Tag Archives: Mike Gillis

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

Edmonton Oilers: New GM/Head Coach Rumors + 2019 NHL Draft Q&A w/Max (@TPEHockey) and Keith Fries (@KeithFries)

Yesterday, during the intermission of the Blues/Jets game, uber-insider Elliotte Friedman said that Mark Hunter had completed his 2nd interview for the General Manager’s position.

Just before we get into this, I need to comment on the playoffs.

I’m not one that cheers for teams because they’re in Canada. I cheer for the Oilers and when they’re not playing in the post-season, I cheer for whatever team I find most entertaining. I’m pretty sure I cheer against the Canadian teams because I think that the “Cup has to come back to Canada” narrative is daft.

So I was happy to see Calgary lose, I was hoping St. Louis would win because I love Pat Maroon, and I’ll be putting my Bruins hat on later today and going for Boston to beat Toronto.

The Stanley Cup only deserves to be in one place in Canada and that’s Edmonton 🙂

Back to the GM talk now…

With the news that Pat Verbeek and Mike Gillis, in addition to Hunter, have been interviewed bodes well for the Oilers. The organization is actually going about this in the right manner.

Looks like Ken Holland is out of the picture and we’re still waiting on news of any other candidates (Ron Hextall, Bill Guerin, and Mike Futa for example) getting an interview. Oh, and don’t forget, Kelly McCrimmon is still a name lingering about.

My feeling is that Seattle is probably McCrimmon’s destination given his experience getting Vegas off the ground and the May 1st “soft” deadline that Darren Dreger said the Oilers have set in place. Unless the wheels fall off for Vegas, I’m not sure he’ll be made available to interview before the first of next month.

Having it all wrapped up by the first of May would give the new management team time to get briefed on the draft, free agents, ongoing trade negotiations, etc. I like that they’ve set this line in the sand.

Funny, Eklund had an E5 out today! Mark Hunter will be the Oilers new GM and his coach will be DJ Smith.

I contacted a source directly connected to the team about this and the answer was a very direct, “NO!”

I think it’s natural to connect the GM to a coach he’s worked with in the past though. Hunter/Smith, McCrimmon/Rocky Thompson, Verbeek/Benoit Groulx, Gillis/Vigneault (before being hired by Philly)…

According to Sportsnet, Smith is being groomed to be an NHL head coach and his mentor is none other than Mike Babcock.

Buffalo Sabres blog, Die by the Blade, did a little profile on Smith here if you’re curious as to why his name is being brought up.

I’m still awaiting answers from two more sources on the topic mind you, so we’ll see where that goes. I do believe Jeff Marek and Friedman were pontificating on Edmonton bringing in that exact combo in their most recent podcast though.

Some folks are of the belief that Hunter is a very good player evaluator. Someone who can project a player’s potential quite well. I would question that at the NHL level because I don’t feel he did an extraordinary job at the draft the three years he was with Toronto.

In that trifecta of seasons, the Maple Leafs had 28 draft picks and the number of players they might’ve hit on I can count on one hand.

Anyone with Bob McKenzie’s list of draft rankings should be able to get an NHL player in the top half of the first round. It’s all the rest of it that’s tricky, and my opinion on Mark Hunter is simply that I have no idea if he’s any good or not, but that’s a very large number of draft picks playing in the AHL out of the 2015 draft. On the other hand, the team was bad, had a good draft position and some extra picks. Oh, and scouting department that is so big the Ottawa Senators wouldn’t know what to do with it. And of course, to further complicate things, no one actually knows how much influence Hunter had on that draft. (source)

Whatever the final outcome is, Bob’s on it.

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A 2019 NHL DRAFT Q&A

We decided to do a little pre-draft Q&A with a couple of bright minds who cover NHL draft prospects, Max (@TPEHockey) and Keith (@KeithFries), to give you a bit of clearer idea on this year’s draft class.

By now, you should be familiar with Max’s work. He’s been doing some very interesting and informative prospect profiles for us this season, but Mr. Fries will be new to you.

I met Keith whilst reaching out to various scouts at numerous levels on Linkedin and the amount of time he afforded to me as I asked him question after question on this year’s class was beyond what I’d expected. So I asked him if he wanted a place to publish his work, and he accepted.

At the end, there’s a little gift from Keith to the hockey world that I think you’ll really dig.

Let’s get into this Q&A because she’s a bit of a long one. I asked some tough questions, or at least questions I thought were tough and there are some that are Oilers-centric for us Oilers fans.

What does your top-10 look like for this year’s draft?  

Max (@TPEHockey): 1. Jack Hughes 2. Kaapo Kakko 3. Alex Turcotte 4. Dylan Cozens 5. Trevor Zegras 6. Bowen Byram 7. Peyton Krebs 8. Kirby Dach 9. Alex Newhook 10. Cole Caufield 

Keith (@keithfries): 1. Jack Hughes 2. Kaapo Kakko 3. Vasili Podkolzin 4. Kirby Dach 5. Dylan Cozens 6. Matthew Boldy 7. Peyton Krebs 8. Bowen Byram 9. Trevor Zegras 10. Cole Caufield 

Can you give me your top-15 mock draft? Who might jump into the top-10 that we aren’t expecting to (i.e. Barrett Hayton)? 

Max (@TPEHockey): 1. NJD – Jack Hughes 2. NYR – Kaapo Kakko 3. CHI – Alex Turcotte 4. COL – Bowen Byram 5. LAK – Vasili Podkolzin 6. DET – Trevor Zegras 7. BUF – Dylan Cozens 8. EDM – Peyton Krebs 9. ANA – Kirby Dach 10. VAN – Cole Caufield 11. PHI – Matthew Boldy 12. MIN – Victor Soderstrom 13. FLA – Arthur Kaliyev 14. ARI – Alex Newhook 15. MTL – Bobby Brink  

Like how Hayton went 5th-overall since centers were rare in that draft, a defenseman could do just that. If so, look for Victor Soderstrom to go higher, possibly in the top-10. Thomas Harley could also make some big strides.  

Keith (@keithfries): 1. NJD – Jack Hughes 2. NYR – Kaapo Kakko 3. CHI – Vasili Podkolzin 4. COL – Bowen Byram 5. LAK – Kirby Dach 6. DET – Dylan Cozens 7. BUF – Matthew Boldy 8. EDM – Peyton Krebs 9. ANA – Trevor Zegras 10. VAN – Cole Caufield 11. PHI – Alex Turcotte 12. MIN – Cam York 13. FLA – Moritz Seider 14. ARI – Victor Soderstrom 15. MTL – Nick Suzuki 

I can’t see anyone making a giant leap up the draft boards, this year. However, I think some of the guys already seen as top-10 prospects could wiggle into the top-5 – like Caufield, Boldy, or Cozens. 

Who do you think has the potential to fall in the draft (i.e. Joe Veleno)? 

Max (@TPEHockey): I don’t see a Veleno-like drop from anyone, this season, but Kirby Dach could end up falling. He has flashed some insane talent, and at points looked like easily the 3rd-overall prospect. But, he’s also been wildly inconsistent. He at one point went on a 15+ game skid where he only managed to put up a few points. The inconsistency could contribute to a big fall, but I don’t see him dropping past 15th-overall. 

Keith (@keithfries): Based solely on the recent news that he’ll be staying in Russia for two more seasons, it’s entirely possible that Vasili Podkolzin drops to the 11-15th-overall bracket. That’s not indicative of his play, mind you. And for how much shuffling and moving up there was for playoff bubble teams, in this year’s lottery, I can’t see Podkolzin’s stock dropping that dramatically. Maybe more the equivalent of a Filip Zadina-esque fall than Veleno’s. 

After Hughes and Kakko, who is the best player available? 

Max (@TPEHockey): It’s gotta be Turcotte. His stock plummeted after he missed most of the season with injury, but as he came back people realized the massive mistake they made. He’s a stellar skater and playmaker, but also phenomenal defensively. He takes the puck to dangerous areas with his skating abilities and makes perfect passes to create opportunities. So far at the U18s, he’s been great on the PK. His defensive play is probably the best of the top-forward prospects, maybe second to Dach. 

Keith (@keithfries): When it comes down to taking the best player available, it’s really hard to look past all of Podkolzin’s offensive gifts. 

The Edmonton Oilers will have the opportunity to take a pretty talented forward at #8 overall. If you were the GM of that team, who would you take and why? 

Max (@TPEHockey): If he’s available I’d definitely go with Peyton Krebs. We’ve seen Leon Draisaitl lacking support from the wing, but in a few years, Krebs could fill that role. 

Keith (@keithfries): I’ll piggy-back on Max’s answer and say Krebs, as well. He finds ways to make it on the score sheet with little help around him, and that sounds like a Godsend to the nightly hot-and-cold Oilers. 

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Based on the previous question, I’d like to know how you’d approach their 2nd–round pick, as well. 

Max (@TPEHockey): The Oilers need a goalie. Shane Starrett has had quite the season in the AHL, but I don’t see him being a starter for Edmonton. With that 2nd–rounder, I’d take a long look at Ilya Konovalov. He’s an overager in the KHL who has been very good for Lokomotiv. His stats are similar to those of Igor Shestyorkin and Ilya Sorokin, but he’s two years younger. He might only be a year or two out from getting some NHL playing time. 

Keith (@keithfries): If there’s one knock against the Oilers it’s their lack of defensive depth and spark out of the back end. I’m projecting forwards to be the flavor of the first round, so a defender with some upside, like an Anttoni Honka or Tobias Bjornfot, might be the way to go.  

Would you trade the Oilers’ first-rounder for help in other areas? If so, what would that deal look like? 

Max (@TPEHockey): I would not trade a 1st–rounder, this year. Passing on a top-prospect like Krebs for immediate help could look really bad in a few years. In general, I’m against trading away high 1st-round picks. 

Keith (@keithfries): A top-10 pick in this draft would be the equivalent of a top-5 in recent classes. So moving out that pick has to net a viable return. At this point as an organization, they’re nowhere near a playoff push, so I don’t see how a trade helps them. Build for the future and make the pick. 

Is this a good year to draft a goaltender if you’re the Oilers? If so, who would you take, where would you take him, and why?  

Max (@TPEHockey): 8th is definitely too high to go after the highly-touted Spencer Knight, and while the 2nd-rounder is a little high for Konovalov, it’s still a good pick in my opinion. What he’s been doing in the KHL would be made a bigger deal of if he was a prospect for a high profile team. 

Keith (@keithfries): There are only a handful of goaltenders that I can see have starting potential, so if they’re off the board, I’d imagine Edmonton sticking with what they have in their system, already.  

When you’re scouting players, what are the most important attributes you look for in a: forward, defenseman, and goalie? What are things that you might consider red flags? 

Max (@TPEHockey): In both a forward and defenseman, the first thing I look for are basic attributes in a player. Usually, that means skating, passing, shot, etc.

For forwards, I look for how a player drives the play. Are they creating the offense or are they benefiting off linemates?

For defensemen, I usually look at how well they move the puck and see the ice in the offensive zone as well as how well they cover their guy, cover a zone, and cut off passing lanes.

One thing to look at is NHL Central Scouting’s player checklists. They’re available to the public and a good thing to look at when evaluating a player.

For goalies, there are a lot of things I look at. My priorities are mainly on puck tracking and technical ability. How well does a goalie follow the puck? How are their angles? Depth? Overall puck tracking is the one thing I want to see. This means seeing how well a goaltender can keep themselves square with the puck and in position to make a save. If a goalie is always square to a shooter it’s very hard to score nowadays. Goals today come from taking a goalie out of position. 

Keith (@keithfries): In a forward, I like to quickly identify their skill set. If they’re a playmaker, sniper, two-way, etc., and then see how their attributes best help the team. If you have a player who’s a sniper, and you keep lining him up at center but complain that there’s a lack of production from your wingers, then move him to the outside and put a playmaker down the middle. That’s not true of every line, just providing a quick example…

As for defensemen, I want to know for sure that they can be disciplined in the art of defense. It’s in their job description, after all. Backchecking, physical play, blocking shots, you name it.

As for netminders, it’s always about being the last line of defense in the trenches, so to speak. You need someone who stays calm and keeps you in the game on nights when there’s chaos and little to no production. 

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Can you give me a few players who might be hidden gems that could be snapped up in the later rounds of the draft?  

Max (@TPEHockey): Justin Bergeron. He’s an overager, but only missing the 2018 Entry Draft by a few hours. He’s been an integral defensive piece on Rouyn Noranda, who have been one of the best teams in the CHL. Other players I’d look for would be Cole MacKay, Xavier Simoneau, and Drew Helleson. 

Keith (@keithfries): There are a couple of USNTDP kids that could fly under the radar of the first few rounds, like Henry Thrun or Alex Vlasic. It’s also entirely possible that a guy like Nolan Foote, who has been a ghost on draft boards all season, could be an everyday NHLer. 

Which players do you feel have the ability to play in the NHL right away? 

Max (@TPEHockey): The only players I can say will play in the NHL are Hughes and Kakko. Cozens would be the next guy to look for. He’s got the size, speed, and power to survive in the NHL, but I think throwing him in would be rushing him. He’d benefit more from playing another year in juniors. 

Keith (@keithfries): Agree with Max that I can only really see Hughes and Kakko being promoted to the NHL, next year. A few players who are already physically mature – Boldy, Dach, and Cozens – all may get a 10-game contract at some point, though. 

What are your thoughts on projection metrics like NHLe? 

Max (@TPEHockey): While interesting, you have to take them with a grain of salt. Some leagues I’ve found feel undervalued, mainly the NCAA. They’re fun to look at and good for people that want to get a quick look at who the top guys are, but they don’t tell the full story. 

Keith (@keithfries): They’re bulls**t. 

That was a lot of fun to do and I thank them both for taking the time to help out. I hope we can do some more as the draft draws closer. Make sure you give Max (@TPEHockey) and Keith (@KeithFries) a follow as they are quite keen on hockey prospects and know their shite.

GIFT: Keith’s has released a 2019 NHL draft journal that you can download here.

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

Edmonton Oilers Rumors: The Draft, Lucic’s Leg, and Mike Gillis Interviewing Soon?

It’s been a slow week or so regarding the Oilers until recently. My DMs have been on fire the last couple of days with news about Milan Lucic, Mike Gillis, Ralph Krueger, etc. I’ve also been upping my draft research to boot. All the while recovering from surgery… If I’m gonna be laid up at home, I might as well make good use of the time.

MILAN LUCIC’S LEG

A good friend of mine sent me a private message asking if I’d heard the rumor about Milan Lucic this week and I hadn’t heard anything, so he sent me a pic from facebook and it had a little story attached to it.

It said that Milan was out at an establishment in Calgary before that final game of the year and a bouncer, who was a Flames fan, got into it with Looch, they fell, and Lucic’s leg is in a cast now.

I’ve also heard this happened in Airdrie (a small sleeper community north of Calgary but very close to the airport) but I lived in Airdrie and who in their right mind would go there to party (no offense if you live there)?

A new season means a new design! Click the image above to get the new Pulju shirt!

*Edit*: So I totally forgot that the boys were out in Airdrie at a Boston Pizza before the final game of the year. Apologies to the Airdrie folk! I still love you!

https://twitter.com/Refmaksy/status/1114605307617890305

I asked folks around the Oilers organization about this injury and nothing was confirmed or denied. It was all very quiet. Short answered replies and nothing more…

This leads me to believe that there’s some truth to what happened, be that the story or that Lucic’s leg might actually be broken or sprained badly.

*EDIT*: Ryan Rishaug confirmed today that Milan Lucic’s leg is indeed in a cast now.

Now Mr. Lucic does have a history of fighting in clubs. Apparently, he had a dust-up in Boston during his time there and as well as in Vancouver back in 2013.

What if that leg is badly damaged? Broken? Well, that’s 6-8 weeks for a minor fracture and 3-6 months if the injury is severe. If it’s only a high-ankle sprain, that’s six weeks to 3 months…

So There go all the plans for getting more on-ice workouts that Looch was talking about in his year-end media avail. And there go the plans the Oilers have for trading him. It might open up a spot on a flight to Ference Island though but I think it’d have to be a pretty bad injury for that scenario to occur.

I hope that Milan has a speedy recovery. Truly. As much as I feel that Lucic isn’t helping the team on the ice or that his contract is a major albatross, he’s still a human being with a family. So all I can wish is for the best going forward.

MIKE GILLIS COMING TO TOWN?

I’ve heard that Mr. Gillis will be arriving in Edmonton this week to conduct some interviews with Bob Nicholson. I’m sure this has the OBC and the local media absolutely running for their lives (not really).

This shouldn’t be a surprise to anybody. Elliotte Friedman has been talking about it for a few weeks now during his spots on Oilers Now.

You might not like what he did in Vancouver, but what if hiring him meant that the Oilers got Laurence Gilman too. What if it meant a prior relationship with Ralph Krueger could be used to convince him to let bygones be bygones so that he’d come back?

Gillis’ teams were competitive and he thought outside the box quite a bit. Some of the more unfavorable moves he made were influenced by ownership as well. But with this push for investment into analytics and sports science, he’s a really good person to be talking to I feel.

I just think that if he can usher in an era of success, I don’t care if he’s a nice man. I don’t care if he gives a good interview. In fact, I would almost prefer if he was prickly to the Edmonton media. They’ve had a pretty easy ride for a really long time, perhaps it’s time to flip the script.

The fact of the matter is, any new GM could come in and move Nugent-Hopkins and Klefbom for example. And use them to upgrade the wings. The new management team could also come in and use Puljujarvi, Jones, and Yamamoto to do the same.

Difficult decisions are coming…

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My issue with Gillis is his draft record or lack thereof. That’s where I’d need reassurances that he’d adopt the draft and develop philosophy currently being implemented. I’d need input on what kind of plans he would have for the current amateur scouting staff and any future plans for that department.

Whether Mike Gillis gets the job or not remains to be seen but the Oilers are going to spend quite a bit of time with him gleaning as much information as possible. Isn’t that a good thing?

THE DRAFT

I’ve been chatting to scout after scout the last few days, asking them about the kids from the USNTDP, Peyton Krebs, Vasili Podkolzin, etc. I have a burning desire to know what the Oilers are getting themselves into here drafting 8th overall.

I don’t know how you have the top 8 panning out but I have a feeling it’s going to go something like this:

NJ: Jack Hughes (C) – 5’10″/160lbs – USNTDP
NYR: Kaapo Kakko (RW) – 6’2″/194lbs – TPS (SM-Liiga)
CHI: Kirby Dach (C) – 6’4″/185lbs – Saskatoon (WHL)
COL: Dylan Cozens (C) – 6’3″/181lbs – Lethbridge (WHL)
LA: Bowen Byram (D) – 6’1″/191lbs – Vancouver (WHL)
DET: Vasili Podkolzin (RW) – 6’1″/185lbs – SKA (Russia)
BUF: Alex Turcotte (C) – 5’11″/194lbs – USNTDP
EDM: Matthew Boldy (LW) – 6’2″/185lbs – USNTDP

This leaves Trevor Zegras (USNTDP), Peyton Krebs (Kootenay), Cole Caufield (USNTDP), Ryan Suzuki (Barrie), Artur Kaliyev (Hamilton), Victor Soderstrom (Brynas), etc. all on the board. These players display skills that the Oilers organization could desperately use. In Zegras, Suzuki, and Krebs, these are extremely gifted playmakers, Caufield and Kaliyev are elite finishers, and Soderstrom is this year’s Adam Boqvist; a highly offensive right-shot dman.

What I’m wondering is if there’s a team ahead of Edmonton that might go off the board a bit and throw a wrench into everything. Sort of what happened last year when Barrett Hayton was selected by the Coyotes leaving the Oilers to choose from Evan Bouchard, Noah Dobson, and Oliver Wahlstrom.

My worst-case (best-case) scenario is if the Oilers have to choose between Podkolzin, Turcotte, and one of Dach or Cozens. But that would mean a couple of teams would be taking players in spots unexpected.

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I love what Turcotte and Podkolzin bring. I’ve been told the Russian could be the kind of player you build a team around and with the way the Russian hockey federation is pushing him, I think there’s an outstanding player there, think the dynamic play of Pavel Datsyuk and the PP threat of Alexander Ovechkin.,. If he’s available at 8th overall, I think you sprint to the podium to take him.

There might be some that are afraid that he’s committed to playing for SKA (Yakupov and Datsyuk’s team) for the next couple of seasons and to that I say, no worries. It’s probably a blessing in disguise given how Edmonton treats its 1st rounders anyhow.

Keep him in Russia, bring him over as a 19-year-old like Vancouver did with Pettersson even leave him there until he’s 20 and then sign him and reap the benefits of having a physically mature game-breaker line-up alongside one of Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl.

Read this if you want a complete picture of Vasili Podkolzin.

With Turcotte, I find he’s got everything you want in a player. He’s tenacious, he’s fast, his edgework is outstanding, he’s got a killer shot, he’s a creative playmaker. Add to that, he’s fearless and his 200ft game is polished.

The one concern with him is injuries… He’s had a tough time staying healthy this year. Why is that? Is it his style of play, or because he’s not strong enough or is it genetic? A major question there.

My wildcard right now is Matthew Boldy. The left-wing seems like the most realistic possibility for the Oilers right now. I like his size (6’2″ 180lbs) first off. He should be able to handle the rigors of the NHL when he decides to join.

When I watch him, I see a bit of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins in the way he moves on the ice, but he’s a much better playmaker. When he passes, he rarely misses the mark. No matter how contorted his body is or how compromised the play, the puck gets to the intended destination.

But last night, as I talked to a scout out of the Northeast, he told me that his shot might be his best attribute. He said that his shot might only be bested by Kaapo Kakko and Cole Caufield in this draft class. That his release is so quick that goalies have a tough time reading where it’s going to go.

Do you know who else has this kind of attribute?

Actually, after watching Vegas dismantle San Jose, Boldy might be more comparative to Max Pacioretty and if the Oilers can come out of the draft with a sniper of that quality, they’re gold.

What do you think? Is Lucic’s leg busted? Should the Oilers hire Mike Gillis? And who’s your pick at 8th overall for the Oilers?

Leave your comments below.

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

Edmonton Oilers: Mike Gillis, Ryan Strome, and Where the Oilers Will be Shopping for Players

I woke up this morning to see the Oilers Twittersphere still going bananas over Ryan Strome and Mike Gillis and who can blame them really. It’s not as if the fans of the team have anything to be happy about. They wanted McLellan out and they got their wish. They wanted Chiarelli out and they got their wish. Now there’s a sentiment out there that had the Oilers now made the Strome and Caggiula trade that the team would be in a better position in the standings, possibly in the playoffs?

Yikes…

Take a second and think about that for a second. Does that make sense?

The trades overshadow the players I think more than anything here. At the end of the day, the return that Chiarelli got for Strome and Caggiula wasn’t satisfactory but I do understand the reasoning for the trades.

Drake Caggiula did have seven goals for the team before being traded right after Christmas but he hadn’t scored the 12 games prior and there were no Ginos for another nine after the deal. In fact, he’s only scored 4 goals in Chicago. The Drake has a total of 18 points and is dash seven on the season. Don’t tell me that he was the missing link in Edmonton. That’s almost as bad as blaming Toby Rieder for the team NOT making the playoffs.

Good player, fun to watch, but obviously not the guy Edmonton was expecting when they signed him out of NoDak.

As for Strome, he had seven points in his previous 35 games in Edmonton before being dealt to the Big Apple. Three points in 18 games this season. THREE! Nobody can argue that that is brutal production and he was given a defined role on the team (3C/PKer) to boot. So it’s no wonder that in a season that meant so much, the Oilers felt they needed to move him on.

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My friend, SPR, had some interesting things to say on Twitter today regarding Strome that I will share with you here.

Question for the masses. Are the failures of Lucic, Rieder & Strome all Chia’s fault, or should we be looking at the philosophical approach of both coaching staffs too as a culprit? If u look at their #’s pre-EDM & post-EDM (Strome), guys tend to have success in different systems. I’m almost of the thought that it doesn’t really make a difference which bottom 6 players u bring in, if u take away all their offensive creativity & just tell them to dump & chase all game, like Yamo & JP were told to do, no one will have real success. It’s more of system thing

Two old school, heavy hockey coaches now in TMac and Hitch. Why do guys like Chiasson and Kassian have success? Is it because they play with 97 & 29 or is it because they’re ALLOWED to play a more creative style when they play with them?

Dump and chase from lines 2-4 and not getting there 75% of the time seems to be the M.O. of this team for years. If u want 3 scoring lines, u have to let 3 lines be offensively creative. Forcing them to dump and chase every night won’t achieve that.

Those teams do it with a purpose and immediately look to get puck to the slot for a high danger scoring chance. EDM continuously looks to cycle the puck back and forth till they get it to the point for a weak shot on net with anyone in front. It’s like all Edmonton does is stall and try and maintain possession on lines 2-4 till McDavid is ready to come back out. Let him open it up offensively then back to what doesn’t work again. Rinse, repeat.

I think there’s a lot of wisdom in what Sean is saying there. I mean considering that the skilled creative types were moved out (with the blessing of a couple of the greatest coaches in NHL history I might add) in exchange for players who were more predictable, it’s fair to ask what SPR is asking.

MIKE GILLIS

Today you might’ve read what Cult of Hockey Journalist (and Oilers insider) wrote about Mike Gillis. If not, you can do so here. The overriding sentiment is that Gillis should be interviewed, had information gleaned from, and ultimately not hired. But my question is, he’s going to know this going into any interview, so how much gold do you think you’re going to get out of him?

I don’t know if Gillis will get hired in Edmonton or Seattle or any other team looking for a new GM but I do know that he wants to wipe the front office clean in Edmonton if they’re interested in hiring him and I can see how that would rub people the wrong way in Edmonton. The Edmonton media doesn’t seem to like him because he’s not a nice man to deal with.

What I will say is that it hasn’t been working in Edmonton with the nice men. Thirteen years and one playoff appearance to show for it. Most of the front office has been the same in that time frame. So don’t you think it might be time to flip the switch here?

Maybe it’s time to hire the mean man and make things uncomfortable.

Is everyone projecting Mike Gillis in the wrong role though? Should we be talking about him as the Oilers’ President of Hockey Operations? How much would he be dealing with the media then? He could still implement his forward thinking and install whatever analytics department he wanted in this role but all the things that everyone shits on him for wouldn’t so much as apply to my belief.

Thoughts?

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WHERE THE OILERS WILL BE SHOPPING FOR HELP

I’m of the thought that the Oilers will be sending a pretty solid group of scouts to the World Championships in Bratislava, Slovakia this year in hopes of unearthing some affordable additions to the team next season.

Names that have come up in the past are Joakim Nygard (W), Jacob Lilja (W), and Anton Wedin (W) from Sweden. Oula Palve (C), Otto Leskinen (D), Oliwer Kaski (RHD), and Ville Leskinen (W) from Finland. Perhaps Ilya Mikheyev (F) and Vlad Tkachyev (F) (Remember Vladdy Hockey?) from Russia as well.

Interim-GM Keith Gretzky did make mention of procuring some talent from Europe that is a bit more pro-ready on Oilers Now recently.

THE DRAFT

At this very moment, the Oilers are sitting at 8th overall. This means if the standings were to remain the same, they could draft either in the top-3 with a lottery win or move down as far as 11th if I’m correct on that.

Obviously, the Oilers will be looking for the best player available where ever they end up.

They can’t go wrong with 200pt man Jack Hughes if they win the lottery outright. Kaapo Kakko IS the winger they need and if you’re worried about another Finn getting picked and taking a bit more time to settle in, don’t. Kakko plays a much different game than Puljujarvi. His English might not be as good as yours or mine but the game is played on the ice and he reminds me of Matt Duchene in how he uses his edges and Joe Sakic with his shot. He’s lighting up the SM-Liiga as a 17-year-old…

After those two players, here are four more that impress me.

  • Alex Turcotte -C/W- (USNTDP)
  • Trevor Zegras -C- (USNTDP)
  • Vasili Podkolzin -RW- (SKA St. Petersburg)
  • Bowen Byram -D- (Vancouver/WHL)

Turcotte is a wrecking ball out there, not only with his physicality (he never gives up on the puck) but also the scoresheet. For the USNTDP U-18 program, he has 53pts in 30 games and for their junior team that suits up against USHL and NCAA teams, he has 34pts in 16 games.

Trevor Zegras is often referred to as Jack Hughes-lite. He’s a crafty line driver that doesn’t rely on others for point production according to Evan Oppenheimer.

https://twitter.com/OppenheimerEvan/status/1075869454192558081

“Betweenness” is a new metric that I’ve discovered that intrigues me. The most basic way I’ve seen it described is from DraftGeek’s Sam Happi,

Betweenness is a metric that estimates the influence of a player within his team’s scoring network. I like to look at it as a measure of how much the team would suffer if that player was suddenly removed from the scoring network of his team— the higher the betweenness, the more the team would feel the negative effects.

Of course, this stat isn’t the be-all, end-all that should determine a player’s worth. Its creator sums it up like this,

A player’s betweenness score may provide us with a lot of information about that player’s context, but it is only one way of doing that. Employing betweenness scores in one’s analysis may be extremely valuable — but it’s more like a thermometer than it is an actual doctor.

Zegras has also been racking up the points for that stacked USNTDP roster. For the U-18 team he’s amassed 76pts in 53 games and for the junior club he has 40pts in 27 games played.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-jv-71HZLM

Vasiili Podkolzin is a contested figure. He lit up the Hlinka-Gretzky tournament in Edmonton this past summer but he’s failed to really shine for his teams in Russia.

Admittedly, I have only seen a shift-by-shift video of him for SKA St. Petersburg but I was impressed with how smart he played. He’s quite good at being in the right spot at the right time both offensively and defensively.

I’ve said in the past, his aggressiveness is something I really enjoy. He reminds me a bit of Peter Forsberg or Evgeni Malkin in that manner sans Malkin’s size. Meaning he doesn’t take any shit out on the ice and he’ll come right at you if he feels he’s been done wrong by.

He’s probably going to stay in Russia for another season or two and that might be exactly what the Oilers need. Just to prevent them from rushing another 18-year-old kid into the lineup and blowing his development as their so apt to do.

Lastly, if Edmonton can get their hands on Bowen Byram, they should be jumping for joy. He’s the best defender available and he’s the perfect partner for Evan Bouchard if we’re projecting three-to-five years into the future.

Byram is a clutch goal scorer (I think he has 6 GWG OT goals this year). He can skate, shoot, and pass. He hits like a freight train despite not having a massive frame and he oozes leadership. Edmonton would be nuts to pass up the opportunity to grab him.

Might a good comparison to him be Morgan Rielly?

If the Oilers find themselves drafting lower than 8th, I would hope they explore a trade then. Either to upgrade the roster, which could be by subtraction (Lucic) or to trade down and pick up additional draft picks where they could select a forward like,

  • Cole Caufield (USNTDP) -W- Debincat 2.0. This kid scores at will.
  • Bobby Brink (Sioux City/USHL) -W- Fast rising up the rankings. Very smart and very skilled.
  • Phil Tomasino (Niagara/OHL) -W- Barzal-lite? You want speed and skill, Tomasino’s got it.

None of these players are big, apart from Kakko, who is 6’4″ and 200lbs plus but none are as slight as Kailer Yamamoto either.

Check out how the rest of the draft class is doing here.

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