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Armchair GM, Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL

Edmonton Oilers: What the MSM had to say about Jesse Puljujarvi Yesterday (Ferraro, Simpson, Stauffer, Lowetide, etc)


Jesse Puljujarvi Edmonton Oilers Fanatics Authentic Autographed Hockey Puck

It seemed like everyone was talking about Jesse Puljujarvi yesterday on Oilers talk radio or in the blogosphere. I counted 7 different personalities commenting on him and I’m going to share what each of them said for you and then you can decide if you believe they are talking out of their aces or what they’re telling us holds water.

If I missed anybody please let me know! Buckle up because this is a long-form post this morning.

**I started writing this post early in the morning Edmonton time (late night Taipei time) and now that I’ve awoken here in Taipei I can see there’s a shite ton of posts on this with much more opinion. But I’ll be honest, I’ve not got the time to go through all of that. So I hope what I’ve presented to you is of value and if possible, I’ll put out a part 2 if the messages have changed. – BLH**

Merriam-Webster defines the word nuance as “a subtle distinction or variation”.

“EARN”

“CURRENCY”

What the f*ck is Bob talking about? How in the world is Puljujarvi supposed to “earn currency” on the 3rd line and the 2nd PP unit when neither line really gets enough TOI to make a noticeable impact on the game? Maybe someone will tell us below.

Here’s what the several different pundits had to say about Jesse Puljujarvi yesterday on Oilers talk radio or the blogs.

BOB STAUFFER (OILERS NOW)

Everybody’s just gotta relax here. But I personally don’t believe that Puljujarvi should be on the 1st unit PP and based on his play over the last three of four games, there’s no way you can play him with McDavid and frankly, I think the best spot for him is to play him with Strome and Lucic on the 3rd line. Give him matchups against 3rd defense pairings, give him 2nd unit PP time. 

He has to learn the nuances of the North American game.

There’s something there with the player but it’s not happening so far and for those of you who have revisionist history that say “Well, the Oilers took him too high.” Guys were ready to block slapshots in the nude when Puljujarvi fell to Edmonton at four. The Oilers had him ranked 3rd on their board. They did not have PL Dubois ranked in their top-4 because they had Sergachev ranked 4th and they thought they were going to get Sergachev at the draft. You can argue they should’ve had Tkachuk ranked higher. Fine. I personally like Tkachuk, I understood the concerns with him. His skating was a little bit of a concern, the fact that he was playing with a broken ankle in the Memorial Cup that year, I liked a lot about what Matthew Tkachuk brings.

But in terms of Puljujarvi, I don’t think he should be handed front-line opportunity and I still think the Oilers need to be patient.

The only way I’d consider trading him is if you got another really good young prospect back. Would you trade him for Anthony Mantha from Detroit who’s minus 12 in 9 games this year and has got one goal? He’s 24. He scored 24 goals last year. Would you do a deal like that?

CRAIG SIMPSON (HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA)

I go back and I’ve said it I think many times to you (Stauffer) and about different players, I’m a firm believer in taking responsibility as the player and you can sit in an armchair and say he’s not getting this chance and he’s not getting that chance.

You have a chance everyday, everyday at practise, every single game, to show that you’re ready to play and make an impact and the difficulty of becoming a really good everyday NHL player is that consistency factor. Can you do it night-in and night-out? it doesn’t always mean that it’s scoring goals and I’ve said to you (Stauffer) before and I heard you talking about Hemsky and I’ve relayed a number of stories talking about helping him as a rookie trying to understand what we’re trying to get out of you as a player.

It’s not about cheating and trying to score goals, it’s about how you have to play to have success to stay in the lineup, to play bigger minutes and the goals will come on the heels of that. 

I’ve just said watching Jesse in the American League, I just found at some point you have to take that responsibility of being hard everyday and being an impactful player and being impactful doesn’t mean scoring a goal. 

Being impactful means playing with that energy and drive every game, getting in on the forecheck and you turn pucks over. Can you make some plays? Can you forecheck hard and play a couple consecutive shifts in the offensive zone?

All of those little things will build up that currency you’re talking about for Puljujarvi and I’m a firm believer when you start on a consistent basis playing that way everyday, the goals will come and the offense will come on the heels of that but I think a lot of times guys expect the offense to be there without putting in that work

JASON GREGOR (TSN 1260)

Part 1:

I’ve said this all along. I wouldn’t even have Puljujarvi in the NHL. So that to me is on the organization not on Puljujarvi. I’m not upset at Puljujarvi as a player. At all. Do I think he’s NHL ready? No, I don’t. Do I think that’s a bad thing? Not at all. Because the majority of 20-year olds in the world aren’t ready. They’re just not. 

We saw a no.3 pick, Dylan Strome, play in the minors last year, why can’t an Oilers 20-year-old play there? It’s not Siberia. It’s not the end of the world if he plays there and if you’re Jesse Puljujarvi, sure it would suck at first to go down to the minors, I get it. 

He wants to be playing, he wants to be scoring. You can’t tell me it’s fun and you can’t tell me his confidence is where it should be at this stage of his career. It just isn’t. He’s not making many plays. 

So, me personally, I’d send him down there and I’d play him on the top line and I’d play him a ton. I’d play him on the PP, I’d play him on the PK, and if he makes mistakes, I’d put him right back out there because it’s the American League and that’s what it’s for. It’s for developing players. And you have a full-on strategy and you sit down with Jay Woodcroft and you say, “Jay, we’re playing him this many minutes a night because he needs to get his confidence back and it might take some time. Deal with it.”

Part 2:

It’s never about a coach liking or not. Everybody has different things that they look for. I think there’s a lot of fans who love Jesse Puljujarvi, they like his attitude, they like that he hitches rides from Oilers fans, and he’s just a down-to-Earth good kid. What’s not to like? I totally get it. 

But you want him to develop. You want him to be an NHL player who could be a difference maker for you in the future. Could be a complimentary top-6 forward. Probably that’s the minimum you’d like from Jesse Puljujarvi. 

Is he showing anything right now that says he’s close now? What’s wrong with a stint in the American League?

I think the organization has to get over this stigma that they have with the, “Oh geez, we can’t send anybody down there…” And the thing is they already sent him down. He’s been down there for parts of the last two seasons. So he’ll survive. He’s not gonna wilt at all. He could do it. I totally think he could do it. 

Because if it continues and when Ty Rattie and Caggiula and those guys get healthy, I don’t want Jesse Puljujarvi playing on the 4th line. And if the other guys are doing more then they deserve to play because the no.1 important thing for the Edmonton Oilers this year as an organization is to win games. That’s the no.1 important thing and at the same time you have to figure out how to develop your players. 

Easy Solution. Play the guys that give you the best chance to win here and if you can develop Puljujarvi and he gains his confidence and he can give you a better chance to win next year, that’s what I want. Because right now, the way he’s played, he’s not doing enough to really impact games. 

There are ways to help the team win without getting points and you’re not seeing a lot of that from Puljujarvi. A) He’s not playing a ton of minutes. He’s not doing a lot and he’s a young player. 

So I would definitely give him a stint in the American League and I wouldn’t look at it as a negative. I’d sit down and have a mature conversation with him and say “Jesse, we need to get your confidence up. We know your confidence isn’t high. We think you’ve got a lot of pieces that could make you an NHL player but you gotta be playing and you’ve got to be playing a lot. We want you to be on the PK.”

Because look at Jesse Puljujarvi, look at his stick length and everything. Wouldn’t he be a good penalty killer? He could be a guy who could be in your top-6, your PP and your PK. Why not? Let him try it in the American League. 

Part 3:

Puljujarvi is a player who doesn’t look confident making plays. He doesn’t look confident thinking the game. He’s also only 20 years of age. I don’t expect him to be ready. 

So, for me, I think the Edmonton Oilers got to wake up, grab a clue, and send him to the minors. Shane Doan went down his third year after playing two full seasons in the NHL and Puljujarvi has been 10 games in the AHL last year, 39 the year before. Wouldn’t be the worst thing for him. 

Yeah it sucks for your ego short-term but I’ll tell you, if you could talk to Jesse Puljujarvi as a 30 year old and if that meant that going down to the minors for 40 games when he was 20 allowing him to have a ten year NHL career making millions of dollars. He would gladly take it. 

RAY FERRARO (TSN)

When I watch Puljujarvi, I see some really good things and then I see some and he looks like a timid kid. 

Why don’t they send him down? There’s a couple of reasons I can think, one is cover your ass a little bit. You’ve got another high draft pick and it looks like a failure when the other three guys ahead of him in the draft are already playing in the NHL and they’re producing. Maybe that’s some of it. Some of it maybe that they feel like they can keep a close eye on his development while he plays sporadically in Edmonton.

I know as a skilled player or a player that was supposed to produce, it’s really difficult to have the confidence to make a play when you know that if you make a mistake you’re going to lose your spot, you’re going to lose your ice, you’re going to sit for five or six minutes. So you make the safe play all the time.

When I watch Puljujarvi, I think he’s just trying to survive. He’s not trying to produce. I mean he’s trying to score but he’s not trying to produce, he’s trying to survive. 

You mentioned 40 games, I think that’s a mistake. If you’re going to send him (to the AHL), commit to sending him. We’ll see you when we see you. You’re going to tell us when you’re ready by being in the American League and being too good for that league.

LOWETIDE (TSN 1260)

I don’t think anybody wants Jesse Puljujarvi to fail. I don’t think Todd McLellan does, I don’t think Peter Chiarelli does, I don’t think any fan wants Jesse Puljujarvi to fail. In fact, I think most people would be delighted because of the strength of his personality and the type of player he could be, to see him succeed. 

And I think he will, I just don’t know if it’s going to be in Edmonton. 

Last night was a microcosm of Jesse Puljujarvi’s career in Edmonton. He starts on the 2nd line and he ends on the 4th line, which was a disaster. The line itself was giving up goals left, right, and center. 

The two right wings in trouble today are Zack Kassian and Jesse Puljujarvi and I’m not ever going to give up on this guy and you have to be patient.

BRUCE McCURDY (THE CULT OF HOCKEY)

He’s really fighting it and you know he scored one point on the year and mind you it was a very important tying goal in the 3rd period in Winnipeg that ultimately laid the table for a two point win for the Oilers in a game they were trailing but he’s had a lot of things go wrong. He’s taken some bad penalties, some questionable line changes, some of his defensive coverage has been a little suspect and he’s playing like a player, frankly, without a lot of confidence.I don’t think he’s got a lot of confidence from his coach at this point either and that can be a concern.

KURT LEAVINS (THE CULT OF HOCKEY)

I like Jesse Puljujarvi lots. But some sure look at the kid through rose-coloured glasses. He is making a lot of rookie mistakes that are causing problems. Late Saturday, the club needed to maintain the pressure on a Nashville team that had played the night but Puljujarvi took a lazy hooking penalty. Against Boston it was that blind pass up the middle. Poor work along the wall against Winnipeg cost his club zone time (but he finished strong). In Boston, we saw bad line changes. Look: Players of Puljujarvi’s maturity will make mistakes. But when it happens to other players (and it absolutely does), I hear calls for benchings. (source)

Leavins also dedicated an entire post to Jesse Puljujarvi here. A very balanced point-of-view in my opinion.

So while the opinions are different there are similar underlying messages we’re hearing here from former NHL players to pundits alike. There’s something there with Jesse Puljujarvi worth saving and it’s incumbent on the Edmonton Oilers to do the right thing for his long-term development.

I think that Jesse will be scratched for the game versus Washington and I’m completely fine with that. If he’s struggling, give him some time off to watch the game from above. You never know what he might glean from it. Besides, when I was growing up prospects used to get scratched all of the time, it was no big deal. The vets got to play.

That said, the prospects used to come up through the minor system until they were ready to play too…

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Around the Oilogosphere, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, NHL Entry Draft, Rumors, Trades

Around the Oilogosphere: March 22nd Edition – News on Puljujarvi, Replacing McLellan, Bob McKenzie’s Thoughts on the Oilers, and More NHL Trade Rumors

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So we’re switching things up with our “Around the Oilogosphere” segment. Instead of posting individual snippets and linking to them, we’re going to basically make a “Oilers blogs of the day” sort of post. Not sure if it’ll be daily or weekly but we’ll work that out. We’ll probably include some links from other NHL news as well like trade rumors or major happenings.

Either way, you can enjoy coming to one place to get all your Oilers links (minus the athletic ones because they’re behind a pay wall) and information.

Enjoy!

OILERS NEWS

Fanrag Sports: Bob McKenzie on Next Steps for Oilers – One question at the heart of the angst of a segment of Oilers fans, though, is whether or not Chiarelli should still be the one sitting at the general manager’s helm.

Cult of Hockey: Craig Simpson on Puljujarvi – Speaking on the Oil’s handling of Puljujarvi on Oilers Now — which sees Puljujarvi getting third line minutes and no first team power play time — Simpson supported the current approach: “I’m not worried about the way he’s being handled…

Oilersnation.ca: Dustin Nielson on Puljujarvi – With the exception of the power-play, penalty kill, goaltending, and overall coaching in general, nothing has frustrated Oilers fans this season as much as the usage of fourth overall pick Jesse Puljujarvi.

Oilersnation.ca: 3 NHL Replacements for Todd McLellan – Whichever side of the fence you’re on, it’s obvious that McLellan’s days in Edmonton may be coming to an abrupt end. Here’s a look at a few options with NHL pedigrees whom the Oilers brass could (and should) target pending the departure of their current HC.

The Hockey Writers: The Oilers’ Maniacal Mismanagement of Montoya – Montoya has played well for the Oilers. However, his continued presence within Edmonton’s roster has raised a handful of questions with respect to the organization’s general approach as well as its vision of both the immediate and long-term future.

NHL TRADE RUMORS

The New York Rangers Are Open To Trading A First-Round Pick – The Rangers have three first-round picks in the 2018 NHL draft – their own, the Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning – two second-round picks and two third-round picks. GM Jeff Gorton says there are opening to moving one of their first-round picks.

Dreger on Melnyk billboards and Hoffman trade potential – What has already been a fairly disastrous season for the Ottawa Senators has the potential to get even uglier this summer, depending on what happens in key contract and trade-related areas.

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Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL

Ex-Oilers and MSM Rip into Current Oilers

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BIG SALE happening RIGHT NOW!

I would’ve hated to have been an Edmonton Oiler yesterday after that 5-0 loss to Buffalo. My goodness, if you listened to any Oilers talk radio yesterday you would’ve heard Craig Simpson, Ryan Smyth, and Ryan Rishaug give the team a kind of verbal thrashing we haven’t heard in a very long time.

I’d like to share what they said 🙂

Craig Simpson and Ryan Smyth were on Oilers Now with Bob Stauffer and here are a few quotes from their segments.

First up Craig Simpson, former player and special teams coach.

All of the mainstays of good penalty killing, good active stick, stops and starts, don’t turn away from the puck, close off where passing lanes came from, take away cross-seam passes, sticks in lanes, bodies in lanes, are just non-existent.

The things Simpson lays out there that the Oilers aren’t doing don’t seem like skills only superstars can perform if you know what I’m saying.

There are a lot more at fault than just the goaltender. The fact that Al Montoya has been here for 7 games and he’s been in 3 of them replacing your starter is damning enough.

I’m sure the goalie would agree.

I don’t know whether it’s players not understanding the system they’re supposed to be in or getting confused on what the read is from it but If I’m on a powerplay and every time my defenseman gives me the puck on the half-wall, I have the option to give it to him back, I have the option to go down low to my low support, AND I have the option to go cross-seam, I mean you might as well be out against pylons.

Ouch! That has to go deep not only affecting the players but the coaches too.

I do think that it starts with Connor and Draisaitl, that you have to be in an aggressive attack the net mode. At least maybe once you do it 2 or 3 times with some success it’ll back off the pressure a little bit and allow you then to maybe open up where you fake the shot to get that passing lane to get that pass away. 

I don’t think this is an attack on the young players on the team but it’s something we’ve been saying since at least last year with regards to Connor’s actions on the PP or a 2v1 for example. SHOOT THE PUCK CONNOR!

There’s something off with the mental stability of the group.

You’re telling me Craig! Whose responsibility is it to rebuild the mental stability of the group though? The coaches?

We’re 48 games later and there’s definitely a disconnect and last night was probably the most damning of them.

That’s a former player and coach of the Oilers digging right into the team and he’s saying there are mental problems and disconnects throughout this roster. I wonder why that is? I wonder what caused it?

Next up is Captain Canada! Ryan Smyth!

Not everybody is going to have it on a nightly basis and that’s what makes a team go round. You rely on certain players at certain times but at some point everyone has to be a factor and contribute and it’s not firing right now for the Oilers. 

Another former player tells us how it is and you can’t really blame these guys for having an off night from time to time. I know these players are elite athletes and their bodies are fine-tuned to be able to perform many nights per week but hockey is a tough tough sport to play as much as these guys do. That being said, when the entire team shuts down like they did vs. Buffalo, concern is a given.

Honestly, I feel that the drive isn’t there. The Passion. Not like it was last year and honestly I don’t know what the disjointment is but I feel that there’s enough great skill and enough great hockey players on that team that it can prevail. 

Preach it Cap!

The work ethic. There’s one thing you can control on a nightly basis. 

Stauffer had asked the question, “Do you think something’s missing in that regard with this group?” The regard he was speaking to was having everyone on board to have a chance. #OUCH…

Instead of watching, just play. Just play the game. It’s a great game! 

Leave it to Ryan Smyth to warm your heart whilst criticizing his old team.

What I’ve noticed from both Simpson’s and Smyth’s quotes is they both mentioned a disconnect or a disjoint in the team and I’ve been getting that old decade of darkness feeling right before Eakins was fired. You know the one where you see players not playing for each other and not sticking up for one another. A lack of intensity… I hope I’m wrong because it took a major jolt to the roster to knock that out of them last time and I’m not sure they can afford to do that again. I mean with Calgary up tonight, I’m willing to be that we’re going to see a VERY good hockey game because if we don’t, somebody is gonna get a hurt… Real bad. 

Ryan Rishaug was on Gregor’s show last night and he was FIRED UP! Here are the quotes:

There’s something wrong. It’s something in the leadership group in that room, in the core players who are relied on the most. Something’s missing.

I love the answer the player’s and McLellan gives when a question predicated on the response above is asked.

“If we knew, we’d have fixed it by now.”

But they’re not wrong and either is Rishaug.

What they absolutely cannot let happen is for the rest of this season to mean nothing. 

I agree wholeheartedly. I’ve been told that since the season is lost, there’s nothing left to play for and that kind of attitude is how the Oilers wound up getting McDavid and Puljujarvi. So maybe they really should give up and maybe the Oilers would end up with Rasmus Dahlin?

Far too many years they were out of the playoffs, spent 3 months of meaningless hockey and terrible habits developed, terrible work ethic developed, and more problems crept into their game that showed up the next year and they need to learn from that mistake. 

I’ll just go out on a limb and say Rishaug is talking about the decade of darkness here. I mean even Hall was questioning whether there was a light at the end of the tunnel before he was moved out (a quote that bought his ticket out of town btw).

Let’s use Connor McDavid as the example, he’s far from the problem but he DEFINITELY holds the key to a solution. If you’re Connor McDavid, you’re a brilliant player, you’re 41% in the faceoff circle. It’s not good enough.

You have not yet developed a one-time threat from one of the most important positions on the powerplay. It’s not acceptable to just say I don’t have a good one-timer and oh well. 

So why not make it a goal from now to the end of the season to be working on your faceoffs non-stop, take it to a new level and to continue to try to develop a one-timer? Why not tap a couple of teammates on the shoulder and challenge them and drag them along as well. 

He’s going on a huge rant here. Almost Lowetide-esque. So there’s more to come. One thing you might think right away is that Rishaug is picking on the kids again. On the surface that’s how it looks but if you can look past the person in the example, you might see that he just wants the Oilers to do a bit extra so that next season they’re that much better.

Rant cont.

I’m telling you. I DO NOT LIKE THE WORK HABITS OF THE YOUNG PLAYERS ON THIS TEAM. I don’t like it. I don’t think it’s good enough. I don’t think that the young players on this team and some of the players on this team like working on things they’re not good at and I don’t see dog-on-a-bone effort to fix them. And that’s what it takes to be world class and elite on a whole new level. 

I’m not at the practices (or in the country let alone the city for that matter) but I can see where Rishaug is coming from. Last year we did see that intense never-give-up attitude that we’re not seeing this year. Why that is, I haven’t the foggiest. I mean nobody really enjoys working on things they’re bad at but that harkens back to Rishaug’s point and even to Simpson’s and Smyth’s to a degree. Work ethic, does it need to be improved?

We watched for years. It started with Ales Hemsky and it worked its way through Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Nail Yakupov. Two generations of talented players come through the organization that never developed the proper practice habits to push their game to the next level. 

And I’m telling you, I’m seeing it happening again and I don’t think it’s okay. I think these players need to take the rest of this season and put new habits in place so that does not happen again and so that better habits are developed.

I’m telling you if Connor McDavid does this, players will follow. In other organizations, this happens. 

Leadership is a funny thing. If Lowe and MacTavish had supported their vets and coaching staff instead of giving their support (and keys to the city) to Hallsy and the kids, would we be sitting here looking at a different team? A more successful one.

Now I know you can’t be as hard on kids these days as generations past but you are allowed to put a foot down and feelings are actually allowed to be hurt because they heal and they heal even faster if you’re winning. I mean, I had some mean teachers in my day but if I was succeeding in their class, I didn’t mind the harshness of their ways and as I got older I found that the teachers and coaches I didn’t like as a kid, I respected more.

This team might be relying on Connor a bit too much this year and McDavid could use that to his advantage like Rishaug is saying here. I bet the coaches would love it. I bet the GM would love it and I bet ol’ Wayner would love it too.

Last one. Louie Debrusk during the 1st intermission of the Buffalo game.

It (the powerplay) absolutely sucked the life out of them (the Oilers) and gave life to the Buffalo Sabres. And you know what? We’ve seen this a little too often this season where this team has an opportunity on the powerplay to do something and these are the types of plays we see on the ice.

Not sharp. Not disciplined. Just not together. 

I don’t know what it is. I can’t put my finger on it but one thing I do know is stop trying to make the easy play, go to work, put pucks in behind, and create your opportunities from that. 

Hmmmm. Another hint from a former player suggesting a lack of togetherness.

That is what’s wrong with this powerplay right now is guys not willing to pay the price and they’re not willing to go out there and outwork the penalty kill which by the way is 30th in the National Hockey League. 

Yet another former player directing us to the issue or work ethic…

So, what do you think? Are these ex-Oilers and pundits way off base? Let us know in the comments below!

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Edmonton Oilers, Lindsay Ryall

Being Candor on Lander

In many ways, the emergence of Anton Lander in the second half of the 2014 – 15 season was the best part of a very bad season for the Edmonton Oilers.

In one fell swoop the Oilers had shown they could develop a true top nine forward (not drafted in the top five) that had a combination of grit and skill, could win faceoffs, and possessed some natural leadership abilities as well as character. Once Dallas Eakins was fired, and Lander became Todd Nelson’s chief reclamation project, the player gained momentum and confidence and finished the season with decent numbers (.52 ppg for 20 points in 38 games last season.

As should happen, Lander was rewarded with a modest, but appropriate 2 year $1.975M contract and suddenly a player that was on waivers at the beginning of the year had etched out an important niche on the team.

But in spite of that success new challenges loom on the horizon for 2015 – 16, hurdles that Lander will need to overcome if he wants to maintain forward momentum. The coach that helped him get on track is no longer with the organization, and with numerous off-season upgrades, (both in trades and player development), Lander could indeed slip back if he doesn’t find a way to keep pace.

Mark Letestu – Columbus Wired

And a rival emerges . . .

The first person Lander will need to impress at training camp is his new hockey boss, Todd Mclellan. Coaches generally speaking, favor veterans and Oiler’s GM Peter Chiarelli’s off-season signing of seasoned center Mark Letestu provides motivation for Lander, but also a threat to his ice-time.

Especially when you consider Letestu has four season’s where he has played an average of 64 games and is an Alberta boy to boot, hailing from the town of Elk Point (also Sheldon Souray’s hometown) in Alberta’s Lakeland region. Letestu will be considered a reliable veteran. He has been a plus player the majority of his seasons in the NHL and coaches tend to favor defensively sound skaters. Lander for his part has never really been close to being a plus player in the two seasons  he has played 20 + games with the Oilers. Of course that needs to be tempered with the fact the Oilers have been among the worst NHL teams in the last 10 years, but nonetheless, it doesn’t help his case.

Lander can overcome the challenge to his number 3 center spot but he will need to continue to improve on what he does well. Topping that list would be face-offs. In today’s possession game, things are a whole lot easier when you start with the puck, and last season Lander emerged as true duelist on the dot. You would have to think Lander’s faceoff development gave management the confidence to deal Boyd Gordon and free up some cap space.  And while he became a leader on that regard he could certainly improve. Through 38 games last year Lander had a faceoff percentage of 50.1% based on an average of 15.01 minutes TOI. When we balance that number against other centres on the Oilers, he looks ok, almost halfway between Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (45.7%) and Boyd Gordon (55.9%). However Lander needs to keep his eye on Letestu who sports a very nice 52.9% for face-offs. Realistically, to maintain his pecking order, Lander will have to at least match a faceoff win percentage of 52 – 53%.

The importance of Lander’s faceoff percentage is likely linked not only to his ice-time, but his time on the PP where Lander netted almost half of his season total. Last year he saw a lot of duty on the #2 powerplay where he could win the faceoff and pull a Craig Simpson or two in front of the net with some ugly goals. If he isn’t able stay strong in the faceoff, not only will his ice time suffer, but the precious time he receives on the powerplay as well. So his focus on this aspect of the game is key.

The other elephant in the room is Lander’s skating, which most feel is labored and can use some work. Letestu by comparison is considered a strong skater, so Lander should be taking some direction from Oilers skating coach David Pelletier in the off-season. As far as I can observe, Lander gets to where he needs to be and survives with Hockey IQ and anticipation, but I’m not a hockey scout either.

But the one intangible that may just allow Lander to leverage a spot on the Oiler’s core is not a skill but definitely an asset, and that is his leadership abilities. Lander and a C on the crest have been a pairing for a good chunk of his hockey career. He was a captain of the Tre Kronos U-18 team in 2010 and for Sweden’s WJC U-20 team later that year. A few years later in 2013 he would earn the C for the Oilers affiliate in Oklahoma, and would keep the captaincy for two years until he was promoted to the Oilers in 2015, no easy task for a Euro player in North America. Do we see a pattern here? Lander is a leader and the Oilers have very few natural leaders in the core, or on the team.

So at the end of the day Lander can ensure his spot on the team, and ice time are consistent by simply shoring up his game. Make improvements on what he does well (faceoffs) as well as what he doesn’t (skating) and everything will fall into place. Draisaitl could emerge and challenge Lander for the no.3 spot but most feel he is a top six skater and will either shift to the wing or maybe get more seasoning in Bakersfield. As for Mark Letestu, he’s a useful addition for the Oilers, and should only be positive motivation for Lander.