We won’t have absolute proof for years, but I do believe Oilers general manager Stan Bowman is reaching for higher ground in procuring talent for the farm teams. If you trust AHL and ECHL numbers, there’s a story to tell already.
NHL ROOKIES
- Matt Savoie 26, 3-4-7
- David Tomasek 18, 2-2-4
- Noah Philp 15, 2-1-3
- Ike Howard 17, 2-1-3
- Connor Clattenburg 3, 1-0-1
- Alec Regula 12, 0-0-0
The NHL group includes Matt Savoie, who is on track for 22 points as an NHL rookie. I had him projected for 37 points in my reasonable expectations series and one expects the rest of the season to be more productive. However, the last Oilers rookie to score 22 points was Connor McDavid according to hockeydb. NHL.com has Ryan McLeod scoring 22 points in 2021-22, and that is also my recall. Ike Howard had some great moments before heading to the minors, my guess is we’ll see him later in the year. Noah Philp and David Tomasek do not qualify for the Calder but this is their freshman season. Alec Regula is another interesting name, the young man has to stay healthy, though.
CONDORS ROOKIES
- Quinn Hutson 18, 10-9-19
- Viljami Marjala 18, 3-12-15
- Josh Samanski 18, 3-10-13
- Atro Leppanen 18, 1-11-12
- Rhett Pitlick 17, 5-4-9
- Ike Howard 5, 2-5-7
- Damien Carfagna 15, 1-4-5
- Matt Copponi 18, 2-1-3
- Connor Clattenburg 15, 1-1-2
- Beau Akey 5, 0-1-1
These gents make this season in Bakersfield the most interesting in years. Howard is a wrecking ball at this level and Hutson is blossoming in real time. Marjala and Samanski don’t qualify as AHL rookies, but both men are impressive. Samanski’s range of skills is bountiful, I’m surprised NHL scouts didn’t get him signed before now. Good on the Oilers. Damien Carfagna is also a player to watch, he delivered a strong college resume and is improving during this AHL season.
KOMETS
- Brady Stonehouse 18, 3-5-8
- Beau Akey 4, 1-0-1
- Samuel Jonsson 6, 1.64, .926
- Nathaniel Day 10, 2.50, .898
The story here is Samuel Jonsson. He was out with injury for a time, but if he runs the next six games like his first six games, I think he’ll see the bright lights of Bakersfield soon. Young Beau Akey is an interesting player. I’m doing my winter top 20 rankings of Oilers prospects now (it’ll be up this week) and Akey is a player I’m having a tough time slotting. He’s clearly one of the most talented defensemen in the system, but there are some worries about the game he’ll play in pro and how effective he’ll be at his size. I don’t see power-play time in his future, should he make the NHL. He may not get a pile of PP opportunities in the AHL, either.
On the Lowdown today, we’ll talk to Rachel Kryshak and Jason Gregor about the Oilers game on Saturday afternoon and what it could mean. Noon to 2pm, Sports 1440 and You Tube.
Have the Edmonton Oilers finally found a winning formula?
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6849486/2025/12/01/edmonton-oilers-stats-standings-scores-2025/
Binnington pulled after giving up 2 dreadful goals on 5 shots in the first period against the Ducks.
Hoo boy.
Could be a opportunity to buy low. Apparently there’s a parade being planned for Wednesday if the good ole boy Skinner has another Vézina like performance against a good shooting team in Minnesota.
Kaprizov, Boldy and Rossi present a much different challenge than Seattle.
Why would the Oilers want to buy a goalie that is worse than Skinner this year, after being bad last year, is well in to his 30’s and signed for next season at $6MM?
Kevin McCurdy on X had mentioned Akira Schmidt at a goalie target.
https://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=214508
Not sure Vegas would want to send him here, but they do have Adin Hill and Carter Hart.
They will likely delay until Hart does or does not establish himself.
He is allowed to join the team effective today.
I do hope the Refs don’t target Clattenburg for cheap calls in a way of keeping him in line. Why don’t we ever draw 5 penalties for and 2 against on home ice? The 4th line finally has some personality with Frederic-Lazar-Clattenburg
Connor Ingram is practicing today.
Big news after leaving that game after hitting his head – likely just precautionary.
Coach says Walman may get back later this week – Kap and Roslovic could potentially get back before the holiday break but both most likely after.
next week means after the Olympics and by holiday break he means Canada Day.
I’d like to argue and retort but, of course, I’ve been very vocal as it relates to Knob’s history of providing injury timelines with very little relation to reality…..
Status Quo at practice (Walman on ice with main group but at #7) – Per Tony B.:
EDM lines & pairings — Monday’s practice:
Savoie – McDavid – Hyman
Podkolzin – Draisaitl – Mangiapane
Henrique – RNH – Janmark
Frederic – Lazar – Clattenburg
Tomasek
Ekholm – Bouchard
Nurse – Regula
Kulak – Emberson
Walman
Skinner
Pickard
Let’s not forget, Hutson has a very slow start to the season offensively – almost his entire production has been a run of 2 P/G heater. It started prior to Howard arriving but Howard has been gasoline on that fire.
Samanski is my favourite Condor to watch – LT mentions “range of skills” and I’ve been using that term as well. His natural zone transition game often reminds me of Ryan McLeod – he doesn’t have that straight speed but if you see him with the puck in the neutral zone you can rest assured of a clean zone entry.
They are really developing his 2-way game and he’s a mainstay on the PK.
I’m not sure he’s lost more than a couple of face-offs all season – an exaggeration but he’s been unreal on the dot.
Kudos to Dallas Eakins here – yes, Dallas Eakins who is coach Manheim and literally called the Oilers to give them intel on Samanski.
I can’t wait to see how he benefits from going to the Olympics!
Here comes the Sam Man.
LOL, No contract talks between St. Louis Blues & Philip Broberg.
1) St. Louis is not cap-constrained. Although as a mid-market team, they will be challenged to spend to the cap going forward.
2) Broberg’s play is a moving target. From #4D to start the previous season to #3D last April to #1B next to Parayko’s #1A today. It is difficult for the two sides to agree to value on a moving target.
3) Broberg’s agent Darren Ferris is a hardball negotiator.
4) Not many good D are UFA’s next summer.
5) Armstrong/Steen are going to have to pay.
6) In a rising cap environment, the AAV on a long term deal will be high.
7) If his current trajectory continues, he will become the highest paid Blue, considering the contracts signed by Dobson, Hutson, Hughes, Harley, Bouchard, etc.
Yes and all that gives plenty of perspective.
He’s gonna want 9.5 mil per.
Oilers wouldn’t have been able to afford him anyway. And nether will the Blues. He’ll go to the highest bidder in free agency.
Sad to see, but the Oilers have slipped from the head of the pack in expected goal differential to bubble team tier. JFresh’s models have captured the drift clearly.
We’re also sitting on the league worst goaltending without making an upgrade.
We’ve got a few guys on the roster who probably aren’t ready for prime time, but we’re trying to accelerate their development, not that this strategy has worked really for us before.
Is this a retooling year?
Ranked 31st…St. Louis is worse.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6849798/2025/12/01/nhl-goalie-rankings-2025/
Hey…let’s trade for Binnington. 🙂
This is definitely a re-tooling year.
-Injuries
-Goalies
-No tradeable assets / cap
-Inexperienced coaches
Getting things sorted for the next two years is the priority imo. Making the finals three years in a row was always going to be a long shot.
Cool chart.
The Avs soar high above the rest. Oilers were that class of team two years ago when we won 24 out of 27.
Of course the start of that season was a 5-alarm disaster, so things can turn around in a hurry.
Maybe this is the year that they are just a bubble team and miss the playoffs or bow out early. Of course, maybe this is just like the other two seasons and, yes, the core of the team will do what needs to be done when it needs to be done.
I acknowledge their game doesn’t look like its on the verge of turning around (Seattle game notwithstanding) but it felt like that at certain points over the last few years.
I still see the veteran core of this team not being fully engaged – not saying “that’s OK” but simply stating that it is what it is. Bouchard has recovered mostly but still its of room for impoveetn in the games of most of the top guys and the goaltender – all of it has started to come around a bit.
We’ll see.
I’ll be here for the entire ride.
I can see them barely making it into the playoffs and then surprising the entire league during the playoffs.
Asher Barnett invited to US World Junior camp.
Sorry, this is the preliminary roster but a camp.
Fun fact: Barnett’s +19 not only leads Michigan, it’s 2nd best in all of Div-1.
Finally… a word that describes a certain poster here… Rage Bait!
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/word-of-the-year-rage-bait-9.6998489
I still prefer “energy vampire”
I still prefer “squid”… deep sea creature lurking in dark, looking to drag others down.
Rage bait is known tactic to farm engagement. Social media algorithms favor posts with high rates of engagement to generate more views. Many people use this tactic to generate income on X.
Makes sense for making an X post go viral, but less so here where comments don’t track views or generate income.
Harper’s Hair could take the skills he’s honed for years over to X and see if Elon will start cutting him cheques.
HH would need to hire some bots to share his stuff first. And would need some more bots to repost it.
He’d also probably need to be in a space more like US politics.
In that case, he would need to be located in India, Russia or Nigeria. lol
Is it Kryshak or Doerrie? I get confused.
Kryshak. Rachel got married this summer.
Boy, do I hope good things for Clattenburg, but looking at his past resume I was hoping for a little more Khaira comparables than what I saw. His numbers don’t suggest this will last long. Again, I want him to stay, I want him to chip in the odd goal and contribute defensively, there is just not a lot of there, there.
At the same time, can you imagine a line of Samanski, Hutson and Howard playing in the bigs? As a 4th, there is a ton of energy and offensive potential, on top of the brains and back check to help the team out. I hope there is a way to get them some time this season.
CC has played less than 26 minutes in 3 NHL games & has a goal, a fight and 14 recorded hits as a 1st year pro. Perhaps we give him a little more time before pulling out the red marker pen. He for sure needs to further his development, but let’s be patient and maybe there’s Bucky in there once he gets polished.
The fact that CC is currently on the big club shows how desperate this team is for some emotion and physicality. I am not a stats guy but I would guess Oilers would rank last in finishing their checks. They are so soft.
I very much poo poo’d calling up CC. Just didn’t see it as anything but an intentional distraction.
He is however exceeding expectations. Let’s see what he does with that.
Good time or a long time, rn he’s gotta be top o the world.
Not using a red pen here, just noting that the occasional crooked number needs to be in place, and his past history doesn’t suggest a lot of that. Now, if he can crash the crease and have a few bounce in off him, all the better. I do notice that he is a little ham handed when handling the puck, which when other teams pick up on that could mean they are eating up his mistakes for chances against.
Forget comparing him to Jujar Khaira, if he could eventually be compared to Eddy Shack the entertainer, clear the track here comes Shack, that would be wonderful. I know a lot of you probably don’t know what I’m talking about. But some of you will LOL.
If he can be a Cal Clutterbuck or Keifer Sherwood type, he will play a long time in the NHL.
I’d love to see Keifer Sherwood playing in Edmonton.
So would I but not after this season – from accounts he’s looking in the $5MM for term range and I think he’s going to get a mistake contract this off-season.
I like the Curt Brackenberry (sp) comp as it is so much newer lol. Yes, he will likely drag the team into the fight a bunch of times. For a soft, emotionless group, I believe that has value. Before the gang jumps in with fighting, it doesn’t win games, you’re right, playing hard-nosed, skilled hockey with a lot of grit does, though.
Well I’ve seen Curt Brakenberry and he was no where near Eddy Shack. Eddy Shack had a much more storied and longer career in the NHL. No comparison. I’d rather the Kelly Buchberger comparison.
Eddie Shack was a primary reason to watch Leafs games in the mid 1970s. If the buds were in the doldrums, at some point in the 3rd the Garden faithful would start chanting “we want Shack”. Kelly would put him out (maybe reluctantly) and Shack rarely failed to entertain – “clear the track, here comes Shack!”
Opponents hated the guy! Every Plager wanted to kill him. Shack incensed Dave Schultz by heartily laughing in the Hammer’s face after a spirited scrap that ended in a draw. The anecdotes are legion. He was an all timer.
That’s what I’m talking about.
If Clattenburg’s comparable to Shack, we have struck gold!
I need to see him in a cowboy hat before that comp applies, lol
Eddie Shack scored 47 goals and 104 points in his final season of junior.
One of a kind.
” Ike Howard had some great moments before heading to the minots,”
I believe his days of playing in North Dakota will be limited. Call the man up!
You are quick! I edited that within one minute of publish!
Kudos to you!
I am appalled at what passes for copy editing and proof reading in major publications these days. A credit to you, LT, that while there are rare typos, at least I still understand what you’re saying. The same cannot be said of some of the major newspapers… Egad!
For the time being Klat is probably a better choice.