This year’s Young Stars tournament is a pleasing event for Oilers fans with two of three games played. All of the prominent prospects have performed well or better, and some of the misfits, roll ends and ne’er-do-well types have also stood out. What does it mean? Nothing really, beyond the kids are healthy and ready. Maybe one true thing: Beau Akey is a first-round talent.
THE ATHLETIC!
- Lowetide: Previewing the Edmonton Oilers’ roster ahead of 2023 training camp
- Lowetide: How will Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft deploy rookie Raphael Lavoie?
- Lowetide: Why Oilers’ Ryan Nugent-Hopkins remains key to Stanley Cup pursuit
- Lowetide: 5 Oilers assets that could get moved early or late in 2023-24
- Lowetide: How the Edmonton Oilers can boost their AHL prospect wingers
- Lowetide: Why Oilers still need to find inexpensive, effective depth players
- Lowetide: What to expect from Oilers rookies, led by Raphael Lavoie
- Lowetide: Evander Kane, Connor Brown and the Oilers’ aging skill wingers
- Lowetide: Making the early call on the Edmonton Oilers’ 2019 NHL Draft haul
- Lowetide: Edmonton Oilers 2023-24 complete reasonable expectations
- Lowetide: What should Oilers fans expect from new scouting director Richard Pracey?
- Lowetide: How will Tyler Wright’s time with the Oilers be remembered?
- Lowetide: Is trading Philip Broberg in the Oilers’ future?
- Lowetide: Unpacking Oilers’ decision to hire Rick Pracey, part ways with Tyler Wright
- Lowetide: 9 bold Edmonton Oilers predictions for 2023-24
- Lowetide: New Oilers CEO Jeff Jackson promises innovation. What will it look like?
- Lowetide: For Oilers in 2023-24, a more aggressive in-season approach is likely
- Lowetide: Edmonton Oilers top 20 prospects, summer 2023
SOME NOTES
Matvey Petrov and Beau Akey have been the best Oilers prospects in this tournament, but hell they’ve all played well. Akey is the youngest and is in the front of the line, so I’d pick him as the one who has stood out the most. Petrov’s interceptions, passing and shot have all been top drawer. These two men have impressed.
Xavier Bourgault is impressive but snake bitten on the scoresheet. I swear it was he who passed the puck for the Petrov snipe, but Akey was given credit. I love Bourgault on the PK and Colin Chaulk has him doing it often. I’ll be interested in seeing how well Bourgault performs (and how much he plays) in main camp.
Carter Savoie is playing well and getting involved in all areas. I love his shot but his passing and creativity are obvious and he looks a little faster this season. Interceptions have been the calling card of several skill forwards here, Savoie among them.
Carl Berglund has played well, but he’s at the other end from Beau Akey. As impressive as Akey is because at age 18 he’s the most noticeable player here, Berglund’s age and experience mean we must temper enthusiasm. I don’t know if he’ll play a feature role in Bakersfield.
Jayden Grubbe did some good things, he’s tough and strong both good things. His crosscheck was dirt mean and that’s not always a bad thing. Max Wanner also brought the nasty, including a borderline knee that got called. I like Wanner, but when he’s on the PP (and Akey is off) it’s obvious the puck-moving skills aren’t at the high end. Love his defense and rugged play.
Tyler Tullio and Jake Chiasson played well but didn’t impact the game as others did on either night.
Jake Sloan and Brady Stonehouse have looked good to me.
Most of the other kids are reasonable talents but the Flames had some of them intimidated by midway through the first period. Oilers could use a Sloan in the system, he fears nothing and could have scored another last night. That 6.07 kid Noah Ganske is a piece of work. Holy crap.
New for The Athletic: Edmonton Oilers prospects preseason stock watch. 30 young players across the hockey universe graded.
https://theathletic.com/4866501/2023/09/17/edmonton-oilers-prospects-preseason-stock-watch/
Pixels spilled over man to man vs zone defense is funny. You’d have to be short a few marbles to switch to zone. A zone scheme, clearly and obviously, nicks your teams greatest asset and forces you on to a back foot. Zone is played by teams that don’t have talent. Its a passive strategy, devoid of creativity or intensity. Sit and wait.. Sit and wait. If you do get scored on you’re totally screwed. Good luck dialing up after sitting and waiting.. sitting and waiting. Like all uncreative systems you develop patterns too, easy identifiable patterns that any boring old video coach can exploit.
Man to man is without question the appropriate system. You play man to man because the Oilers are faster and more skilled than 95% of teams. You play man to man because the odds of turning a puck over, breaking out under control and generating odd man rushes skyrocket vs a zone system. The odds of forcing plays and weak shots also picks up. It keeps an offense off balance, it forces them to play to your tempo. If they don’t adjust, Man to Man gets easier to play, offenses are less creative, they dump shots, or shoot from the half walls, they generate no chances. If you value puck possession you should naturally lean towards man to man.
A very good team will control the defensive zone and the offensive zone. That’s the beauty of Tampa’s style when its running full tilt. That is what Colorado had going two years ago. Man to man when executed properly keeps everyone engaged, keeps battle levels high and creates turnovers. You’re playing to win.
The hardest part of man to man though is for the other four/five players on the ice not to panic. If you get beat man to man you need to drop into a 4v5 mode very quickly and the last thing you should do is chase… Drop into a PK formation, cut off Royal Road and mid-slot lanes and everyone has a chance to get back. Trust your goalie to make a save.
Don’t get sucked into misremembering. Penalties happened, lucky bounces happened, those happen and aren’t always the problem of the defensive system. Johnny can sometimes be the guy on the spot without the defending team doing anything wrong. Sometimes your goalie gets beat.
The Oilers outplayed Vegas in game six. It was their best game of the series by shots, chances and chance suppression. They were rolling that whole game. A lucky tip pass off a nothing chance. Crap happens. Stu saved a shot going wide up over his own head dropping eight inches in front of the goal line. Crap happens. Marchessault scored two flukies and had a beautiful shot on his hatty. Zach Whitecloud had the best shot of his damn life earlier in the series. Crap happens.
If there was one thing the Oilers needed to calm down it was the number of penalties they took in that series. They didn’t adjust to the stripes making weird calls. They got too horny and it bit them in the ass way harder than playing man to man ever did. They were controlling that entire period and yet with three minutes left found themselves defending a 4v3. They got pinched for a deadly 5v3 (on a ghost call for Bro) in Game 5. Can’t happen, can’t go down two men in back to back games. Be smarter.
The system is sound. The system is the right one for the team they have. It works way more than it fails. Don’t overreact to small sample sizes.
Oilers related content on puckdoku.com today.
Off the top, Schremp, Grier, Mellanby
If it were me, I sign Sloan, Stonehouse and Ganske at the end of the turney. All have shown at least glimpses or more and we are likely moving on from Griffith, Malone and McKegg next offseason when their contracts are up as all will be some amount over 30. We have the contract room qt only 43 contracts , so why not? Ganske could end up being a much younger version of Desharnais, or better, with time.
Man I hate the inability to edit my posts. It makes my spelling look juvenile, when the problem is just typing with arthritis….
For giggles, imagine ina couple of seasons, if we march out Ganske and Desharnais as a third pairing against the softs. They would look like Leviathans against smurfs…
…or Niemelainen and Desharnais.
One finger works well for me.
That’s what she said.
They may earn an invite to main camp – one step at a time.
Looks like Khaira got himself an actual contract with the Wild (one year, two-way).
Good for him, given results and what not the last number of years, I thought PTO. I guess center and PK will keep you employed.
Hope he has a nice season on a better team!
If Lavoie popped and could handle 2LW – it sets up a very interested chain reaction down the lineup.
Kane McD Brown
Lavoie Drai Hyman
RNH McLeod Foegle
Janmark Holloway Ryan
The 3rd line is responsible and has a 100 point guy on it. The 2 rookies are with vets and our 4C issue largely go away with a big puckhound in Holloway with Ryan taking RH faceoffs.
I like the cut of your jib! I’m generally not a fan of moving Nuge down to the third line, unless he has decent line mates. This alignment would allow for that. His line could also take on more of the elites, freeing space for Leon’s line.
My first thought was that Drai/Hyman without McDavid is a poor idea, even without a raw rookie, then I looked and that duo is 28-41 goals over the course of two years.
Hyman/Drai cannot be a duo without McDavid.
That has to change if they want to win it all. Results like that from two key top 6 guys together is totally unacceptable. It just shreds your lineup flexibility. They must change it if they want to win and they are totally capable. Something to watch this year.
Presumably many players, individually, will be “better defensively”, and the team as a whole but McDavid/Hyman have been so good together and Drai/Hyman so bad that it seems so obvious to me that, if they are locked on to Brown in the top 6, there are three defaults to start with:
McDavid/Hyman
Drai/Brown
McLeod/Foegele
We’re getting off-topic (Lavoie) and I agree to a point – but Hyman Drai have to be better. Obviously some combinations are better but it’s unacceptable for these two players to be that bad. It really limits your flexibility if Drai-Hyman can never play together. Everyone in the top 6 needs to be net positive.
The Oilers DZone systems has been talked about a lot since the Vegas series.
I thought this was a nice article about it from Bruce Curlock yesterday: https://oilersnation.com/news/the-edmonton-oilers-and-the-conundrum-of-zone-defence
It was very interesting. I am glad he and NHL Sid are doing in depth looks backed by knowing the game well, my favourite analysis
Bruce didn’t have a problem with it, maybe the players get better at it. For as Drai has mentioned its errors at crucial times that sink them. I remain unconvinced this group can play Woody’s system but hope to be legendary wrong
We’ll know in games that are difficult for them, on top of hopefully the GA coming into contender range. They steamroll games when it’s going their way, for me not so much when the other team is playing well and clogging or they don’t get the special teams advantage to keep them in it. Or aren’t getting bounces
You can’t win them all, but teams that stick to their guns win more tough games than others. Like playoff games
Yeah, we’ll see. No question the Oilers need to cut their GA to take the next step.
The Oilers have been winning playoff games. IIRC only Vegas, Colorado and Florida have more series wins the last couple of seasons. Need to find a way to win a few more though.
Exactly. Not quite there doesn’t work now
It isn’t actually “errors at crucial times” though.
This is a team with a clear strength – being able to give itself a larger margin for error than most via both superior offence AND useful speed in all zones. Trying to play at or near perfect will always fail. Especially when you don’t have Terry Sawchuk back there winning you games.
Their system is fatally flawed due to the chasing and rotating. Chasing and rotating is something that as an attacking team you try to force the opposition into because it exposes weaknesses and creates more chances for a mistake causing vulnerability. It’s the same reason you should always try defensively to force a bad pass 2-on-1. Doing this chasing and rotating voluntarily is insane.
As a defending team – you attempt to funnel the play where you want it to go and ultimately end. Namely – away from the net and toward one of your additional players.
I wish I still had my notes from the hockey class I took at the UofA with Thurston. He was building on what Daum and others had brought before and this Oilers squad could kill with an updated version of that system. It was damn beautiful.
Babcock done in Columbus without ever coaching a game.
The NHL is a less toxic place than it was 6 hours ago.
https://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/mike-babcock-coaching-franzen-chelios-1.5381813
https://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/mitch-marner-mike-babcock-leafs-practice-1.5373004
https://www.clickondetroit.com/sports/local/2021/03/12/mike-modano-talks-about-babcock-benching-him-it-was-a-bitter-pill/
Let the dinosaur fossilize.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsaTElBljOE
The 2014 Gold in Sochi was the most boring Hockey I’ve ever watched. Babcock had the reins on them so tight it was like watching paint dry. I’m glad Babcock is done what he did to Modano was the worst. He lives to push buttons I think he was trying to be buddy buddy with the players but the way he did it was way to personal.
I mean, it was the old school way. I remember when my brother told me when he got his first job in the mid 2000s his employer asked to see our family photo albums to get to know him better.
Hey, I’ll take the gold medal no matter, even if it took a 1-0 semifinal win over the US. (Next time, we may lose to the Americans 7-4.)
And actually, I’ll disagree on the quality of the hockey too. It’s true that Babcock had tight reins on them. But the talent still shone through, even if they weren’t scoring a ton of goals. When the Olympics ended and we went back to NHL hockey, I remember thinking that watching NHL hockey was like watching paint dry. (Thankfully, NHL hockey has gotten a lot more exciting in recent years.)
Not me who wants to see Guy Lafleur as a checker. Boring
Yeah I could hardly watch that. It was terrible hockey. If best on best are supposed to showcase the game, Canada royally spit the bit with that approach.
Is nobody here concerned about the precedent that you can be fired just because one of your employees subjectively “felt uncomfortable”? Is that the standard you want to be held to in your workplace?
Babcock had done this before, to get to know players and staff, seemingly without issue. People share tons of stuff on social media anyways. Is asking for a few family photos such a big deal? Really? Maybe going through someone’s phone is a little over the line, but a firing offense?
For being top-flight athletes, players seem to be pretty psychologically fragile. As Jason Bukala noted (in reference to criticism of Matvei Michkov), “We coddle our “best” players in North America the same way. We’ve all seen the craziness that surrounds youth hockey and the misguided ambition(s) of overzealous parents, coaches and organizations.”
If the players are running the show, why have a coach?
It seems like there are a lot of people that want to make Mike Babcock permanently unemployable for his past sins.
I am not a fan of Coach Babcock, but the response to him trying to get to know the players was completely blown out of proportion. I am a little less of a fan of the NHL and its’ players today.
He needs to learn to read the room. His players backed him up, of course having duress, but it’s not the point. There is no need to do that and in the times only a narcissist would. He already lost the ‘best’ HC in Canada for similar reasons
Too much, yes. Babcock thick as a whale omelette, yes
Your phone is the most personal item you have in today’s society. Its your diary and as a young kid having your new boss asking see what’s in it is out of bounds. It’s actually creepy when you think about. Good intentions are not after the Marner fiasco he was a Dead Man Walking.
If a player has a problem with their coach they have a few simple paths to choose from: (a) contact your agent, (b) contact your union rep, and (c) talk with the person you have the problem with. If a player does anything other than that, they’ve lost my respect.
I bet that’s what happened one of the younger players Dad or Mom felt this is not right sharing our family photos with a stranger. Myself I’m in ageeement with this
So I take it you don’t respect Kyle Beach then hey?
There are also a lot of people that want to sweep Babcock’s sins under the rug without knowing him personally for some reason.
There are also a lot of people that want to blame the players without knowing them or the situation. I don’t know why this is being put on the players, considering Babcock has clashed with and abused players from older generations. Madano said the older players were pissed when Babcock scratched him on what would have been his 1500th game.
Every workplace has a different culture where some behaviours are accepted that may not be in other workplaces.
Babcock is 60 years old and has coached at every level. He should know how to read a room and how to work with personnel and players. But Babcock brings a history with him, one which players are obviously aware of and maybe they started blowing the whistle when they started seeing some of Babcock’s past behaviours creep in.
You mentioned the hypothetical about precedent being set about people getting fired from making employees uncomfortable. How about this hypothetical from a different perspective. You interview someone for a position who has been fired from their previous positon because they were not getting along with their employees and colleagues and it was negatively impacting a lot of their performances. You do reference checks and they are not really glowing either. You decide to take a chance on the employee and hire them anyway but already you are getting complaints about them and they just started. Do you.. blame the other employees for being soft? Or do you just let go of the new guy who has a history of this behaviour? Ideally, the employee would just quit, which is what Babcock did.
I’m not surprised that this was the outcome. Hiring Babcock was always going to be circus. His baggage has become a huge distraction – if this was any other coach, it wouldn’t have been a big deal. That said, I agree with the notion that he needed to read the room better.
The only thing that surprises me is that Kekalainen still has a job. He’s been the BJ’s GM for a decade. His teams have 1 playoff series win in that time, have missed the playoffs in half of those seasons and Babcock was his third coaching hire (however briefly he lasted).
The Babcock fiasco should be a firing offence.
“That 6.07 kid Noah Ganske is a piece of work. Holy crap.”
Just watch, some NHL team will sign him in the next 6 month from right under out our nose. One thing we have yet to see is any sort of offense.
He has offensive ability, but he’s primarily been playing with the 3rd & 4th liners. He played LD on Friday with Right shot Misskey, who I thought was solid. And last night with LHD Van Mulligan, who I thought had some struggles.
Remember his name, he will show up somewhere in 6 months.
Fyi…Flames have a 6’8″ , 235 pound forward – Klapka – scored the winning goal but also got knocked of his feet a couple times.
I remember watching that monster on the Wranglers last year – he’s got a bit of skill.
The Oilogosphere is trying to bait me today. There is only one effing way to find out if one has a solution to the defense in house, and there is no effing point waiting to try it.
Broberg’s emergence as a top 4 dman this season has to be the most important event this team could hope for.
Even more important than Campbell’s return to competence NHL goalie which would also be welcome.
Does Puljujarvi have a PTO?
Still recovering from double hip surgery I believe.
Thanks.
JP is 16 GP and 22 points behind Nail Yakupov for his NHL career.
Broberg has shown brilliantly in the NHL in a fairly small sample on his right side – through the last two seasons at 5 on 5:
50 minutes with Kulak – major positive possession and shot metrics and 3-3 goals (55% expected goals)
43 minutes with Nurse – positive possession and shot share metrics and 3-2 goals (51% expected goals)
31 minutes with Keith – positive possession and shot share metrics and 0-0 goals (67% expected goals)
14 minutes with Ekhoilm – absolutely crushing possession and shot share metrics and 2-0 goals (92% expected goals)
https://www.naturalstattrick.com/playerreport.php?fromseason=20212022&thruseason=20222023&stype=2&sit=5v5&stdoi=oi&rate=n&v=t&playerid=8481598
To me, Bourgault was clearly the best forward. Silky smooth and excellent awareness in all parts of the ice. Kind of like RNH. He and Akey made a bunch of subtle, effective plays. I noticed that he’s quite the nimble skater now, too.
Also, I saw Savoie as more impressive than Petrov. He was the one making most of the entries on the PP and got a lot of touches in the O-zone.
For those who missed it, the full game is available on YouTube, courtesy of the Flames (*spits*): https://www.youtube.com/live/bW8dwFFEDic?feature=shared
Bourgault was good, but he hasn’t cashed on any of several chances.
NHL Sid with a deep dive on the Oilers defensive play and some caution about playing Broberg on the right side.
https://oilersnation.com/news/can-the-edmonton-oilers-expect-an-improvement-in-overall-team-defence-in-2023-24
Tempering expectations but it’s heartening we’re all seeing how impressive Akey’s skills have been. 2 years in Barrie/contender, year in Bako and this kid could be a real addition. Props to the scouts, Beau has as good a chance as anyone.
Thankfully he has time to matriculate, 2012 Oilers would pencil him top 4.
Just going off memory I don’t recall Oilers rushing D-men not like the high pick forwards. What would you of done with Schultz? He was a beast during the lock-out in the AHL. Schultz looked like Fox it’s too bad he just couldn’t get the pucks through on the P.P like he was doing in the A.H.L, for some reason his game didn’t translate.
Rushed most of em imo. Not that they weren’t NHL ready but Klef, Nurse, Schultz were all thrown in the deep end. Any higher regarded prospect who showed a pulse was given top 4 minutes.
For example we could debate whether Broberg would be a known quantity if he was given the Klef treatment, but it would almost certainly be at the expense of winning hockey games. Same can be said about Bouch last year. I prefer slower playing to rushing even if it frustrates.
I would’ve put Schultz 3rd pair sheltered and 1PP. They kept shoehorning him in to tough assignments cause nobody else could and it was clear he lost all confidence. It took a year for Pens to rehab him. His game absolutely translated early and post Oil.
In his first year, Oilers went:
Smid-Petry
Nultz-Jultz
Any 2 of Teddy Peckman, Corey Power Potter Play, & Barbaro.
Schultz was also 22 and NHL ready and not 18 like Akey.
You are correct, the Oilers do not have a history in this generation of rushing d-man, forwards, yes, but not d-man.
Bouchard did get some games in his draft plus 1 before they sent him back to junior.
The OIlers need Akey in two years, to replace Bouchard when the Oilers won’t be able to afford him.
Given Akey’s puck-handling skills, I think his nickname ought to be:
Mr. Beau Dangles.
That’s outstanding.
Tarkus ftw.
Wanner and/or Akey on an ELC in 2-3 years will hopefully aid in taking the edge off Bouchard’s next contract.
trade bouch if he needs 8 to 10 million! Dont break my Akey heart lol
If he needs $10MM on his next deal, the Oilers probably have a Stanley or two in on this current deal.
I’m going to enjoy the hell out of the massive value contract for Bouchard the next two years (while acknowledging many will give more power to fearing the next deal like they did with Nurse for 4 massive value years on his two bridges).
Tyler Wright did say (to paraphrase) – if he have Bouch, Wanner and Akey on the right side in the future that’s pretty good.
Oilers Plus content from the guys miked up at the draft.
Who is responsible for drafting Beau Akey?
Tyler Wright?
Yes. And Steve Staios spent plenty of time in the OHL. I do also wonder about Paul Coffey’s involvement.
This is the start of the season for me. Watching the prospects in the Young Stars Tourney. I’m very glad it’s back! Lotsa fun! Thanks for your input Lowtide!
If you slipped #22 on the back of Akey`s sweater it would be tough to differentiate…..AND it seems he can play defence to boot….Petrov ( yes he can shoot, but so could Dennis Hull) and Savoy were poor last night…Grubbe and Wanner were my stars in the “business” end of the ice.
I had a real treat last night…went down to the man cave, firmly spoke to the TV…commanded it to go to YouTube….magic ….I watched the game on Flames TV for free thanks to a fellow poster comments a few days earlier.
That is a blunder on the Oiler’s behalf.
Agree on the Akey-Barrie comp. Really like how Akey controls the full width of the blueline on the PP, used to really like that exact facility frim Barrie.
If Matvei Petrov can score as many NHL goals as Dennis Hull did (303) he’ll be a pretty good sixth round pick. 😐
Akey is a LONG ways from having a Tyson Barrie type of impact/career but I do think he’s a better skater.
I didn’t think Savoie was poor last night. Did you see the 2nd shift of the game? That defensive play, rush and chance may have been the play of the game for the Oilers.
Savoie was in the guts of the game again last night – playing on the boards and working for pucks.
I tuned in a little late to the game. Just in time to see Petrov’s PP goal. was hoping to get a glimpse of Jake Sloan. But I didn’t see him on the ice. Did he get injured earlier in the game? However, the Oiler youngsters looked more cohesive than the Flamers, except in that 3 on 3 OT that didn’t go very well for the Oil.
No injury.
He played 3C and with 8 Oiler PP’s and the Oilers Shorthanded 6 times, he missed almost half the game. He played maybe on 1 or 2 shifts on the PK.
Still, he had a couple of good chances.
Thanks.
Tyler Tullio and Jake Chiasson played well but didn’t impact the game as others did on either night.
I’ve been a bit disappointed in Tulio through two – as a guy that has already played a year in the AHL, including some very good stretches, I expected him to impact the play more than he has. Maybe I have unreasonable expectations for his development path as I have lumped him in with Bourgault as a player that could be in the conversation for call-up later this year. 2 games though, pre-training camp games at that. Chill OP.
I did what to mention one thing on Chiasson – listening to Stauff at the gym this morning from his show on Friday, and he projects Chiasson going back to the WHL – not turning pro.
I had figured he’d be battling to stay on the Condors roster (with potentially some ECHL time) but maybe he goes over-age in junior.
Bourgault played well but it is a bit disappointing, at least for me, that he isn’t named with Akey and Petrov as the top players to this point.
Bourgault should stand out, he should pop, at this tournament on this team – he’s been good, not great.
I expect him to be in the 0.8PPG – 0.9PPG range while being a huge part of the PK for the Condors – that’s what he needs to do to put himself in the conversation for a call-up early in 2024 (and jump the group of vets/tweeners – Malone, Caggiula, Hamblin, Pederson, Erne – if signed).
———————
Carter Savoie – he could have had four goals by now. If he can stay healthy, he’s scoring 20 in the AHL this year.
He continues to take ALOT of punishment – he’s playing in the guts of the game but I worry about his continued health.
Maybe one true thing: Beau Akey is a first-round talent.
He sure seems like he is a first round talent and, from the media spots I’ve watched, he sounds like a great kid with a great attitude (smiling, happy to be here, etc.).
Very early times but its looking like quite the find at the end of the second round.
Maybe Blake sending Clarke back to junior will turn out to be a big plus for the Oilers as this kid goes higher if Clarke doesn’t join the team last season, right?
You know he is so fun to watch, he reminds me of Olen Zellweger who was taken at the end of the first round and is now thought of as a steal of a pick in that spot. He should be playing some games for Anaheim this year and has been a good d man for team Canada the last couple years. Only, Akey seems to have even better edges and on ice awareness than Zellweger had at 18. And he’s taller than Zellweger.
Zellweger is a very very talented player but its tough to be a 5’9 d-man in the NHL. The league has changed a bit but remember when Kris Russell was a PPG d-man in the Wub?