Greg Chase could be the draft success that the Oilers have been looking for. I’ve touched on this idea before during the summer, but now with the season under way, it seemed like a good time to dig into the subject a bit more.
Heading into the 2013 NHL Draft, Stu MacGregor was at the helm, with many people lauding his drafting ability, dubbing him “The Magnificent Bastard”. But outside of the first round, a majority of which were first overall picks, and a few hits in the second round, there wasn’t much magnificent about the players MacGregor was bringing into the system. The 2013 draft changed that.
Heading into the 7th round, the Oilers had handed out nine jerseys over the course of the two days. As this post is being written, three of those picks (Darnell Nurse, Bogdan Yakimov, and Anton Slepyshev) have made their NHL debuts. This is to say, it was a very good draft for the Oilers that year. But its perhaps the player taken in the 7th round that day that could become the late round pick Edmonton has long awaited.
Selected 188th overall, Greg Chase, a native of Sherwood Park, was coming off a moderately successful season with the Calgary Hitmen of the WHL, posting17-32-49 in 69 games. The following year, Chase would break out, leading the Hitmen in points during his 70 games, with 35 goals, and 50 assists for 85 points. That same year, Chase would make his pro debut following Calgary’s 6 game elimination in the first round of the playoffs. During those six post season games, Chase continued his strong play, with 4 goals and 9 points. Chase would go on to play in the final five games of the season for the Oklahoma City Barons in the AHL, netting one goal.
The following year, Chase would experience some turmoil off ice. After scoring 15 points in 15 games, Chase would be a healthy scratch for the Hitmen, signaling a falling out between the WHL club and the skilled forward. Eventually, Chase would be traded to the Victoria Royals, and would contribute 44 points, including 18 goals, in his 46 games. The Royals headed into the WHL Playoffs that year as a serious championship contender, and would have most likely made it the finals, except for a second round match up with another Oilers prospect, Leon Draisaitl, and a stacked Kelowna Rockets team.
Chase finished out his WHL career with 11 points in 10 post season games, and while Draisaitl and the Rockets would go on to win the WHL Championship, and advance to the Memorial Cup, Chase would once again join the Barons in the AHL, this time for their own playoff push. Chase would dress for four games in the post season with the Barons, collecting one assist.
Greg Chase would enter Oilers training camp in 2015 as a first year pro. And while making the big club was a long shot with the likes of Connor McDavid, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Anton Lander, and Mark Letestu in the fold, cracking the roster on the newly christened AHL Bakersfield Condors was looking to be a tough task as well. It was when the Oilers assigned Draisaitl to Bakersfield that decisions had to be made, and one of those decisions was to send Chase, along with fellow 2013 draftee Ben Betker, to the Norfolk Admirals of the ECHL.
There could be any number of reasons the Oilers chose to send Chase to the ECHL. Perhaps it was just a numbers game, and the addition of a blue chip player like Draisaitl to Bakersfield. Or perhaps it was a bit of a discipline issue. Chase has never shied away from playing with an edge, and it’s possible the issue with the Hitmen in his final year of junior had something to do with the assignment.
Currently, Chase is riding a five game point streak in Norfolk, and leads the Admirals with 3 goals, and is tied for the team lead with 5 points through 6 games. However, after Draisaitl was recalled by the Oilers, the Condors had a hole to fill, and elected to recall Alexis Loiseau. Not that Loiseau is a slouch, as last season he posted 96 points in 68 games with the Rimouski Oceanic of the QMJHL, although he went undrafted, and signed an AHL deal with the Condors.
That being said, if Chase can continue to put up productive numbers with the Admirals, it should only be a matter of time until he dresses for the Condors. And with it looking more and more like Leon Draisaitl won’t be returning to the AHL anytime soon, there should be plenty of opportunity for Greg Chase to show that, at number 188 in the 7th round, the Oilers truly did make a “magnificent” pick.
As the summer continues, so does my weekly feature, Prospect Profile. This week, Part 4 takes a look at 5 players who are going to be jumping to pro for the Oilers this upcoming season. While they have taken different paths to get top this point, I feel like all these players have a chance to make an AHL roster that finds itself in Bakersfield, California this year.
Joey Laleggia
With four years of college hockey behind him, defenseman Joey Laleggia can now turn his attention to the start of his professional career. A smooth skating player, Laleggia displays the ability to jump up in the play, and find open ice. Much like Justin Schultz, Laleggia’s biggest strength may be his offensive abilities. Over his 156 games played with the University of Denver, Laleggia piled on the stats, going 49-83-132 with over a point per game pace. Prior to joining the U of Denver, Laleggia put up impressive numbers with the Penticton Vees of the BCHL as well, with 147 points in 114 games.
I brought up Justin Schultz. I find him to be the comparable for Leleggia moving forward in his career. We all know what Schultz is capapble of on the offensive side of the puck. The issue is his defensive play. It’s hard to say if this will be a detriment for Laleggia as well. He’s a vary capable college player. However, as has been the case with most players coming into professional hockey from the college ranks, it’s a very different experience. Players in college are accustomed to playing half of what a player in the NHL or AHL will play, and that can be a difficult adjustment for many of them.
On the positive note, however, Laleggia won’t be making the leap to the NHL full time for at least a year, if not two. While Schultz was able to get in half a season in the AHL during the lockout, he could have benifited from a whole year with Oklahoma City to learn the pro game. With the glut of defencemen currently under contract with the Oilers, that shouldn’t be an issue with Laleggia, who should be able to establish himself as a top four player in Bakersfield this season.
John McCarron
Another player coming out of college, John McCarron will be looking to come in to camp trying to earn an AHL job with Bakersfield. He’s a big player, listed at 6’3″ 219 lbs. on the Oilers site (although hockeydb.com has him at 230). While the size is there, it would be wrong to classify McCarron as a power forward, in the sense that he doesn’t have a lot of offensive flare to his game. In his 131 games with Cornell, he put up only 74 points, his best year being the 2013-14 season, in which he had 7-17-24.
Being a sixth round pick in 2012, the Oilers didn’t draft McCarron for his offense. Instead, they were looking to add a prospect with size, who isn’t afraid to play with an edge, as evident by his 216 PIM over his college career. More importantly, McCarron is a player with leadership capabilities. He captained Cornell for two seasons, from 2013 to 2015. In that time, he helped lead Cornell to the Ivy League Championship in 2014.
McCarron has all the tools to be able to make in impact with Bakersfield next season if he can make the team. Barring that, a year or two in the ECHL will be of a major benefit as well. As mentioned before, college players historically take some time to adjust to the longer grind of professional hockey. If the Oilers take their time with McCarron, he has the potential to be a very effective bottom six forward for them in a few years.
Ben Betker
Ben Betker is a prospect that I’ve personally been very high on. Standing at a towering 6’5″ and weighing 204 lbs., Betker looks like he could be a pillar on the blue line for the Oilers in the next few years. He was an anchor for the Everett Silvertips over the past three years, playing in all situations for them. While not an offensive defensemen by any means, Betker makes up for that with his defensive skills. A big body that pushes players off the puck, Betker also has an active stick, and Chara like reach. He saw his plus/minus last season jump to +19, after going -3 and -21 in previous years.
It’s hard to saw where Betker will start the year this season. The Oilers have so many defensemen coming into camp, it could be hard for Betker to land a position in the AHL, especially with the very real chance that both Darnell Nurse and Griffin Reinhart will be starting the year in Bakersfield, based on the numbers alone. Add in AHL veterans like Brad Hunt, Martin Gernat, and David Musil, along with Joey Laleggia, who most likely makes the Condors, and Betker could be the odd man out, finding his minutes in the ECHL this season.
Whatever road Betker takes, I’m excited to watch his development as a pro. He has all the tools to become a solid shut down guy for the Oilers, and could be hitting his stride at the right time, when the Oilers are looking to bolster their bottom three on the blue line to compliment Nurse, Reinhart, and Oscar Klefbom.
Greg Chase
For the last few years, the Oilers scouts have not had too much success outside of the 1st and 2nd rounds. It was a scouting staff that gained, in my opinion, too much credibility on their ability to draft 1st overall, apart from Jordan Eberle, who the stole at 22nd overall. The success of any franchise, especially in the cap era, depends on the ability to draft and develop players, and keep the team competitive through player turnover. It helps when you have later round success. Enter Greg Chase, a 7th round pick from 2013. He’s exactly the kind of player the Oilers need to develop.
A highly skilled player, Chase also brings an agitator element to the game, much in the way a Brad Marchand does. Following his draft year, Chase lead the Calgary Hitmen in points for the 2013-14 season, finishing with 25-50-85 in his 70 games played that year. The previous season, he only had 49 points 69 games. However, the same year he finished with 85 points also saw Chase rack up 83 PIM, something that it was rumored the Hitmen organization wasn’t overly happy with. The issues culminated with a healthy scratch last season when Chase had family in attendance, followed by Chase being sent home for what the Hitmen deemed “on-ice discipline”, and Chase requesting a trade. Following the trade to the Victoria Hitmen, Chase picked up right where he left off, adding 44 points to the 15 he picked up in Calgary, and helping the Royals to a playoff spot, where they would have been heavy favorites to come out of the West, if not for the acquisitions the Kelowna Rockets made, including Oilers prospect Leon Draisaitl.
Chase looks to make an immediate impact with the Bakersfield Condors this year. His high offensive skills, combined with an ability to get under his opponents skin, is an aspect the Oilers have been missing since Raffi Torres in 2006. With a few years of development in the AHL, there could be a spot on the Oilers 2nd or 3rd line in 3-4 years, that Chase would fill nicely.
Kyle Platzer
The problem with being on a team loaded with front end talent, is that sometimes players don’t get to live up to their billing. This was the case with Kyle Platzer, who was a member of a highly talented London Knights team when he was drafted. His first full year with the Knights saw Platzer score a paltry 22 points in 69 games. The next season, Platzer registered 14 points in 39 games, before the Knights traded him to the Owen Sound Attack. It was during the 2014-14 season that Platzer established himself in Owen Sound. His 81 points was good for the team lead, and helped Owen Sound secure a playoff berth.
While he has the skills needed to be a solid junior player, the one knock against Platzer is he fits the mold for a mid round pick during this era of scouting for the Oilers; skilled, but relatively small. Because of this, as well as the depth the Oilers now have at center, Platzer, along with John McCarron, is my pick to start the year in the ECHL. Maybe I’m wrong, and he can crack the Condors lineup. But I’m not entirely sold on Platzer making the NHL in the near future, at least with the Oilers.
It was made official by the NHL that there was two official bids for expansion franchises filed yesterday. All paperwork along with a 10 million dollar deposit had to be received by the head office at the end of business yesterday. According to the official NHL press release this morning there was significant interest with 16 applications being given out be league. However, only two potential ownership groups managed to meet all the criteria in the short time allotted. This is the official release from the league this morning.
Is it just me or does this come across as kind of arrogant and condescending? Imagine that, people can’t pull magical arena deals out of their hats. Two weeks in my opinion was a farce to begin with. Had the time frame been doubled or more I think we would have seen more bids submitted. Seattle seemed to depend on an arena deal that couldn’t materialize in time so it didn’t happen. In case you didn’t read the press release or are still unsure after doing so, the two bids were submitted by Quebecor and Bill Foley. So that obviously means the return of the Quebec Nordiques and an as of yet to be named to team in Las Vegas. Both cities are well on their way to having their arenas built with Las Vegas already starting a season ticket drive to gauge interest. That drive was going exceptionally well with well over 10000 seats sold the last time that I had checked.
That is all well and good to know that there will be two more NHL franchises in the league hopefully for the 2017-18 season, but what does it mean for the Oilers? Well for starters it will require another league realignment. I can’t see the NHL adding Quebec to the eastern conference without a team coming to the west in addition to the Las Vegas franchise. It doesn’t make sense to have a 32-team league divided unevenly. Jonathon Willis wrote an interesting piece yesterday regarding realignment and he suggested 8 divisions with 4 teams in each. Here is a link to the full article. For our purposes here is what his potential realignment would look like.
WESTERN TEAMS
NORTH PACIFIC: Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, and Winnipeg CANADA EAST: Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, and Quebec City SOUTH CENTRAL: Arizona, St. Louis, Colorado, and Dallas SOUTH PACIFIC: Los Angeles, San Jose, Anaheim, and Las Vegas
EASTERN TEAMS
NORTH CENTRAL: Chicago, Detroit, Minnesota, and Columbus NORTH ATLANTIC: Buffalo, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Washington UNITED STATES EAST: Boston, New Jersey, Islanders, and Rangers SOUTH ATLANTIC: Tampa Bay, Carolina, Florida, and Nashville
While I really like the idea I don’t see the league moving to this format. Instead opting to go with four 8 team divisions. That would likely mean that the Las Vegas team would join the Pacific and Columbus would join the Central in the west. Quebec would possible join the Atlantic but that would mean that another team would be forced to move to the Metro division with Boston being the most likely in my opinion. So if that is the realignment that the league chooses it does add two more teams to the west, evening out the conferences and making the west just a little more competitive with the addition of the Blue Jackets.
The other way that the Edmonton franchise will be affected by the expansion process is through the inevitable expansion draft. Teams will only be allowed to protect a certain amount of players on their roster at the time and the rest will be up for the taking by either Quebec or Las Vegas. The NHL hasn’t set the rules for how many players at each position they will be able to protect so for my purposes I will go off of the rules that were used in the 2000 expansion.
There were two possibilities for how many players a team can protect. The first version allows a team to protect 1 goalie, 5 defensemen, and 9 forwards. The second would see a team select 2 goalies, 3 defenders, and 7 forwards. Under the requirements set out in the 2000 expansion draft there was no eligibility requirements for a team opting to protect only one masked man. If a team chose to protect two however, then said team had to ensure that each protected goalie had player in 10 games the previous season, with 31 minutes of ice time being needed to e considered a game played. If ten games were not played in the previous season the other eligibility criteria is 25 games over the two previous seasons. Next rule is that every team has to have one defenseman unprotected that played a minimum of 40 games the previous year or 70 total over the past two seasons. There is also the same eligibility requirements for the forwards with at least two needing to meet the same criteria as the defenseman.
If you area asking yourself why the game limits set on players that are being unprotected it is to ensure that any expansion franchise will have the opportunity to receive players that will have some semblance of NHL experience. Now I am not saying that Edmonton is going to leave Jordan Eberle unprotected just because he will meet the 40-game eligibility requirement. That is just ridiculous and all of Edmonton management would likely be strung up outside the new arena if that ever happens. People need to be rational, calm, and logical when trying to come up with a list of players to protect on the team. There was a discussion of the writers last night about this same thing and we all agreed that analytics will play a huge role for the two teams that will potentially be joining the league.
To me selecting the players that Edmonton will protect shouldn’t be overly difficult because we have our clear-cut core players and those that aren’t. If you are not a core player at this point you will likely be expendable in the upcoming expansion draft. I realize that the draft won’t happen for at least a year but more likely two, with it occurring sometime between the Stanley Cup finals and the 2017 entry draft, but for our purposes here today we will base our picks off of the current roster as it sits. So let’s get right to it and expel some reasonably useful NHL players and a whole lot of players that are not.
First off, if the draft were to happen today I would have a very hard time not selecting option A. That would be 1 goalie, 5 defenders, and 9 forwards, There is just too much talent on the team to opt for a second goalie, there by giving up two defenders and two forwards. If I had to make the selections for the team my list would look like this:
Goaltender(1): Cam Talbot
Defensemen(5): Andrej Sekera, Mark Fayne, Oscar Klefbom, Darnell Nurse, and Griffin Reinhart.
Forwards(9): Connor McDavid, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle, Benoit Pouliot, Nail Yakupov, Leon Draisaitl, Anton Lander, Bogdan Yakimov, Greg Chase, and Matt Hendricks.
From my list you can tell the players that I value above all else. Thankfully there is no minimum amount of games played to allow for a player to be protected. Also with the players left there are more than a couple of options for filling the league requirements of games played. On defense with Nikita Nikitin and Andrew Ference we have two players that played in excess of forty games last year. No one said they had to play well, just that they had to play. In the forwards group we have Teddy Purcell that has been a consistent player over his career and would be a good addition to a new franchise. Along with the Teddy Bear we have Lauri Korpikoski, Mark Letestu, and Rob Klinkhammer also unprotected that would fit under one of the two eligibility criteria.
We must not forget that just because certain players are unprotected doesn’t necessarily mean that the player will even be selected. I doubt there is much of a market for Nikitin and his outrageous salary. There would likely be about the same amount of interest or even a little less in an aging Andrew Ference with two years left and a full no-movement clause to boot. The forwards would garner more interest as all the players left available are either actual NHL players or are a reasonable facsimile thereof. Of the nine forwards that I chose to protect the only two that I can see a case being made for someone else on are Bogdan Yakimov and Greg Chase. The others are all key players on the roster, including Matt Hendricks. Hendy might not be a star player, a la Taylor Hall or Connor McDavid,but he plays an integral part of this team and his leadership skills can’t be discounted. Players like Draisaitl, Nurse, and Reinhart are big parts of the future of this franchise and they deserve to be treated as such. Some may say that they would rather keep Davidson or Schultz but to me Reinhart will be the better player in the long-term.
Anyone have any issues with the players I have selected? Have a completely different list? Let me know in the comments if you agree or disagree. Hit me up on Twitter too, @cooke_rob and we can talk some puck. Thanks for reading and remember to check out the as always excellent Beer League Heroes T-shirt Shop for all your T-shirt needs. The shirt shop is here, if you are interested in checking out the great designs that are currently offered by the website. Stay tuned for the launch of the official Cooke’s Shirt Shack in the very near future as well! It will be the bee’s knees, the cat’s pajamas, like the coolest of the cool! Like , fer sure! Thanks for coming out Beer Leaguers!!!
AMENDMENT: I apologize to all the readers but I was mistaken in the rules the expansion draft. I missed the rules regarding younger players. First and second year professional players will not require protection as they are exempt from being selected. By this rule it would take McDavid, Draisaitl, Nurse, Reinhart, Yakimov, and Chase would be exempt from being selected.
With these stipulations I would obviously change my selections. No need to protect players that are exempt from being selected in the first place. Again I apologize for my error and appreciate those that pointed it out to me. Below are my new selections based on this new information.
Goalies(2): Cam Talbot and Ben Scrivens
Defense(3): Andrej Sekera, Mark Fayne, and Oscar Klefbom
Forwards(7): Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Nail Yakupov, Benoit Pouliot, Matt Hendricks, Anton Lander
I only chose to protect Scrivens because I didn’t feel there was 5 defensemen or 9 forwards that I would want to protect. I would have opted to keep Brossoit instead of Scrivens but he doesn’t meet the games played eligibility to be protected. Thanks again for reading and again I apologize for my error.
