Good Day Sunshine

It is perhaps fitting that the Oilers lacked enough depth to win last night’s game against the Calgary Flames rookies. All of the players expected to make an impact in Edmonton and Bakersfield showed some jam, while the invites and the ECHL-AHL shuttle cast were not able to make plays.

I’ll start with Matt Savoie, who looked brilliant and is clearly ready to reach for higher ground. He scored two pretty goals, and was on Flames defenders like a stoat all night long. What he lacks in size, he makes up in determination. Injuries will be a worry.

Ike Howard impacted the game at a lesser level, but showed good speed and passing ability. He’s a little bigger than Savoie, and he looked good to me. Good speed, made plays. It’ll be a tougher road for him, because he has no pro experience, but I don’t think nerves or uncertainty are going to catch him.

Viljami Marjala had a fine night, scoring the first goal on a breakaway and touching the puck often. You should expect that from a player who is 22 and has pro experience in the Liiga. What I didn’t expect is the number of touches Marjala had on the night. It’s a thing. Good players touch the puck a lot. Marjala is a good player.

Quinn Hutson delivered as expected, scoring a late goal and playing a strong two-way game. He scored late, had a couple of nice chances before the goal, and served as both power play quarterback and net-front screen. He has a lot of utility, we saw that in his game last night.

Connor Clattenburg also showed range in his game last night. The goal showed good instincts (he slid into the high slot and waited patiently for the pass) and nice finish on his goal. He was also noticeable with the puck in other moments of the game, and had two fights plus some other pims along the way. I hadn’t seen him, and was impressed by his game. The key for Clattenburg will be moving the needle offensively. He may surprise the math this fall based on what I saw and the push he’s likely to get from the coaches.

Josh Samanski impressed me with his size, and I think it’ll be interesting to see where he lands on the Condors depth chart this winter. Like pretty much all of these young players, it’ll be scoring and outscoring and we’ll see. With his size, the Oilers will give him every chance to succeed.

Damien Carfagna and Beau Akey were the only two defenders of note, and I’ll express disappointment that the organization didn’t have more capable blue backing up the top pair. I thought both Carfagna and Akey showed well, and believe those two young players will show promise this season in Bakersfield.

I don’t hold the other defensemen or Colin Chaulk accountable for the rest of the blue, that was an organizational misfire.

Samuel Jonsson made some big stops and didn’t get much help from his skaters on many plays. It was a tough game to judge a goalie, because the Oilers looked fine or rancid depending on what lines/pairings were on the ice. I like his chances to shine this winter with the Condors, and do believe he has NHL promise.

The rest of the roster was (imo) pretty meh. I might have missed some things and welcome all verbal in the comments about the game. I hope we see the players noted above on Sunday, Oilers will need all of them, and quite frankly more defensemen, to make it a real game.