You can go a long time observing a minor-league team before running across one that produces three actual NHL defensemen. This group is from the 2021-22 season, and it’s a fine depth chart.
I haven’t gone back and checked to make sure it’s still correct, but at one time the record for Oilers rookies came during the 1993-94 season.
That year, Jason Arnott was the marquee freshman and the last power center drafted by the team between Mark Messier and Leon Draisaitl. Here’s the list:
- Jason Arnott: 78 games, 33-35-68
- Dean McAmmond: 45 games, 6-21-27
- Kirk Maltby: 68 games, 11-8-19
- Brent Grieve: 24 games, 13-5-18
- Adam Bennett: 48 games, 3-6-9
- Peter White: 26 games, 3-5-8
- Roman Oksiuta: 10 games, 1-2-3
- Boris Mironov: 14 games, 0-2-2
- Todd Marchant: 3 games, 0-1-1
- Tyler Wright: 5 games, 0-0-0
- Marc Laforge: 5 games, 0-0-0
- Darcy Martini: 2 games, 0-0-0
- Brad Zavisha: 2 games, 0-0-0
- Josef Cierny: 1 game, 0-0-0
- Fred Brathwaite: 19 games, 3.54 .889
That’s an outrageous amount of young talent in one season. The list goes from Arnott, selected No. 7 in 1993, to Fred Brathwaite, who was signed as an undrafted free agent and turned in to a rock solid NHL goaltender. This was back in the days when the Oilers were still signing free agents in the spring, and Glen Sather was good at it. Kevin Lowe had a lash, landed some good ones (Jan Hejda was a trade but had not played in the NHL before arriving in Edmonton).
Peter Chiarelli worked the college procurement well, signing Matt Benning and Drake Caggiula.
Stan Bowman has been aggressive this year, and will hopefully continue to sign free agents every spring.
This year’s Condors played the final game of the 2024-25 regular season last night, winning easily but finishing outside the playoffs. From the group who played in Bakersfield this season, here are my guesses for elevation to the NHL next season and their final AHL totals:
- Matt Savoie 66, 19-35-54
- Noah Philp 55, 19-16-35
Edmonton is trying to win Stanley, so rookies will be few in 2025-26. Philp doesn’t qualify for the Calder Trophy due to age, but he’s still a freshman and that Calder rule is silly.
One player who got into some late season action (3, 0-2-2) with the Condors is Matt Copponi. He is skilled. No NHL contract yet, but we’ll see. Bowman has already signed a few.
A quick note on this year’s team. The nature of a minor-league club is to adapt to every new force that impacts the roster. Everyone knows this, but there are times when the moves are so abundant the team itself cannot adapt quickly enough for ‘next man up’ to work. I think this is such a year.
This is a list of Edmonton’s scouting directors over the NHL years. I’ll be getting in to the draft in the next month, so wanted to remind us where we are. The odds of Rick Pracey getting another first-round pick over the rest of this decade are not good. He’ll need to find the gems. My list is strictly math, and has uncovered some gems over the years. Honest. That process will begin this week.
Uneventful playoffs so far, favourites winning by 2-4 goals… Maybe the Habs can add a little couleur to this postseason?
That’s not a penalty on Hague? jeez Louise
Ya, eff Vegas – I’m generally indifferent in most non-Oiler playoff series but, clearly, eff those guys.
Also, I found that first period quite bland – not looking past LAK, this series could go either way, but a semblance of a healthy Oilers team can come come out of this division.
These guys know how to play and win in the playoffs – they’ll show us starting tomorrow.
Zeev Buium makes his NHL debut in the Stanley Cup playoffs for the Wild.
So cool (sarcasm ..I think)
now that’s an unusual name lol
Sorry if I missed this being reported
Staples reported today’s practice lines as:
Hyman – McDavid – Brown
Podkolzin – Draisaitl – Arvidsson
Skinner – RNH – Kapanen
Janmark – Henrique – Perry
Frederic was an extra, but I could see him sliding into Kapanen’s spot.
Although, that would leave us with 2 RW on line 1 and 2 LW on line 3
Given the way these lines are being concocted, I see there is a good chance that they will be throwing Draisaitl-McDavid-Hyman over the boards a few times a period, providing there isn’t a ton of PP time being handed out. I just don’t see Brown, Podkolzin, and Arvidsson getting as much ES time as the top 3 forwards, and the results have been too good to ignore
Summarizing!
No soup was awarded tonight.
Barrie lost in OT, so the series will go the distance. They shall hope it remains a homer series then.
Muskegon won Game 2 and can complete the sweep on home ice.
Prospecting takes a break until Tiw’s Day.
Nothing for either… Avocados at Law.
I remain very concerned about the Oilers going in to the playoffs with Josh Brown (or Cam Dineen or John Klingberg) in the lineup.
The top 4 will be heavily relied on and its tough to see that 6D with more than 6-7 minutes.
2022 wasn’t exactly a banner year, but getting to the WCF was no small task.
They did it with Mike Smith (who somehow had a .913, despite many memorable gaffes), and a 6 D of Nurse, Barrie, Ceci, Bouchard, Keith, and Kulak.
Nurse was injured and clearly limited. We can expect massive improvement from 2022 and 2024 Nurse.
Bouchard played well but I think we can safely say 2025 Bouchard > 2022 Bouchard
Can assume that Walman > Ceci, even though Ceci played very well this playoff season.
Duncan Keith was steadying for Bouchard but still on a steep age decline. On the 2nd line a better comparable would be Kulak, and I think I’d give 2025 Kulak the edge
So the top 4 all should be be better this year than 2022.
Meanwhile, on 3rd pair…
I would give 2022 Kulak the edge over Emberson
2022 Barrie was a better version of Dineen and I believe was still manning the point of PP1 (only 5 pts) at this time?
Kris Russell also got into 6/16 games.
Brown is clearly a concern. He wouldn’t be my choice. I think they can play him like Dallas did with Petrovic last year until Stecher comes back without this being too damaging to the other 5. They are going to play big minutes for a few games, and hopefully not more than that.
It’s odd they’re sticking with Brown on D. I think it’s simply because they need that presence there for Game 1, and we’re short some players. But if the Kings step over the line, Brown hops the boards and goes to work. We also can’t be outhit and bullied around too badly Game 1 of the series…we have to be able to push back.
Regardless, I don’t see him staying in the lineup any longer than Game 2.
And don’t forget this guy can punish players that don’t anticipate his physical play. One big hit can really change a series.
If you watch the games, you can see that the Kings rely on Kempe and Kopizar to generate almost everything. But you don’t go after Kempe…he’s too fast and clever and not worth the time.
Kopitar…that’s the target. He’s old and slow, so make him work for every inch. Hitting him every play possible will impact him big time.
If I’m the Oilers…that’s the guy I’m making every shift hell for. I bet the results would manifest quicker than anticipated too.
I think a healthy Oilers defence is among the best (not “THE” best but among) and I’m confident they can still take the team far even without Ekholm but adding in another d-man out has them playing a non-NHLer.
Yes, Dallas survived for a while with Petrovic playing nightly – I’m not as confident that Brown won’t be more of a liability. The margin could be very thin.
I hope I’m wrong.
Hopefully the message he gets is that he doesn’t have the boots to rove or to lack focus. Leash will be tight
An all-Canadian final is pretty unlikely, but while I’m casting wishes, I’d love it to be Edmonton vs. Montreal. Wayback machine.
Yeah, that would be cool!
Would really love it if Corey Perry or some of the Oilers came to the arena with A-Team shirts under their blazers. Or if McDavid sported some gaudy gold chains…
If not, I think there’s a non-zero chance that Gene does it
Does Knobber start Pickard or Stu tomorrow?
Its not even a conversation – Skinner.
Should be Pickard. Will be Skinner.
Should be Skinner.
Will be Skinner.
And then pull Skinner
and play Pickard
Possibly.
Should be Skinner. Will be Skinner.
Hoping this team shows up early and often
LA is a good team but they essentially have 0 chance at the cup
teams without stars just don’t win the cup
The only issue is that teams without goalies also don’t win the cup.
While I tend to agree, St Louis won recently without much star power. And Florida really don’t either.
Florida has tons of star power. Tkatchuk, Barkov and Reinhart.
Florida without a doubt has serious star power
per Dom Reinhart + 21 Barkov and TkaCooke + 19 and 18 respectively
St. Louis in last 20 years could be described as the only exception although Ryan Oreilly was a beast that season
Do top heavy teams win more cups than balanced teams?
No, but that’s because people stop calling you top heavy once you win. They will also stop saying you don’t have a goalie. Winning the cup happens because people manage to pull their weight for the entirety of the playoffs.
This is a math based blog.
Show your work.
And yet you picked them to make the conference final?
Enough of the pity party this team has been dogging it all year with the sole purpose of knowing what it takes to get to the final. Besides Connor-Leon flying around Hyman-Nuge-Arvidsson-Pod-Frederic better wake the fuk up and go to the net and make it difficult for Kuemper to see the puck.
The Canes are just blasting NJD.
It’s too bad so many teams have injuries to star players this year. NJD without J Hughes is toast.
I rarely drop by now but with the playoffs approaching…. If I might say:
Everyone knows Harpers Hair is a troll.
Everyone knows you don’t feed a troll.
Yet many do, and this drives away one reader, at least.
Just sayin’.
For what it’s worth, I think LA are better than last year; with Ekholm out and an unreliable PK, the Oilers are not. Hope I am wrong but I fear the worst.
Go Oilers.
Don’t let it bug ya…he tries and fails mostly. Just scroll passed and enjoy yourself here.
I could see why you’re worried about this year…no ekholm, goaltending, health. But I see it similar to the last 3 years…first 2 games are massive. I bet on a sweep in LA for us…but I’m sure the refs will manage to grant the Kings a split.
People will try to make you think an aging Kings squad has what it takes to beat McD/Drai in a 7-game series. Hey, it could happen…its hockey. Lehkonen scored while getting levelled to the ice off his foot last night…anything can happen. The major factor for losing this series is – goaltending. That’s the only reason this series could go badly.
But I have a feeling when this series comes back to Rogers…everyone that’s been speculated to come back, will be back in the lineup. And the Kings will see just how much trouble they’re in…
Kings are good…Oilers are still gooder. GOG!!!
Let’s hope Bouchard and Nurse are ready to rock because they will assuredly be playing 30+ minutes a night.
Daniel Nugent-Bowman
@DNBsports
Per Kris Knoblauch:
– Ekholm, Kane and Stecher are all out for Game 1
– Frederic is day to day and is a possibility for Game 1
– Kulak is in Canmore, Alta., where his wife is due to give birth to their second child. He’s expected to rejoin the team in time for Game 1.
If Knob ices a Brown – Emberson third pair I am going to cry.
Dermott – Emberson or Dineen – Emberson is much preferable.
Kane will not play game 1.
Frederic is a maybe.
Confirmed Kulak is away for the birth of his child. He’s in Canmore, expected to play tomorrow – flying on game day but oh well.
Baby expected tomorrow morning.
If Frederic plays I’m guessing Kapanen comes out but maybe it’s Janmark or Skinner.
Would be a real kick in the shins if it’s Skinner, getting ready for his first playoff game, but since he’s practicing on PP2 I’ll assume he’s safe for game 1.
Can’t imagine Kapanen staying in over Skinner.
Kapanen is, by far, the least responsible defensive forward.
@TonyBrarOTV
Troy Stecher remains out with an injury. Will not play Game 1. #Oilers
Ughh.
We could of really used Stecher in last years playoffs and now he’s out indefinitely for this playoff. He’s signed for next year on the cheap but even so if he’s hurt at crucial times then you need to back players that are dependable.
Stecher is expected to play in this series, says coach – for what the words are worth….
On Kulak not skating – nothing official yet but his wife is expecting and the due date is April.
He’s skated every day, including yesterday at the optional – I presume its related but that is just a presumption for now.
Also per DNB:
Perry also getting some work on PP1.
Wow. No wonder PP1 plays 1:45 of the powerplay.
Sub Brown for Arvidson or Henrique and this looks fine as a PP2 IMO. I don’t get the coach’s fascination with Brown.
So now Kulak is also injured? When did that happen?
That’s quite the leap.
He could be sick. He could be taking a maintenance day. They could want Dineen to get reps that benefit him more than Kulak.
There are a multitude of plausible reasons for Kulak to sit out one practice. Pretty sure he was on the ice last session, when they held an optional skate.
Per DNB:
Both Kane and Frederic on the ice early in grey jerseys (grey is for extras) – Per DNB.
Blah.
They’re holding their cards close to their chest. I guess the good thing is they’re both on the ice early.
If I’m Knobby my game plan is to punish Kings for playing Clarke. Mcdavid or Drai needs to be on the ice whenever he is on. Make him unplayable by game 4
That’s a tall order since he will be on the bottom pairing and LA has last change at home.
Doesn’t matter. Lots of physical guys that can dump it into his corner and go after him. He will cough pucks up. Very much the weak defensive link on that blue line. Go Ethan Bear him
Go Ethan Bear all their Dmen.
24 year old Peter Stastny won the Calder over 19 year old Gretzky in 1980. I think the rookie age limit is a good rule
Same thing with greybeard Panarin (he of six professional seasons in the KHL) over McDavid.
Going further back, Makarov at what, 32?
Ray Bourque won the Calder in 1980, which corresponds to Gretzky’s first season in the NHL. Bourque was 19. Gretzky would have won the Calder, as he had 137 points and was awarded the Hart that same season. However, Gretzky was not eligible because he had played in the WHA in ‘78-‘79 where he won rookie of the year with a 110 point season (Lou Kaplan Trophy).
Peter Stastny won the following season, 1981, and was eligible because the Czech league was not considered professional as it was behind the iron curtain. Larry Murphy was second in voting that season, at 19 years old. So one could argue Larry Murphy fell victim to an older “rookie.”
Gretzky won the Hart again in 1981 (164 points) and continued to win the Hart award until Lemieux won in 1988.
From his first season in the NHL Gretzky was awarded the MVP trophy. He never lost out on an award to an older player who outperformed him. He was ineligible due to WHA participation.
Yeah, that’s what’s so galling about McDavid missing out on the Calder to Panarin.
Panarin was far older, it’s arguable he didn’t outperform McDavid, and had already logged 301 games of professional experience in the KHL (regular season and playoffs) over the course of five full seasons (plus parts of the two prior). Calling him a rookie was a stretch at best.
Panarin should have been ineligibe based on his long tenured KHL participation the same as Gretzky’s sole season in the WHA.
The fact the NHL considered the WHA a threat and does not view the KHL in the same light is the crux of the matter.
Where is Samorukov these days?
CSKA Moscow.
Snuuggerud has played well for STB he is a 20 year old 6-1 185lb.
We have 2 black aces coming in Savoie and Philp that can play impactful minutes in this series. When injuries develop, they should be real options for KK.
I hope management offers Rhett Pitlick, Josh Prokop and Matt Copponi contracts for Bakersfield next season at the least. Interesting players in my opinion.
Copponi has a lot of early career Yamamoto in him. A pain in the ass to play against. Relentless on the forecheck.
Is he bigger though?
Yes, somewhat marginally.
Bakersfield chaulked up another season.
This is definitely funny. But isn’t the Condor’s season more a management issue? Veterans never reporting, tons of injuries. I have a hard time blaming Chaulk for being given a dog shit roster for most of the season.
Yesterday was an optional but today a full practice.
I hope to see Klingberg up but doubt it.
I hope to see Kane and Frederic up from the 5th line.
Coach said Klingberg is available for game one. Could it be?
Nurse-Bouchard
Walman-Emberson
Kulak-Klingberg
OR do they sub in Brown for Klingberg for his physicality?
Or I is Dineen just as good as Klingberg?
Based on Friday’s practice, Josh Brown is in the lead and, for me, its the scariest of the proposition’s notwithstanding his size and physicality – I think he’s too much of a liability and will be moreso in the playoffs.
It’s interesting all the options that they have and Stecher will be ready soon as well.
I hope that if Brown is in he makes you a believer. LOL
I hope so to but I was also that in the off-season…….
Since then, I’ve watched Brown play almost all the games he’s played, in both the AHL and NHL – my opinion on his abilities to not be a liability in an NHL playoff game remains.
Dineen in the 2 games was a Lot better than Klingberg. Kid is smart, knows when to jump in
I like Dineen too and wonder if he’s better defensively than Klingberg.
Any thoughts on why Dermott hasn’t been called up to play 3LD with Emberson? This would allow Kulak to play 2nd pairing.
I wonder what the Oilers plan at the TD was for 4LD.
Dermott just played his first couple of games for the Condors this past week – he hadn’t played since before the trade deadline.
He also left the game hurt last night.
Looks to these eyes as if players were less effectiven under Chaulk than under Woodcroft.
Coincidence?
Was that because BAK became depeleted due to call ups after ManWood were promoted and called up their guys the NHL?
Or was it due to the coach?
No, just a depleted roster with fewer effective youths. Players like Petrov and the now traded Wanner, who both had injuries, did not progress as expected and in fact seemed to regress. Players like Grubbe and Petrov may well be traded this offseason.
As well, the number of Oilers prospects were both low in number and quality vs what Woodcroft had on his rosters.
So you’re saying QoT had a bigger impact on the prospect’s results than coach?
I would argue that amongst the yutes, only Savoie and Philp contributed positively to the success of Bakersfield this season. The vets, Griffith, Caguila and Hamblin, along with Carrick, Dinnen, Attard and Brown who were the key defensive contributors.
Lots of injuries and not much consistency of positive contributions from anyone else.
As a result, this was an inferior roster compared to previous iterations in Condorstown.
Sure. Don’t disagree, about this season.
However, I was talking about the chart LT posted above (should have been more clear in my post).
Same year comparison. Same roster (less a few call ups after the coaches were promoted), with worse results for most of the players under Chaulk.
The defensive roster that LT posted for Bakersfield was a phenomenal example of prospect defensive depth WITH size. In fact, there was not much room for veteran D on that team.
Those below the dotted line would not be considered NHL prospects, although Darren Klieb definitely made a statement. However, he was a victim of the lack of pedigree and could not overcome the LHD depth chart to get a contract or much AHL time. Before the end of the 23-24 he had moved on and now plays in a lower Euro League.
Desharnais 25 6’7” +36
Samorukov 22 6’2” +16
Broberg 20 6’4” +14
Kesselring 21 6’5” +10
Kemp 22 6’3” +6
Berglund 24 6’3” +3
Lagesson 25 6’2 -6
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Klieb 22 6’3” +8 in 7 games!
Peters 25 6’3” +7
Koekkoek 27 6’2” +4
Kaldis 25 5’11” +1
This roster also had 10 forwards with 20 or more points, 4 of these being NHL prospects (Marody, Lavoie, Hamblin & Holloway).
This roster only boasts 6 forwards scoring 20 or more points, including 4 “prospects”, with Savoie being the only one under 25. The others (Philp, Hamblin & Wright) will be 27, 26 & 27 by training camp, with Wright unlikely to be re-signed and the possibility that Philp will be lost to waivers in the Fall.
Kemp 25 6’3” +5
Attard 25 6’4” -5
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Brown 30 6’5” +9
Carrick 30 5’10” +5
Dermott 27 6’0” +3
Brady 28 6’0” +3
Mayhew 26 5’8” +3
Inamoto 25 6’2” +2
Dineen 26 5’11” +1
Kannok-Leipert 24 6’0” -1
Corcoran 24 6’2” -16
As can been seen, the dcorps is considerably older and smaller, with both prospects Kemp & Attard more like suspects and also becoming UFA’s this summer. All the giant dcorps are gone from the days of yore. In their place, the undersized Akey, Carfagna and Leppänen.
With the undersized Dineen, the giant Brown, possibly the giant Regula and maybe the larger Muzenberger joining next season, who knows what the plan for the organization actually is. Can a blueline billet of MAB’s build a base of Bobby-like blue bombardiers? Or will it portray a parcel of pixie-like pushovers?
So did the Condors clinch with their 8-2 win, or do they still need help?
Tucson won last night so I think that’s it for the condors, season is over.
Yup, they tied but lost the tiebreak and are done.
Savoie, Philp, Caggiula, Hamblin will be up over the next few days.
Philp and Savoie had great finishes to the year. They SHOULD be real options but doubt they are.
Philp should be the 4C if they aren’t playing Rico there.
Tuscon won the game 7-4 and were up 3-0 are the first.
The starting goalie was fresh out of the NCAA in his very first professional game and he played the entire game. He was basically thrown to the wolves with only 2 experienced defenders on the blue and all their top forwards in the Press Box.
The Condors could only advance if they won and Tuscon got 0 points. Their season is over, but Fort Wayne is in the playoffs, so there will be a few players in minors to follow still (Stefan & Day, Brochu is currently carrying the load), perhaps others. The series is currently tied at 1.
Watched the Dallas Colorado game this morning and it seems pretty clear how this will play out and I think this might have a parallel to the Oilers LA series.
Saying Dallas defense is weak without Miro is overly simplistic. Their defense can defend like crazy. Lindell is elite defensively and all of Ceci, Bischel and Lyabushkin are above average. Big strong guys that protect their space and block shots.
But besides Harley they are awful offensively. Watching them extend plays at the blue line gave me flashbacks to when Ceci was here. 97/29 and crew would work magic and eventually work it back to the point and the best Ceci could do was throw it back in the corner. And he was on down 2 goals in the last 3 minutes. Surrounding forwards like this with defense only defenders should be a crime. Unless Heiskenen comes back and can handle 25+ minutes this will be a short series.
My parallels are that LAs defense is VERY similar. All of Gavrikov, Doughty and Mikey are elite defensively. Edmondson is Ceci. But only Doughty has any offensive chops and that side of his game isn’t what it used to be. They’ll need to use Clarke and Spence and that means more time against 29/97 or dealing with 91 on the forecheck.
If Skinner can hold them in early like Blackwood did I see the Oilers getting a couple and the Kings having trouble coming 200 feet to score.
This is true. But it’s also true that Dallas played its third pair for less than 13 minutes and somehow Petrovic was still -2.
If the Oilers ice a third pair of Emberson – Brown they will have similar issues.
Prospectingo!
The Colts of Barrie can close out their series but they’ll have to do it in Kingston, and the home team has not lost yet in this series. Can Akey & Wakely, Attorneys at Law buck the trend? We wait.
Muskegon stole home-ice advantage with a series-opening win in Youngstown yesterday. Berry still seeks his first soup of the playoffs.
Barrie (Akey, Wakely) @ 5 p.m.
Muskegon (Berry) @ 5 p.m.
Both times are the same time and are also Canal Flats (BC) time.