This is the projected depth chart of the Bakersfield Condors in the summer of 2015. Leon Draisaitl, Darnell Nurse and Griffin Reinhart were the headliners, with Anton Slepyshev, Jujhar Khaira, Iiro Pakarinen, Brandon Davidson, Brad Hunt, Jordan Oesterle, Anders Nilsson and Laurent Brossoit on their way to NHL careers.
Did you know that Bakersfield has a wine and a beer “trail” you can tour? I’ve never been on a wine tour nor a beer tour, but it sounds intoxicating!
FIRST BLUSH BAKERSFIELD DEPTH CHART
The Condors signed wingers Seth Griffith and Cameron Wright to AHL deals in the spring, giving the team some real skill on the right side. Based on reports, the organization will start Matthew Savoie at center, and we’ll see. The team also signed RW Daniel D’Amato so it’s a full boat at the position. One attempts to keep track of all the signings but one gets busy with the daily chores and I’m uncertain if we have RW surrounded at this time.
Goalies: Olivier Rodrigue, Collin Delia, Connor Ungar
Left Defense: Cam Dineen, Ben Gleason, Noel Hoefenmayer
Right Defense: Max Wanner, Phil Kemp, Connor Carrick, Connor Corcoran, Alex Kannok-Leipert
Center: Lane Pederson, Matthew Savoie, Noah Philp, Jayden Grubbe, Carl Berglund
Left Wing: Raphael Lavoie, James Hamblin, Drake Caggiula, Roby Jarventie (inj)
Right Wing: Matvey Petrov, Seth Griffith, Cameron Wright, Ethan De Jong, James Stefan, Brady Stonehouse, Daniel D’Amato
I’m sure I missed a few along the way, but it’s a start. We have heard the emphasis will be on playing the kids, 99 percent of life is following through so we’ll see. I’m pleased to see veterans like Lane Pederson on the club because they can serve as mentors in a tough league filled with men who play for keeps. So, at a guess I’d say Savoie’s AHL linemates could come from a group that includes Pederson, Noah Philp, Raphael Lavoie, James Hamblin, Drake Caggiula, Seth Griffith and eventually Roby Jarventie. Anyone you see as having an early edge? I’ll guess Pederson. He’s an AHL veteran with skill. I can see Caggiula-Pederson-Savoie opening night. If the team is serious about letting the kids play, then Lavoie-Philp-Savoie might be the play.
A busy day on the Lowdown as we take aim at the Elks, the MLB deadline and (when it happens) the hiring of the next Edmonton Oilers general manager. Guests include Jason Gregor and Cam Lewis from Jays Nation. I’m at Lowetide on twitter, in the comments section here and on the Sports 1440 text line at 1.833.401.1440 directly.
The other day defmn made a post about someone to keep an eye on for a GM candidate: Mathieu Darche. His name rang a bell, so I wanted to take a better look.
Following are the money quotes from a few links to some interesting articles about the current AGM/Director of Hockey Operations in TBY, and perhaps some insight as to why his name is subtly floating around the ether.
From the Montreal Gazette as his hiring in TBY was announced:
Source: https://montrealgazette.com/sports/hockey/nhl/hockey-inside-out/former-canadien-mathieu-darche-joins-lightning-management-team
From the Montreal Gazette, also via Stu Cowan, about interviewing for GM in MTL:
Source: https://montrealgazette.com/sports/hockey/nhl/hockey-inside-out/stu-cowan-mathieu-darche-checks-all-the-boxes-in-canadiens-gm-search
About being an up and comer in the GM circuit, having interviewed for GM in CHI:
Source: https://www.bleachernation.com/blackhawks/2022/01/29/is-mathieu-darche-going-to-emerge-as-gm-candidate-for-the-blackhawks/
Source: https://oilonwhyte.com/posts/case-mathieu-darche-next-edmonton-oilers-general-manager
Well we finally have forward depth.
I am hoping the coaches double down on running 4 lines. Special teams is about 12 minutes a game so leaves 48. They can hand out 14 minutes to line 1 and 2 and then 10 minutes each for lines 3 and 4. Should keep the troops engaged and reduce strain on the Thoroughbred’s. Key will be sticking to this plan even if it means a few losses in the regular season.
Good point yesterday from OP.
In a hypothetical scenario where Bouchard were to get injured, that RD depth chart is pretty suspect.
Either Broberg would be our 1 RD or Cody Ceci.
Broberg only played 15:47 per game during the playoffs.
1:32 on the PK. 14:05 at even strength.
Having Broberg who’s already a question mark for 2RD as cover is not optimal.
There is some depth – Stecher and Brown have been daily NHL players who are fine to fill in on the 3rd pair for stretches – a very good 7D/8D actually – but if there is an injury up the lineup… yikes.
Moving Ceci without a legit top 4 right side D option back seems risky.
That’s a big part of the reason Ceci is still on the roster. It’s not wise to simply “delete” him from the roster without a replacement and finding a good but relatively cheap 2RHD isn’t going to be easy. Having Ceci, Broberg, and Kulak as 1-2 RD options isn’t great but it isn’t catastrophic either. I suspect this will be the big deadline pickup this year.
This is why I mentioned a few weeks ago that the play is to move Kulak and Ceci in order to gain more cap space as well as to open up the natural spot for Broberg at L3D. There is no way to move Ceci only and upgrade the position without spending more money imo.
I know it is risky to make that many changes on defence in one off season but if the consensus is that Ceci is 3RD and Broberg 2RD going into the season that is a less than desirable setup and thinking that it can be fixed at the TD is really living dangerously imo.
If the OIlers can move either Ceci or Kulak as part of the trade for the mythical 2RD I am confident the other one can be traded for a prospect or draft picks.
To me they have to identify a team unlikely to make the playoffs with a quality RD and bite the bullet and overpay and just get it over with. We all know that an overpay at the TD is guaranteed so its not like they would save anything in assets by waiting.
And, yes, I know Kulak is good and would like to keep him. I just don’t see how unless we are prepard to go into the season with a RD of Bouchard, Broberg, & Stetcher.
I’ve read this often, in many corners of the Internet, as the prevailing wisdom.
However, if we’re legitimately upgrading does it not stand to reason that the level of play would increase? Two out of six is one third, but accounting for minutes it would be a reasonable tick greater than 33% of personnel expressed as ice time.
Ekholm improved the team when he arrived. And Keith. So did Kulak. Even Ceci. Ditto Sekera. Different stages of team building for the different arrivals, to be fair, but the point being the outgoing rearguards they replaced were improved upon with those taking their spots.
We’d be talking about replacing a steady veteran 3LD with a familiar, if not as experienced, similarly fleet of foot 3LD who likely has a higher ceiling but certainly not a lower floor. Small gamble, to my mind.
The right 2RD would probably have an impact much like the arrival of Ekholm. This would be the more risky move, really requiring the correct acquisition.
I’d be willing to roll the dice and make the changes; as you say a premium will likely have to be paid at any rate. Might as well have the full season to iron out the kinks, establish chemistry.
3LD, 2RD, & 3RD is 50% turnover so while I agree that upgrading the individuals produces better results I think familiarity takes time & improves the results as they know what to expect from their partner when things are moving quickly. Better to get that learning curve over early rather than at the TD imo.
You’re right, that is a significant turnover. Perhaps we differ in assessment of risk in exchanging Kulak and Broberg on a permanent basis.
I am curious, who you’d have your eye on for 2RD. Parayko, obviously. Anyone else fetch your gaze?
Parayko is the best option that might be available. I’d love somebody in the 25-27 year range which is why I mention Andersson.
Parayko with St. Louis retaining would cost more than either of us would want to pay but that is going to be true no matter who they are able to trade for and I think he fits in the window.
There are guys I like better, of course, but not available at any price I fear.
Why couldn’t they go in to the season with Bouchard, Broberg, Ceci?
There are ways to cap compliance with no trade and no LTIR.
Well, obviously they can do that. The question for me is why would they if there is a solution to be had now rather than waiting and hoping that there will be one at the TD when there is no recourse if they strike out.
Kinda funny that Ceci was our 1RD for a fair while there, and not so long ago.
And now he’s not even regarded as reasonable cover (or co-cover) for the spot.
As was Nurse our 1LD.
Indeed.
Similar to what OP’s mentioned, I feel like those two are very likely to be better going forward compared to when we last saw them (acknowledging that Ceci may not even last the summer).
They really did have a poor (and unlucky) playoff though. And of course it’s not like it started there, though it was certainly the low point.
Ceci’s play has been in decline over the past 3 seasons to my eye. However, that doesn’t align with his numbers. He actually had his best regular season stats for the Oilers this past season in terms of GF%, FF%, and xGF%. Though he has dropped down the depth chart behind Bouchard.
Having better forward depth and lines, should provide some cover itself.
I guess it’s a question of depth.
Ceci in his prime was a 4/5 on a good team. He’s not that anymore.
Broberg is unproven still.
Stetcher could probably fill in as a 3RD with a healthy lineup, but he’s probably a 7 at this point in his career.
If you had to play a 5/6 as your 1RD, a left-handed rookie as your 2RD, and a #7 as your 3RD, that’s probably going to get exposed.
With decent goaltending and healthy and deep forward lines, we could probably hang on for quite awhile. How long, I’m not sure.
I don’t agree with you that everyone falls off a cliff at age 29 or 30 (Ceci doesn’t turn 31 until December).
I’m certainly not pining for a Ceci/Broberg/Stecher/Brown RD depth chart though.
At the same time, as you said the other day, not a lot of RD depth charts look great when you subtract the 1RD.
And Ceci has at least managed to tread water as 1/2RD for most of the last 5 seasons.
Ceci is 30 years old.
He doesn’t have a long injury history (or, really, any injury history as an Oiler) and, from accounts, is one of the fitter guys on the team.
I’m not sure he isn’t still in his prime.
He may have not played his best hockey the last while but I don’t think its due to a decrease in ability to do so.
Fitness doesn’t matter if one can’t do the job.
Of course, the post was talking about the player being in (or post) prime, etc. and your response is an intentional strawman.
Blue Jackets hire Evanson as HC.
Evason was a guy that I was like, “who?” when Guerin hired him.
I quickly realized there might be something there, MIN went from hanging on to the vestiges of the boring style of Lemaire’s teams to playing with tempo and and edge.
That they took the Vegans to game seven games in the ’21 playoffs was incredible to me.
113 point season the next year was really the definition of getting more from less, as the roster was concerned.
Wonder if the Blue Jackets start getting some consistency and production out of their roster, top to bottom. Would surprise me more if they didn’t.
I guess Woodcroft was 2nd choice according to the rumour mill which is why I posted it. I wish him well but I would think the before and after results this past season had to be a question in the interview process.
To be a fly on the wall in that room when the question was posed.
How does he explain the historic turnaround after he left? Does he say he lost the room? Admit to poorly employed strategies/tactics? Blame injuries?
True. Whatever went on, the team was mentally in shambles to start. I think that Holland’s all in, the time is now comments weren’t helpful, and not cup or bust either, it’s not as if they didn’t know what the deal was
Woody didn’t see or couldn’t counteract how wound up they were. I think he might have even contributed to how tense they were, I don’t know, but that’s what I think from how I saw Woody
It is a harder way to lead to identify the right key points to make, and let things work organically and unfold from there. The players know how to play and what they should be doing at this level. Woody to me seemed like a micromanager, that usually leads to things being less than they could be. Things are connected and from a correct starting point will just happen. If a player can’t cut it the GM needs to make a change there. The players play the game, let them do it and guide their direction
First thing KK said he wanted to do was calm them down, get back to enjoying the game and just playing. Seems it worked
He had a dream job and then he decides to outsmart himself with the 11-7 nonsense. He lost half the room by double shifting Connor and Leon into exhaustion before the season hits game10. There’s a reason why the 11-7 full-time strategy hasn’t been used since the 1928-29 Montreal Maroons Coach Blacque Jacque Shellacque unsuccessfully tried the gimmicky deployment.
The 28-29 Maroons coach was actually Eddie Gerard from Ottawa.
And the team appears to have played mostly with 6F/3D nonsense rather than the 11/7 nonsense you’re speaking of.
Let’s try to not inform a narrative with facts, Reja has made up his mind long ago.
We heard from Woody and more than one player that you have to ramp up during the season to get to full season form.
They were also looking forward to the playoffs and not the tag at hand.
Ergo, they weren’t ready for the intensity that the Canucks and other teams brought to a game against the mighty Oilers.
The bad start brought a form of panic and compounded the bad start into a horawful start.
As much as I liked Woody as a coach I find it difficult to not appreciate KK and his calm Saskatchewan demeanor.
If I were him I would tell a potential employer that there are two kinds of coaches: XO guys and motivation guys. He demonstrated his ability to work well in the AHL, to say the right thing to kids on the cusp, and to get a very good NHL team’s head back in it. He’s meant for a Columbus type team, not a contender whose obligation is to tinker in the margins of deployment. Very few coaches last from rebuild to championship, he should emphasize to a club his ability to steward youth.
And he might have to throw some superstars under the bus. Because managing and carrying out an NHL training camp is a massive part of the job. Woody had his first crack at it and he failed very badly. They came out horrible and that is always on the coach. But he could spin it as Leon’s “cup or bust” verbal and Connor’s three-week-too-soon “captains skate” as evidence of inmates running the asylum in Edmonton.
Wow.
He could also potentially mention that the year he arrived he took the Oilers from out of a playoff spot at mid-season to the conference finals.
Then followed it up with a solid 2nd regular season and a playoff loss to the Cup champion. That his last team played the 4th most NHL playoff games in his two playoff years as coach.
Could also mention that his winning percentage is 8th all time among men who’ve coaches 100+ NHL games.
Or sure, he could talk about AHL time while also throwing Leon and Connor under the bus, lol.
Woodcraft was in completely over his head. 2-9-1 and it’s “well meaning and forward leaning”. He had no answers.
Almost 3:00 p.m. in Toronto where Jackson is and I am thinking the “Hunter/Bowman will be announced on Monday” rumour was always just the internet being the internet.
Speaking of the Condors, James Hamblin got engaged this weekend.
And 100 condors were released into the sky from a rooftop mounted camping box.
You reminded me of this Bakersfield deep cut:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IZhp5roDKqw
I’m still interested in Klim Kostin. Kostin can play with an edge, he can skate, shoot, protect the puck.
But he’s streaky, and Im not so much after him for goal scoring but to be a huge disruptor. Defensively hes not great though, maybe he gets there, hes tried 4 organizations now.
He got way more ice with the Sharks and put up decent production.
If the Sharks were to retain salary, he would be nice to rotate in bottom six as needed. Doubt it could happen.
Klim Shady would be an interesting deadline pickup. The Sharks have already used their 3 salary retentions for the year (Burns, Karlsson, Hertl) so the retention would have to go though a third party. Kostin did ok on the fancy stats when with the Oilers in a limited role but his 3 hits per game along with scoring 10+ goals is not bad for the 4th line
San Jose retention slots already full this year. Difficult to see a way he fits without retention down to league minimum, so any trade would have to involve 2 more teams to chip away 1.2 of the 2 million. And then there’s the defense you’ve mentioned… Highly unlikely he’s an Oiler this year.
Kaliyev has fallen out of favor with the Kings. He would be a good add at a good price.
At this point I would much rather see any cap space that can be scraped together go to bolstering the back end.
Yeah, the number one thing the Oilers need is to be better keeping the puck out of our net. No way the Kings trade us Kaliyev for cheap anyways.
Would he crack the Oilers’ lineup?
So far, he can’t piss a drop at evens and is reliant on the PP for production, no?
Not sure he’s worth an asset out and a contract that, presumably is higher than league min.
I wonder why Oilers were not in on Jake Walman? Was playing first pair D, seemingly pretty well. Detroit paid to move him.
Oilers just didn’t need him of course but he’s intriguing.
To bad he isn’t right shot, could have plugged the hole affordably
You answered your own question.
Where does Walman on a LD depth chart of Ekholm, Broberg, Nurse, Kulak?
Sharks picked up a useful LD though.
No idea what Yzerman is doing; maybe he had been taking credit for Julian Brisebois’s work in TB? Detroit looks like its going nowhere.
I think we often give too much credit/blame to GMs and not enough to the other staff in an organization. I remember Kevin Prendergast after he was fired made a comment about wanting to get his hands on the guy who recommended Patrick O’Sullivan. I think Yzerman was the head of a good organization and was moved out of the GM role for someone better. When he went to Detroit, that was an organization that had fallen apart and he didn’t have the individual ability to recreate what he had in Tampa.
I don’t wholly disagree with your point Duloc, but to be contrary, we’ve seen Jackson make huge and positive changes in 12 months. I think you’re bang on when you say Yzerman’s magic in TB was less him and more Brisbois and the rest of that front office.
I knew Yzerman had been in Detroit a while, but I had to look it up – it’s been 8 years now and he still hasn’t got them to even the playoffs! That is plenty of time I’d suggest to break through and it’s not like they are about to take the league by storm. Tricky problem for ownership – their franchise icon is 8/10ths of his way through a Detroit DoD. By results he isn’t great at his job. How long does the patience last?
Not sure where you’re looking things up, but I’m going to have to disagree with you here. Memory tells me Yzerman and Holland swapped places prior to the same season. Holland just finished his five year contract.
Sure enough, good ol’ Wikipedia has the correct information (no thanks to the Yzerman bio on NHL.com):
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Yzerman#Managerial_career
Yz has done some fine things in DET, the cupboards were left barren after the Pizza Man’s mandate of continuing the playoff streak.
Detroit had taken a step back because Holland was fulfilling Ilitch’s “Get into the playoffs at all cost” directive. Once the old man passed, he was allowed to start stockpiling draft picks to rebuild Detroit. It’s kind of humorous if you look at the timeline; Ilitch dies on Feb 10, 2017 and the sell off in Detroit started Feb 19th.
The Wings have had enough picks to be decent by now, but looking at HockeyDB it seems their scouts have shot mostly blanks since 2017. It’s hard to say if Yzerman is a bad GM, or they’ve just got a poor front office & scouting staff.
If his his organization isn’t good enough then he’s a bad GM, after a couple of seasons grace
So you are saying it is worth a phone call to see what it would take to land Seider? 🥸
If he truly was top pair, he could be added and bump everybody down and out.
but if he was, why trade him?
hmm
Apparently Walman wasn’t shopped around at all. Lots of GMs were saying they would have given up something to get him but didn’t know he was available.
The new depth and balance of the forward prospects could lead to interesting mid season/trade deadline lineups.
Skinner McDavid Hyman
Holloway Draisaitl Av
Lavoie/Jarventie Nuge Savoie
Janmark Henrique Brown
Old man Nuge baby sitting a bunch of volume shooters.
Kane?
I hope kane gets healthy we need his intimidation factor and his gritty in that lineup above… people dont mess with kane, even when he can barely skate
For sure, until some of the more aggressive young guys arrive. If he’s not healthy or gets moved that player type is what I’d be looking for at the deadline, if they haven’t upgraded RD, or do both
It’s a part of the game and especially playoffs. If Raffi Tores can change the momentum of a series….. If we had a player or two like that against Panthers it might have pushed them over. Teams like the Panthers don’t quit, but are used to doing the dishing, and if you start running or hacking their best players (as they did to us) I think it could get them well off their game mentally. Like Sheehy used to do to the Oilers in the 80s
Agreed. Really like the moves made but we need some angry mean players. When Jarventie is healthy as well he may add a little? He def has size. I don’t know enough about him. Kane is very difficult to replace as a whole. If Nurse can bring some snarl back more consistently, that helps. Vinny D brought some definitely. They may just throw Brown in here and there.
I doubt we see Jarventie in the NHL this season, they have a lot of forwards
I think Brown is as least as good as Vinny, going by PuckIQ and some reading I did about Brown before last deadline, looking at RD options. I was hoping they would do somthing
I also think that while Vinny is big, Brown is meaner and tougher. He has had concussion issues though
Yes, Jarventie being hurt needs to heal and play back to where he can be and stay healthy. Be nice if Brown surprised a little, he is supposed to be a decent skater, that may help, I found Vinny D would get burned a bit outside. I wonder and hope if he is playing at all, he is fleet enough to limit that a bit. We will see. At the end of the day we will need a D add. Bro should really be on the left side but I feel he is only going to get better regardless.
Vinny was too nice I get he was trying to play as a everydayer and that doesn’t happen if the Refs finger him for Knick knack penalties all the time. Vinny needed to grab someone by the throat and squeeze for taking liberties with Connor, Leon, Evan etc The Panthers figured it out when they sent Huberdeau and Weeger for organizational toughness. I have a feeling Brown has more ugliness and since having the security of a 3 year contract that Brown will have the green light more than not.
Far from an expert but, from what I’ve read and heard, Jarventie is not that type of aggressive player.
Good question?
I did a wine tour in Kelowna with a guy who billeted Justin Schultz. He said he was a great young man, very nice, but very quiet. He wondered how Justin would cope with the rougher edges of the NHL, on and off the ice.
Sounds like a personality type that might struggle with 18,000 fans looking down on him, throwing out the Booos
Lots of youth in the forward ranks – I do think Petrov will get a push along with Philp and Grubbe (and, of course, Savoie). I would expect the likes of Stonehouse and likely Stepan to take some real time adjusting to the pro game – could be some healthy scratches or some ECHL time.
Holt said that Rodrigue will get a real chance to run with the starting job. Would be so nice for the kid to take another step this year.
Should be a very fun season to watch.
Veteran defence with so many players that could fill in for a game or two in the NHL (and have done so in the past): Brown, Gleaon, Dineen, Carrick, Kemp.
I do include Josh Brown in that group as the Oilers wont be able to keep 8 d-men so one of Stecher or Brown needs to be waived/assigned, right?
Both Brown and Stecher are signed to NHL deals, and the team could (if they wish) keep both. I don’t see a reason to identify one over another, although my preference for the NHL is certainly Stecher.
Yes, for sure, they could keep both but, if that happens, I think we are in a tough place to start the season as it means either: Broberg has not signed, a D-man is traded with no d-man back and/or real injury.
Maybe they are both in the AHL and Phil Kemp is on the NHL roster?
Seems unlikely!
I find that both Stecher and Brown signed odd. I’m sure both want to play in the NHL, but both are 3rd pair types. I read Stecher at least wanted to be with a winning org as why. Without a trade or two it seems one is likely to go down
Depth, is the plan.
Actual NHL players looking to crack the roster instead of gifting spots to prospects and suspects.
For sure I get it from the team’s side, just the player’s side seems odd
My question is how do you slide Kemp in with veteran defensemen that could fill in for a game or two in the NHL(and have done so in the past) category?
I live in LA and have been to Bakersfield to see a few games. I was NOT aware of the trails you mention, but I WAS there on dollar hotdog/two dollar beer night and it was not for the faint of heart attack.
Haha. $2 beer should be called “Go to Prison around 1am!” night
When I lived in Germany, 20 years ago, 1L bottle of beer cost 1EUR, which was a little less than $2 CDN. That was all day, every day.
That’s a big bottle of beer. I remember going on a cycling tour in Germany after one of those I’d be a bit wobbly on my bike.
I’ve read if they made everyday booze expensive in many Euro countries there would be revolutions
So when I was in university two’n a juice(two draft and a tomato juice) at the Sheraton in Saskatoon was 50 cents.
In comparison today, a $2 beer is even cheaper. Although, it is American beer (low alcohol) which we used to say you could could drink all day without getting drunk cause it was like making love on the beach (f’n near water).
and what a lovely beach it was / is. The South Saskatchewan river that flows through Sstn is a slow moving with very clear flow, sandy beaches most everywhere. Pelicans fishing below the weir….fabulous little city.
30 Years ago, could get a 4 litre “milk jug” of awful draft beer from Lamont hotel for 10 bucks.
Terrible shit, but started to taste better after the first one. 😂
It’s the hillbilly version of an Olde English in a paper bag, lmao(nt).
You young’uns.
Back in my drinking days it was 20 cents for a draft – undrinkable imo but cheap; or 60 cents for a rum and coke – much more efficient for getting drunk.
$20 for a hundred draft just before last call at midnight was de rigueur. It was easy to make friends. 😎
Some time ago but still this century I was at a conference (my first) in San Diego.
Stayed at a hostel for a couple of days after it ended and went with some folks to a nearby bar. They had $1.00 rum and cokes that were 90/10% rum/coke. Rather efficient.
I did hook up with a hostel employee that night but also missed my flight back to Canada the next day. Have not seen drinks that cheap or dangerous since.
Never trust a man who doesn’t have drinking stories from his youth is a rule I have found to be quite useful. 🥸