Tag Archives: Matthew Tkachuk

Multi-point efforts from Mitch Marner and Christian Dvorak led the London Knights to a 6-2 win over the host Red Deer Rebels to open the 98th MasterCard Memorial Cup. Rob Wallator/CHL Images

The game started off strong for the Red Deer Rebels.

The first half of the first period was driven by the Rebels and they looked very much into the game. Banging, crashing and taking straight lines to the Knights, they certainly gave the London Knights a warm welcome to what playing WHL hockey is all about.

Both teams traded chances early in the game until Rebel Defender Hayden Fleury got into it after the whistle with Knights Winger Matthew Tkachuk. Despite the fact that the two had been pushing and shoving, the Knights got the last laugh as Fleury was penalized two minutes for roughing.

“We got a good start for the first ten minutes but penalties changed the momentum of our game,” said Rebels Head Coach during his post-game availability. “London was able to regroup and create some offense.”

It didn’t take long for the the Knights to capitalize, as on the powerplay drawn by Tkachuk, Mitch Marner and Tkachuk contributed assists on an Aaron Berisha goal.

From that point on, the Knights began to pour it on the Rebels. Christian Dvorak capitalized on two great set ups in front of the Rebels net in thanks to assists from Olli Juolevi and Mitch Marner on both goals.

Much like the second period, the first chunk of the second was quite even. However, Mitch Marner continued to shine and put the Knights up 4-0 seven minutes into the period.

Marner’s uses his speed and his ability to see the play before it happens gave him the chances to make the Rebels look silly. I always knew Marner was a player, but to have the chance to see him up close you begin to realize how special he is.

Hayden Fleury and Matthew Tkachuk exchange pleasantries during the first period. Fleury took a two minute roughing call on the play. Rob Wallator/CHL Images

“They’re talented and skilled,” said Suter when asked about the performance of the Tkachuk, Dvorak and Marner line.

“When you give them ice and allow them to do things and don’t play a hard game against them, they’re going to dominate you.”

Every time the trio were on the ice, the Knights spent almost all the time in the Rebel end. If teams can’t find a way to shut down this incredibly dominant line it is going to be very difficult to beat the Knights.

Tkachuk, who is the 2nd ranked North American skater by the NHL’s Central Scouting service, had a solid performance notching one assist alongside 10 shots on net and a +3 rating.

“To start off 1-0 is perfect,” said Tkachuk after the game.

“I hope the other team’s notice that we are here and we are here to win.”

Pair that alongside the stellar play of Knights G Tyler Parsons, and they could very well be the team to beat in this years Memorial Cup.

“Tyler Parsons made some amazing saves even when we had the lead, he kept us in the game,” said Knights head coach Dale Hunter.

“He gave us the momentum in the first ten minutes when Red Deer was putting a lot of pressure. It is a big win for our first game tonight.”

5’10, 174 lb 2016 Draft eligible Knights Defenceman Victor Mete scored a great goal in the second picking up a loose puck in the slot and firing it above Rebel G Rylan Toth.

His speed and offensive awareness could make him an interesting selection in this years draft. Mete led all OHL defencemen with a +53 +/- rating, and is currently rated .

The story behind the game wasn’t the fact that the Knights poured it on the Rebels, but simply the fact that Red Deer was unable to shut down the dynamic line of Matthew Tkachuk, Christian Dvorak and Mitchell Marner.

Every time the trio were on the ice, they spent almost all the time in the Rebel end. Simply put, if teams can’t find a way to shut down this line it is going to be very difficult to find a way to beat the Knights.

Pair that alongside the stellar play of Knights G Tyler Parsons, and they could very well be the team to beat in this years Memorial Cup.

“Tyler Parsons made some amazing saves even when we had the lead, he kept us in the game,” said Knights head coach Dale Hunter.

“He gave us the momentum in the first ten minutes when Red Deer was putting a lot of pressure. It is a big win for our first game tonight.”

I will be in Red Deer for the games over the next week covering the Memorial Cup live, so be sure to follow me on Twitter so you don’t miss a beat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8mIcgbSRHk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uW6S216eoEE

Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, NHL Entry Draft, Prospects

Poor Number Four

May 19, 2016 Beer League Hero

The Edmonton Oilers hold the 4th overall pick in the upcoming NHL Entry Draft in Buffalo this June. There’s been a lot of banter as to what the Oilers should do with it. Trade it outright, trade down, or select Matthew Tkachuk, Pierre-Luc Dubois, or Olli Juolevi. I’ll tell you what the Oilers shouldn’t do…

Trade the 4th Overall for an NHL player

Apart from the obvious expansion draft exposure to said acquired player, the main reason the Oilers shouldn’t be dealing that pick out for an established NHL player is because the Oilers are finally in a position to develop players on the long-term ala the Detroit Red Wings.

The top 9 is more or less sorted and the defense is on its way. Not quite there mind you but the blue line has some nice pieces coming up that should blossom in the following season or two.

The Oilers could select players like Matthew Tkachuk, Jakob Chychrun or PL Dubois and send them back to junior after they’re drafted and then when their junior careers were up, those players could be sent to the AHL for a season of marinating and learning the pro game. There’s absolutely no need to rush teenagers onto the NHL roster anymore and much more to gain from developing them properly.

Just a side note on Matthew Tkachuk. Yesterday on Lowetide’s show he was talking to NHL draft guru Corey Pronman and he said in so many words that Tkachuk has never been the “Go-To Guy” since coming onto the scene. This past season he was paired up with Mitch Marner and the two previous seasons he was centred by Auston Matthews. So take that for what it is.

Or let’s say that Edmonton decides to go with a defenceman like Olli Juolevi or Mikhail Sergachev. Well since they are Europeans, they’re eligible to go straight to the AHL after being drafted. See Julius Honka. Not too sure why they would do that given the amount of LH’d shooters already down there but the option is there nevertheless. I imagine somebody like David Musil would be moved if this scenario were to actually play out.

As fans of the Oilers we should know better than to want the Oilers to rush things. They rushed all those 1st overall picks into top 6 roles and that turned out marvellous. This dovetails with yesterday’s post on patience. If the Oilers take their time and do things the right way instead of forcing things, they will be fine. But should they listen to some of the fanbase and move a valuable piece, like the 4th overall pick, for immediate help; that may very well do more damage than good.

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Armchair GM, Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, NHL Entry Draft, Prospects, Rumors, Trades

Trader Pete

May 3, 2016 Beer League Hero 6 Comments

Could one of these fellas be on the move to shore up the blue line this summer?

Yesterday was a busy day for Bob Stauffer and the listeners of Oilers Now. The talk was all about who the Oilers should pick at 4th overall at this summer’s NHL Entry Draft, which one of the $6M men could get traded, and a multitude of trade scenarios to which I am going to discuss below.

There are a few points of view when talking about the Oilers’ first rounder this year.

Keep it and draft one of Matthew Tkachuk or Pierre-Luc Dubois.
Trade down and draft one of Logan Brown or Olli Juolevi.
Trade it outright or package it with a roster player for an upgrade on the blueline.

Stauffer said he’d talked to two coaches in the OHL and one described Matthew Tkachuk as a better prospect than Dylan Strome right now, whilst the other said Tkachuk is comparable to a 6’2″ version of Brendan Gallagher or Brad Marchand. Kosmic did a little profile of him here.

I think Bob mentioned this like 5 or 6 times over the entire show which sort of leads me to believe that either he was told to sell those two players to the listeners or there wasn’t anything else to talk about regarding Tkachuk or Dubois…

Now, I’ve definitely got time for a player like that. To me, that sort of player screams Corey Perry and boy do the Oilers need someone in that mold. It’s been a long time since the team had a goal-scoring agitator who could think the game on an NHL level.

But there are two things that should be discussed when it comes to the left-winger.

He’s a left shot and the Oilers are pretty stocked with those.
He’s putting up big numbers this season playing alongside Mitch Marner who himself is racking up McDavid-like stats… You don’t want to get caught in the Sam Gagner trap again.

The other player discussed at no.4 was Pierre-Luc Dubois and the comparable for him was Jamie Benn. Kosmic also did a write-up on PLD here.

The Oilers could also trade down. The Vancouver Canucks are supposedly high on the Dubois kid and they hold the #5 pick. Personally I don’t see a lot on the Canucks roster or in their system that might be available. Chris Tanev and Brock Boeser are probably the only two guys there.

Bob and Brenden Ullrich discussed a scenario near the end of Oilers Now that went like this:

Tyler Bozak, Jake Gardiner, and the Penguins 1st round pick
for
Mark Fayne and the Oilers 1st round pick

This would allow the Leafs to pick their homeboy, Matthew Tkachuk, the Oilers an upgrade on defense, and give Edmonton a good face-off man in the 3C hole. Chiarelli could then take one of their left-handed shooters and move him to the Islanders for Travis Hamonic.

In the end the proposed deal might look like this:

Tyler Bozak, Travis Hamonic, and the Pens 1st rounder
for
Mark Fayne, Jake Gardiner, and the Oilers 1st rounder.

Sounds okay to me as it would fill some holes on the roster with veteran players. Bozak has a no-trade clause and who knows if he’d waive it to go to Edmonton. But I’m of the opinion that the team is still too young and lacks effective impact veterans to take this team to where it needs to go.

What about trading the 4th overall pick outright for a veteran dman?

Well the pick on its own has a lot of value. Not as much as the first three but it’s certainly more valuable than Hamonic, Vatanen, or Barrie. But maybe the Oilers would go for it if say they were dealing with Anaheim and the Ducks included their first rounder and a prospect like Jacob Larsson or Brandon Montour with Vatanen or if Colorado included their first rounder (10th overall) with Barrie… Ya never know what teams are thinking right? Isles could very well offer their first and Hamonic for the 4th overall and Brandon Davidson.

Anyways, those were some draft day ideas floating around on Oilers Now yesterday. Someone did call in and ask about Justin Faulk out of Carolina for Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Which I think sounds pretty decent but Stauffer thought the Hurricanes would have to add to that. How much I wonder? Could left-winger Sebastian Aho be added to that deal to make it fair?

My Concluding Thoughts…

If the Oilers are in dire need of character players, could they see what’s available in the 2nd or 3rd rounds and use their 4th overall pick to take Olli Juolevi and not Logan Brown.
Logan Brown to me sounds a bit too much like Joe Colborne and in my opinion if you’re going to be a big guy that isn’t physical, you’d better be a damned good goal scorer or playmaker.
Maybe some guys like Will Bitten, Carl Grundstrom, or Nathan Bastien could be the character players Edmonton could find use for in 3-4 years.
I’d prefer the team trade down myself and find a way to get a dman like Charlie McAvoy or Dante Fabbro plus add more assets like 2nd round picks or 3rd round picks. The prospect cupboard is dusty and the more bullets the Oilers have, the better the odds at finding players. Developed correctly, these two right-handed dmen could have wonderful careers for the Oilers.
The lack of right-handed shooting wingers concerns me. Eberle has a muffin of a one-timer. They need to address this issue in the summer. With McDavid running the PP it was over 20% successful and imagine how much more success they’d have on it if they had a right-handed shooter on the left wall AND a dman who could fire the pill.
A caller named Brad called in and made his case for not trading any of the $6M dollar men because there’s no way the Oilers could replace their production and the team has enough trouble scoring as it is. He may have a point.
Yakupov’s trade return is going to be so bad right now that the best course of action is to keep him and play him with 97 then trade him when his value has increased. If Drouin can come back and perform the way he is then I believe Yak can do it too.

What are your thoughts on the topic du jour? Let me know in the comments below! Three Points Dave has a new vlog out talking about the draft lottery! Check it out and please subscribe to our Youtube channel!

Armchair GM, Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, NHL Entry Draft, Prospects

The Blessing

May 1, 2016 Beer League Hero 1 Comment

It has been done. Auston Matthews to the Toronto Maple Leafs is but a formality now. I think this is going to be way better for the NHL and for fans of the Oilers. Toronto needs a player like this and perhaps all the Stamkos to T.O. talk can subside. All the OEL for the 1st overall pick rumors can go away and we can start to focus on something else for a change.

What won’t stop is every time the Oilers miss the playoffs there’ll be the chatter about changing the rules if they win the 1st overall pick again… That will be with the team until they stop holding drafts.

I don’t hate the Toronto Maple Leafs. I’ve always liked them and having a young superstar to build their team around is going to make watching the Leafs and the Oilers that much more fun. Add to that William Nylander and Mitch Marner and they’re forward corps. is almost as good as the Oilers’ forwards. But they’re already denying the most obvious tank job since Buffalo last year and that’s a joke. Seriously. You might say the Oilers tanked to get some of their top picks but the sad reality is, the were just that bad…

I do not like the Calgary Flames or Vancouver Canucks and to see them bounced out of favourable lottery spots was a delight. I cheered against them both when they made the Cup finals most recently and I mean check out this pic of Brian Burke at the moment he realized his team was out of the running for the top three lottery picks and Kevin Cheveldayoff’s Jets jumped past him.

Ron Francis and Cheveldayoff’s faces… Just don’t look the beast in the eye…

I was pretty shocked that Winnipeg jumped up though. Didn’t see that coming but they’ll get their Selanne 2.0 now. Whether that is Patrick Laine or Jesse Puljujarvi, who knows? Columbus at no.3 is just happy to be there. The “scraps” that Toronto and Winnipeg leave them will be better than anything else any other team is bound to pick in June.

But we move on to the Oilers. They dropped from no.2 to no.4 and that is possibly the best thing that could’ve happened to them. The players, the coaching, management, ownership and most importantly, the fans can now shine their attention on a different scenario.

When I refer to the trusty charts over at mynhldraft.com and check out who the consensus is at no.4 I find that it’s a battle between Matthew Tkachuk, Pierre-Luc Dubois, and Jakon Chychrun.

Tkachuk has the bloodlines and the privilege of developing within the London Knights organization. Personally I like that he’s got a reputation for being a bit of a prick on the ice and Lordy is that an attribute the team is missing. Chiarelli had Marchand in Boston and surely he’d love to have a similar type of player. My only reservations is that sometimes when these little guys play bigger than they are they can turn out to be bit-role players and it’s not like Tkachuk is tiny. He’s 6’1″ and nearly 200lbs but there’s always that concern lurking around in the background.

Pierre-Luc Dubois is seemingly the guy that would fit the bill for the Oilers. He put up 99 points in 60-odd games this year and standing at 6’2″ and over 200lbs, he doesn’t have far to grow physically. He can play both centre and left wing and he’s got a reputation for being “old-fashioned” in his play sometimes. Craig Button’s Dubois comparison to Jamie Benn is compelling. I’ve also heard Ryan Smyth comparisons, so that would make fans in the YEG happy. He’s a late riser in the rankings and Dave Gordon from The Oilers Rig said that was a concern to him. For me, if Dubois spent another year in the QMJHL for Cape Breton and developed a bit more, I’d be happy with that. No need to rush kids into the ‘Chel…

Jakob Chychrun is a man of may opinions. He’s one of, if not, the best skaters in the entire draft and there’s a reason people have been keeping an eye on him since he was 15. Maybe that’s why the defenseman has gone from competing with Auston Matthews for the no.1 spot overall to nearly dropping out of the top ten due to the good performances from Olli Juolevi and Mikhail Sergachev and his poor performances at the Prospects game and his non-performance at the World Juniors. Too much coverage.

There are too many questions that come with Chychrun at this point that make me comfortable with the Oilers picking him here. I’d prefer the Finn, Olli Juolevi, if I had to choose. We have more of an idea with Juolevi and he’d be eligible to go to Bakersfield if the Oilers did select him because he’s a Euro. The same way Julius Honka graduated from the WHL to the AHL the year after he was drafted by Dallas.

Lastly, there’s one more option I’d prefer the team to explore to great extent. The trade option. There are going to be teams that want one of the three players above. I reckon Boston or Arizona would love to get their hands on Tkachuk. Undoubtedly the Habs would jump at a chance to draft Juolevi or Dubois. How much would Toronto offer the Oilers for their 4th overall pick and the chance to draft another one of the Hunter’s boys?

This is not a pick the Oilers should be using to trade outright for an NHL-ready player though. The havoc that will cause when the expansion draft comes could be a bit too much. They need to use this opportunity to re-stock the shelves in the prospect cupboard.

So how far would you be willing to move down in the draft? Are there enough prospects in the 2nd and 3rd rounds that you think will pan out? I suppose it’s an unknown until it’s a known but having a few more bullets in the chamber within the first three rounds appeals to me at this point in the Oilers development path.

What do you think? Let me know in the comments below or on Twitter @beerleagueheroe!

Armchair GM, Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, NHL Entry Draft, Prospects

Auston 3:16 Says…

April 30, 2016 Beer League Hero

The day of reckoning has come and tonight is going to be a beauty. Will the Edmonton Oilers “get lucky” and win the lottery and stay within the top three or will they “lose” the lottery and be forced down to the 4th or 5th spot?

I have to be honest, I could care less at this point. The team doesn’t really need to add another impact teenager to its ranks and we’ve done enough speculating to date that I’m numb to it all now. So what are we going to do? Well speculate some more of course. This isn’t going to take long. Is what I used to tell all my girlfriends back in the day.

If the Oilers Get the 1st Overall Pick…

HAHAHAHHAHAHAHA!! Then breathe… Then HAHAHAHAHHAHAHA!… Then check to see if Toronto has burned to the ground. Then HAHAHAHAHAHA…

Auston Matthews all day long baby. You don’t think that Arizona, or any other team for that matter, will come knocking every year to see if they can shake Matthews loose? Would you trade him for Erik Karlsson?

If the Oilers Get the 2nd Overall Pick…

They take the Finnish Bazooka Patrik Laine! From watching him live and the clips online, it’d be hard not to take him. In the past he’s had issues with authority but he’s seemingly moved on from that. Put him on the wing, move Maroon down or to the right side and watch the fireworks!

If the Oilers Get the 3rd Overall Pick..

Jesse Puljujarvi and his vowel-happy name will be an Edmonton Oiler. Is it just me or is Laine-Puljujarvi the 2nd coming of Ovechkin-Malkin? Take a minute to think about that. Another thing to consider. Finns seem to do okay in Edmonton. Some better than others…

If the Oilers Get the 4th Overall Pick…

Matty Tkachuk is their man. I think a lot of people will argue that Dubois might be a better pick here but Tkachuk’s bloodlines and hockey IQ will set him apart here.

If the Oilers Get the 5th Overall Pick…

Olli Juolevi/Mikhail Sergachev/Jakob Chychrun. You flip the three-sided coin on this one. Sergachev just won the OHL defender of the year award but I’m not that impressed. The last Russian to do that in the OHL was former Oiler Alexei Semenov and he sure turned out. I mean Ryan Ellis won it TWICE!

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So there you have it. Those are my thoughts. I don’t think they will trade it outright. Trading down to get Jake Bean or Dante Fabbro might be in their plans. Or if the elusive “Lindros” offer is out there, they might do that.

Let’s talk about that “Lindros” offer. According to Elliotte Friedman, the last major offer for the first overall pick was in Aaron Ekblad’s draft year of 2014. The Tampa Bay Lightning offered Jonathan Drouin (#3 in 2013) and Andrei Vasilevskiy (#19 in 2012) and were obviously turned down.

The one deal I’d consider is the one Bob Stauffer’s been mentioning on Oilers Now with the Coyotes. Dylan Strome, both of the Coyotes first rounders this year and one of their second rounders for the 1st overall pick. I went into detail on that offer here. I think this is the closest one might ever see to a “Lindros” offer in the cap-era.

Another thing that has been talked about on Lowetide’s morning show is how this draft will affect who the Oilers protect in the next expansion draft. If they trade any pick away for an NHL-ready dman this summer, that could drastically affect how they go forward in the expansion draft. So perhaps they are better off using the pick and saving themselves a little headache in a year’s time.

So that’s ‘er folks. Enjoy the playoff games today and enjoy the draft lottery. I’m thinking of doing a Blab for the lottery. Don’t know what a Blab is? Basically like Google Hangouts but using Twitter instead of Gmail. Check out this link and if you’re on Twitter you can join me and we’ll chat hawkey before and after the lottery!!

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