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Congratulations to Taylor Hall on winning the Hart Trophy last night. He had a helluva season no doubt. I’ve softened my stance on Hall a bit lately. He’s such an electrifying player and so entertaining to watch but I still am behind the Oilers moving on from him and I absolutely love what Adam Larsson brings to the Oilers and how important he is to the Oilers defence now. And I will maintain my belief that if Keith Kincaid hadn’t have been a top-2 goalie in the NHL from February on, the Devils wouldn’t have made the playoffs and Hall wouldn’t have been nominated for the Hart when McDavid should have or even Claude Giroux.

Okay, so in the last week or so I’ve read online that former Edmonton Oiler Jason Chimera would be willing to finish off his career in Edmonton with the team that drafted him and gave him his first crack at the NHL. I’ve also heard Bob Stauffer talk about adding a player like Zack Smith to the lineup in the event Milan Lucic is traded to add some of the leadership and sandpaper back into the team that would leave with Milan.

I’m for both of these moves and I’ll tell you why. I have thought that the Oilers have been going with youth for far too long. I’m a huge fan of having older players on teams to help with the ups and downs of a young player’s early years.

I look at Jason Chimera and I see a guy that is overflowing with character and leadership, a player that could bring so much to a young team not only on the ice but off of it. I see a player who the coaches would love to have on the team because they could lean on him a bit. And lastly, I see a player who’s played in Edmonton before and knows the ins and outs of the market.

Now, Chimera made $2.5M last year and that’s simply too much for a player his age and for the role that he’d play. I’d say anything sub $2M and I’d be happy with that. His career has never really been marred by injury, more or less a 70-82 game player and I’d say at this point he’s a 20-30pt winger at best.

Jason Chimera can still fly out there for 39 years old, so the speed of the game has finally caught up to him. I hope Chiarelli takes a long look at him.

As for Zack Smith, I’ve heard that the Sens owner might just be happy to get to the cap floor and see how things play out since they’re not going to be contending for a Cup any time soon. He feels there’s no point in paying premium dollar if the team isn’t going to be a premium one… Fair enough.

How that affects Zack Smith is that he’s a tad overpaid at $3.25M per year until the 2021/22 season. He’s also only a bottom-6 player but one that is slightly younger and can put up a few more points than Chimera. He’s a centre, so I reckon either Strome would be outtie 5000 or popped over to the wing to accommodate another Zack because they’re not dealing Khaira but I guess JJ could play 4C too…

That being said, you cannot question Smith’s compete level or dedication on the ice and that is something the team really lost when Matt Hendricks went to Winnipeg. A big-brother type for the locker room. A guy who can talk to everyone and hold the team together. A player who’ll stand in front of an oncoming bus for you.

Smith has a modified NTC. He has to submit a 10-team list to the Senators that includes the teams he wishes NOT to go to. Edmonton was on Karlsson’s, does Smith feel the same way?

At the moment and for whatever reason, the players that are on the Oilers who did that job two years ago forgot how to do it last year excluding Jujhar Khaira and Matt Benning I feel. We don’t know why that was as it could’ve been due to injury (concussion) or frame of mind but the team could use a bit more of it.

I wouldn’t see Chimera as a FT player though. Smith would be for sure but Chimera I’d try to manage his ice-time a bit so that the Oilers could use him down the road during the playoff run and in the playoffs because you need as many healthy bodies as possible, especially if they can skate.

Thoughts?

DRAFTING USING CENTRAL SCOUTING’S LIST

Yesterday, we did a little exercise using Hockey Prospect’s Black Book to draft for the Oilers and I’d like to do that again using Central Scouting’s list that I found on a Maple Leafs blog here.

• 10th – Quinn Hughes (LD), Michigan Univ., 5’9″, 170lbs

I LOVE this kid! Best skater in the draft (Yes, even better than Dahlin). I call him the next Paul Coffey with the way he rushes the puck. His mobility/agility on the ice reminds me of Pavel Bure. I mean putting the comparisons to a player today, this is a defenseman who moves on the ice like Mitch Marner.

Scouting reports tell us that he’s so calm and composed with the puck. He has the ability to make plays while going top speed and he walks the line better than any Johnny Cash song could. Kidding! The Edge work on this player is out of this world. McDavid/Dahlin-like. His offensive awareness is off the charts and while he might not have the best slap shot, his wrist-shot is deadly.

As with most small offense-first dmen, he can be outmuscled off of the puck IF the opposition can catch him. When he doesn’t have the puck he’s not amazing and he’ll need to shore that up once he hits pro.

I believe he’s going to be a superstar in the NHL and Montreal would be wise to select him at 3rd overall.

BLH’S PICK: This is definitely a player I’d take at 10th overall. I’d only take Dahlin or Svechnikov ahead of him if I were the Oilers.

“He’s so creative and the vision is unreal…he mixes in the use of the way he skates with those edges to get so much production out of his talent. I don’t think he’s ever seen a patch of open ice he didn’t exploit. I love that he uses so much ice in the offensive zone to create offence.He’lljumpinto aplayseeminglyoutofnowhereandeitherscore,oratminimumcreatea great scoring chance. His play in his own end can be a big adventure but I think as he matures it will improve.”

• 40th – Curtis Douglas (LW). Windsor Spitfires, 6’8″, 234lbs

We’ve seen big players come through the pros before but not many as big as Curtis Douglas. He’s nearly 7-feet tall on skates… That’s insane. Could become a better skating Brian Boyle when all is said and done.

The wheels are a tad rough on this big rig and he’ll have to shine those puppies up if he’s going to be in the NHL. The reports tell us he’s quite smart on the ice and knows where to go on the ice to maximize his effectiveness. He could be a massive physical presence on the ice and use that body to simply barge his way into producing but that’s not the case with Douglas. He knows when and when not to use that size to his advantage.

BLH’S PICK: Douglas is not the player I’d take here. I don’t think the Oilers require this type of player in the 2nd round and in reality I reckon his skating drops him into the 4th or 5th round. If we’re picking players around Douglas on Central Scouting’s list, I’d probably be more apt to select one of hulking power forward Albin Eriksson, tricky puck wizard Jesse Ylonen, or Bo Mironov 2.0 Alexander Alexeyev.

“Once you look past Douglas’s skating from a stand-still position, there’s a rare and talented center who has the potential to develop into something more than a lot of previous draft selections that were based on their size could develop into.”

• 71st – Marcus Westfalt (C), Brynas, 6’3″, 205lbs

The Swede is a multi-positional player who can serve his team not only at centre but also the wing. Quite a smart player who excels on the PK due to his long stick and broad physical presence. To add to that, he uses both those attributes to become a formidable player on the PP where Sweden uses him as the goalie screen.

As with Douglas, Westfalt’s skating is less than stellar and everything about it will have to improve if he’s to make an impact on North American ice anytime soon.

BLH’S PICK: I’m not a huge fan of players who don’t skate well and Westfalt sounds like a bigger version of Anton Lander whom I loved as a player but couldn’t make it as an NHLer due to his boots. I’d go with Jonathan Berggren here because I love his speed, his aggressiveness, and that he reminds me of Viktor Arvidsson a bit.

“He’s a big kid, played smart hockey and a pretty good skater. He’s responsible defensively… played a lot of PK minutes and his coach trusted him with key icetime. On the ice in the last minute with a one goal lead. Not a bad sign for a young kid. Didn’t show me much in the way of skill when I saw him.”

• 133rd – Anderson MacDonald (LW), Moncton Wildcats, 6’1″, 205lbs

I thought I read about him at the beginning of the season as a possible 1st round pick but it seems that things have really gone south for MacDonald. He is a goal-scoring power forward without a doubt. He’s potted 56 goals in the last two seasons for Sherbrooke and Moncton of the QMJHL but he’s also a combined -50 in that time.

Our reports tell us that he has compete issues and that his skating won’t cut it at the pro level. He’s not a good enough skater nor is he a fast enough one which hurts his stock as a power forward because one of the great pluses of being a player with a big body is that you can be very effective on the forecheck. MacDonald isn’t fast enough to even be effective there.

NHL release on the shot but everything else is below par. Teams may pass him over completely and wait to see how he improves doing into next year’s draft…

BLH’S PICK: What’s with the poor skaters? I wouldn’t take this guy either. His size is nice and the shot is cool but there’s nothing else there. Jack Drury is rated 159th on Central Scouting’s list and I’d have him here no doubt about it. ISS has him at 41… He’s simply a much better player and according to ISS, they’ve got him pegged as a top-6 playmaking forward. Yes, please!

“Not a player that impressed me this year. His compete level is very low. Not sure I’d want to draft him at any point of the draft, just not my cup of tea.”

• 164th – Xan Gurney (LD), Chicago Steel, 6’3″, 185lbs

ISS doesn’t even rank this fella and the Black Book just mentions him in the scouting reports to which we’re told Gurney doesn’t do too much to get you excited but he’s got good size, moves well enough, makes a nice 1st pass, and likes to hit. Basically Eric Gryba.

BLH’S PICK: No… No Gryba’s here thank you… I’ll take British skiller Liam Kirk. Hockey Prospects has him ranked 113th and tells us he’s a creative and skilled player that uses his speed and fast reads to make plays happen around him.

• 195th – Peter Stratis (RD), Sudbury Wolves, 6’0″, 190lbs

Stratis is a smaller defender who helps out on the Wolves’ PP due to his good awareness and low accurate shot. He’s very gritty in his own end and doesn’t shy away from a battle in the corners. High work ethic probably makes him a coach’s favorite.

The Black Book’s description of this player is basically Kris Russell.

BLH’S PICK: Probably not taking this guy either. He sounds like the kind of player the Oilers could sign out of the NCAA on any given year. Probably go with Matej Pekar out of the USHL on this one. The Black Book has him at 103 and says,

“despite being a PPG player for Muskegon, he’s a hard-working 2-way forward that can provide quality minutes in all situations for his team.”

“He has an inconsistent first pass, there will be games where he’s moving the puck out on the breakout quick to teammate, but then there are also a lot of times where he gets the puck on his stick with time and space and he goes glass and out when his teammate is open. He holds onto the puck too long, effectively closing off his window which takes away opportunities to make a quick first-pass”