer on his NCAA team in years 1 & 3 and led his team in year 4.
Petrov has size, skill and is getting good at playing the game the right way. This should be the first line.
O’Reilly should be the 2C (rather than being 1C vs much more experienced players in that role, he played 3C on his Junior Team for eff sake) and Clattenburg would be absolutely ideal as the LW on a 3rd line deployment with Grubbe.
Dunking prospects heads in the toilet to teach them how to swim is in no way shape or form a recipe for any kind of success.
Protection for Savoie and O’Reilly the Kid did his job and went head to head and tuned up the Ox Parker Bell
Sather loved the characters Holland was so blah his big turbulence guy last year Erne had the speed but not enough spice in his meatball. We need a shit disturber with Kane gone for most of the year or longer. I believe Podkolzin may have the gumption- speed-threat to score that will land him in the top nine. We lost Mr.Hollywood for free but it may be a blessing as Podkolzin may be the better bang for the buck and outscore Dylan in the next 2 years.
Not sure if Kane will be gone “most of the year” let alone longer.
None of us really know what the deal is but, if its sports hernia surgery and its happening in the next week, it seems the general recovery time can be as short as 6-7 weeks up to 2-3 months.
Holloway’s arrows are certainly higher than Podz (although lets not over-rate Holloway’s playoffs where he continued to be highly inconsistent and a “developing” 2-way guy) but Podz had more goals and more assists in his rookie season that Holloway had on his entire ELC – 18 points on an ELC.
I likened Curt to Taz from Looney Tunes. Curt being sent out of the gate onto the ice by Sather to create havoc was like Taz being released from his crate. He’d race around the ice with wild abandon trying to hit anyone with the puck for 30 to 40 seconds, then go back on the bench till the next time Sather wanted to have things stirred up in the game.
Eddie Shack invented that role I do believe. 🥸
Eddie may have taken on that role from time to time, but there was a lot more to his game (1,000 + games and almost 500 points). This was the only function Brackenbury had in his short NHL career. I doubt Sather cared much if Curt even touched the puck most shifts.
That was and still is part of hockey.
There are players who have this as part of their game still but they have to bring more to stay in the NHL. Fourth lines are more important in today’s NHL. It is the almost the only thing Curt did each and every shift with the Oilers.
I couldn’t understand all the negativity against the 24 draft class. The Oilers need gamers, not skill with no balls. Initial look is encouraging.
I agree with the strategy. The Panthers had a lot of meh players, but their aggressiveness and pace can cause a lot of problems for better players, especially as they stop calling penalties which always happens in playoffs past the first round, first game or two in a series, past the first period, whatever the refs are into that game or series
I believe the whining came from the Holland clan. We have 2 longshots Akey and Wanner and possibly Lavoie under the Holland regime if he makes it through waivers this time. I can see why holland didn’t trust his draft team and traded picks left, right and centre every year.
And here all this time I thought Holland traded picks left, right and centre because the team he inherited had two of the best players in hockey and a supporting cast of maybe half a dozen actual contending team level NHL players on the roster.
I would never question that mistakes were made but I maintain that Holland was handed control with the caveat that time was ticking so lets get going. That kind of mandate pretty much ensures that draft picks are more commodities than plans for the future and that mistakes will be made from trying to move too fast.
Holland was certainly more measured in his approach than Chiarelli. Jackson/Bowman took over a team in much better shape than the one Holland inherited.
I agree with this and will say that, for me, the main “high level mistake” that Holland made in this area was not trading away draft picks but was not providing opportunity for the prospects knocking on the door to contribute and develop in to material players at the NHL level.
I mean, acquiring Kulak for a playoff run was fine, even re-signing him was fine but the 4-year term cut off the path for his top prospect. I fully acknowledge that Kulak was UFA and was probably being offered term on the market but some times you walk and pivot.
Lets not even get in to the Ryan Murray signing.
We also have Joel Maata in the pipeline, a bit more skill and unlike Clattenburg, not a knuckle chucker. He has a good chance to fill the 4 LW role in a few years, IMO.
I can’t state his game any better than his Eliteprospects profile does:
”It’s Määttä’s defensive ability that generates value. He’s so hard on the puck, so unrelenting on defensive zone retrievals, and unafraid to engage physically when the moment calls for it. Hell, he put a Black Hawks player on his ass mere seconds after losing the opening faceoff. He reverse hit another Black Hawks player in the second. He’s sturdy. Perhaps a bit too sturdy. –“
I’m not positive that Maata will be offered an ELC – maybe, but he may just be offered an AHL deal. He (and Munzenburger) have one year left – both need to be signed by next August 15 or they become UFAs.
I wish the org would have used their power to get those two out of Vermont two seasons ago.
I am not sure about Muzenberger, maybe the organization still has reasonable hopes for him still. It’s not like there is a long line-up, there ain’t exactly an Oiltown Leftorium anymore.
IMO, if they are drafting the likes of Clattenburg, Maata is still well-positioned. Maata has 59 games played for Finnish U16-20 National Teams. That has significant meaning.
As well, he is 3 years older and will have 4 years’ NCAA experience playing the toughs (he is a career -20, while the team was -56 in the games he has played in his career) and in all situations.
This will also have great value to the organization to bring a player with size and speed who plays in all the tough areas, something this organization lacks.
Sure, fair, how does this differentiate from, say, Rasanen, who had over 60 games for the Finnish U17-20 National Teams and 3 full seasons at Boston College?
Skating and physicality.
Rasanen was a slower, RHS version of Anton Lander. Similar circumstances as Skylar Brind’Amour. Both played on great teams, so their weakness weren’t exposed in those systems.
Maata and Muzenberger are playing on a team that is one of the worst in the NCAA, not their fault that their teammates and coaches suck.
I’ve been saying for two years now they’ve got to get those players out of Vermont, some way.