Do you remember a couple of weeks back when former Edmonton Oilers enforcer George Laraque was saying thought he could take Mike Tyson on Oilers Now and that there was a match already in the works?… Did you watch that fight last night? Good lord… If the outcome of that charity fight wasn’t already predetermined, I’m 100% certain that Tyson would’ve knocked Roy Jones Jr out with ease. So what’s that say for Big George?
I guess our boy Jesse Puljujarvi did an interview in Finland recently, eh? Mari Lönnberg, who is always helping us Oilers fans out with translations on Twitter, posted this earlier:
- Puljujärvi is not aware when he will return to North-America. For now, he will continue to play in the SM-Liiga with Kärpät. He said himself that he will leave when the call comes. Also frustrated about the loss to Tappara.
Yessa has been getting some flack for a drop in form since he signed his new two-year deal with the Oilers. My feeling is that it sounds like he’s trying to balance staying healthy, playing a more North American style, and contributing on the scoresheet all while his club is preparing for his move to Edmonton. Simply focusing on one of those tasks is hard enough, all three is monumental.
Phil Kemp recently signed his ELC with the Oilers and according to Jim Matheson as well as Kurt Leavins, the club is scouring Europe to try and find the young American a place to play. That tells me that maybe there’s not much of an appetite to send him to the ECHL to play for Edmonton’s affiliate there in Wichita.
Jason Gregor has been pondering aloud on his radio show on TSN 1260 as to if Kemp can be the new Matt Benning? Now, admittedly, I haven’t watched a lick of Kemp play recently. He was part of those stacked U18 and U20 teams that US hockey set up, so I’m certain I would’ve watched him then. In fact, he was captain of the U18 one of I’m not mistaken. I can’t remember if he was captain of the U20 one though.
Anyway, he said he wants to emulate Dan Girardi, and as soon as I heard that I knew the analytics portion of the Oilers fanbase already had their whipping boy. Just wait, if he progresses and develops into a full-time NHLer, he’ll get some real shade thrown at him because he doesn’t contribute to the scoresheet enough. Gregor is trying to position him as someone who might have some hidden offense in his game, but I can’t recall the last NHL defenceman who modeled their game after a shutdown d-man that ended up actually being the next Paul Coffey. Please excuse the sarcasm.
I can’t wait to see him suit up though. I haven’t heard if he’s got a mean streak or not but it would be fantastic if he did. Also, if he hits as Benning did, I’m going to love the guy. Toss in who will be looking after him in Bakersfield and we may very well have a proper defensive blue liner that’s worth looking forward to.
Here is the fight between @Condors new assistant coach Dave Manson and Scott Stevens that @Bob_Stauffer was referring to at the start of the show. https://t.co/U8VnfvAg2a
— Oilers Now with Bob Stauffer (@OilersNow) June 4, 2018
Fack! That fight between Manson and Stevens is epic… Good lord those were the days.
That said, he was a 7th round pick for reason. So I suppose a relaxing of expectations is in order.
Bob Stauffer recently released his annual top-ten Oilers draft prospects to some debate. I don’t agree with all the placements, so here’s mine,
- Evan Bouchard (D)
- Philip Broberg (D)
- Dylan Holloway (F)
- Dmitri Samorukov (D)
- Rafael Lavoie (RW)
- Tyler Tullio (C)
- Ilya Konovalov (G)
- Ryan McLeod (C)
- Olivier Rodrigue (G)
- Tyler Benson (LW)
What do your top-ten Edmonton Oilers prospects look like?
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