Local legend, Allan Mitchell Aka Lowetide, wrote a piece over at The Athletic speaking to this search for a stronger option at third line center for the Oilers and named three players, JG Pageau (OTT), Joel Eriksson-Ek (MIN), and Mathieu Perreault (WPG) as possibilities. (source)
BLH’s Thoughts: I don’t mind Perreault and Pageau, but Eriksson-Ek doesn’t appeal to me as a fan of the team. That said, the Jets are very much in the playoff race and the war to acquire Pageau is going to drive the price sky-high.
I’m still of the belief that this Oilers team is playing with house money and they could very well stand pat and see where this roster takes them. Edmonton is battling the reigning Stanley Cup champs for first in the Western Conference, why fix what’s not broken?
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Could Taylor Hall Be Acquired by the Calgary Flames?
The deal from Calgary was centred around forward Dillon Dube, RHD Rasmus Andersson, and a first round pick. The Devils are trying to stay in the eastern conference race at the moment, so don’t expect them to move Hall until their socks are blown off.
While I wouldn’t necessarily consider this an official rumor per se. These kind of sites are known to be very hit and miss, but I do think that the content within the provided link is worth discussion. (source)
BLH’s Thoughts: Salary cap anybody? Apart from that, I have to say, that’s a pretty solid offer and I’m not sure if any other offer is going to get much better. Dube’s got top-six forward written all over him and Andersson is already a qualified second pair defender. Now, if the Flames miss the playoffs on the off chance after picking up Hall, NJ could be getting a pretty good player via the draft.
If the Oilers are interested in bringing back Hall and the above offer is the line in the sand, would it make sense for Ken Holland to offer Jesse Puljujarvi, Dmitri Samorukov, and a draft pick? Other pieces would need to be included to set off the financial parts of the trade.
What’s Next for Olli Juolevi?
According to The Athletic’s Rick Dhaliwal, last week, oft-injured Vancouver Canucks defender Olli Juolevi was sent to Vancouver from Utica to get a lower-body injury looked at by the Canucks’ doctors. That’s not too much of an inconvenience, but the problem is, nothing has emerged as to what the problem is. (source)
“I was hoping to get details last week, but it is taking a little longer,” said his agent, Markus Lehto. “We hope to find out in the next few days.”
BLH’s Thoughts: It’s been a very difficult beginning to Juolevi’s career. I hope the latest bump in the road is a small one and he comes back stronger than ever as he’s still quite very young and as an Oilers fan, I can remember Oscar Klefbom going down with an injury almost every year (knock on wood). By all accounts, Juolevi was having a good start to the year down in the AHL.
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I love it! The NHL season is drawing closer each and every day and things are really starting to roll now that each team’s players are starting to arrive for early on-ice sessions.
Add to that the release of each team’s rosters for the 2017 Youngstars Classic in Penticton, BC.
Teams taking part are as usual the Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames, and Winnipeg Jets.
— B.L.H. (Edmonton Oilers Enthusiast) (@BeerLeagueHeroe) September 22, 2015
That being said, let’s take a look at some of the notable players that will be strutting their stuff on the weekend! I’ve got the players sorted from forwards to defense to goalies.
VANCOUVER CANUCKS
Brock Boeser Jonah Gadjovich Kole Lind
These three forwards will be causing havoc for their opponents, no doubt about that. Boeser might be the best sniper in the tournament. Gadjovich, to me, is like a Pat Maroon type. Big guy who can move and has hands. Kole Lind was on the Oilers radar this summer and was the pick a lot of pundits had their eyes on for Edmonton but he can skate quite well, he’ll muck it up, and he can score.
Olli Juolevi
Juolevi might be the best dman in this tourny. He’s very much in the Olli Maatta mold. Cerebral Professor X-type who plays in all situations. A smooth skater with high-end puck moving skills. Look for him to be the man getting the puck up to Boeser or Lind on the break and zipping it in from the point on the man advantage.
Thatcher Demko Michael Dipietro
A couple of high-potential goalies here folks. Might just save the Canucks asses on an occasion or two on the weekend. The two goalies couldn’t be more different in terms of physical stature, Demko is 6’4″ and Dipietro is 6’0″, and goaltending style, Demko uses his huge frame more while Dipietro is very athletic and more chaotic, but both are excellent prospects for a team that will be in dire need of a goalie who can back stop their rebuild.
Kailer Yamamoto Joe Gambardella Kirill Maksimov Ostap Safin
I’m very curious to see how Yamamoto does in this tournament. There’s no doubt that he should be one of the better forwards along with Boeser, Jankowski, and Harkins. I’m more looking forward to watching Gambardella, Maksimov, and Safin because I don’t know as much about these guys apart from what the Youtube scouting has brought me.
Safe to say that Gambardella is your Bryan Rust/Conor Sheary type whilst Kirill Maksimov is definitely the Syril Snipes of the group. The puck follows him around and he pops ‘er in. Ostap Safin… Well, he does quite a few things well but nothing amazing. I’ve seen highlights of him hitting guys, dangling them, passing through them, and sniping on them but I’m just not sure what kind of player Safin truly is. Hopefully we’ll have a better idea after the weekend.
That said, I wouldn’t be surprised of Gambardella stands out the most given he’s probably the oldest player at the tournament at 24 years old.
Dmitri Samorukov Ethan Bear Caleb Jones William Lagesson Ryan Mantha Ziyat Paigin Sahvan Khaira
The defence is where it’s at for this year’s Youngstars roster. None of the other teams possess the same amount of high-end defensive prospects this year and that’s a credit to Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli and his scouting staff. Finally, the Oilers have some defense coming up through the pipeline.
No Darnell Nurses this year, so I’m not sure who’ll be fighting Hunter Smith when Edmonton plays Calgary but there are some boys with some BIG clappers here. Paigin, Mantha, Bear, and Samorukov can all fire the biscuit while Jones and Khaira are VERY good skaters. Surprised Lagesson is there given other Swedes like Dahlen and Petterson for Vancouver are skipping it but he’s your Hjalmarsson. Stay at home, blocks shots and plays a physical game.
Dylan Wells Stuart Skinner
Edmonton’s goaltending depth is finally taking shape and these two beauties should represent the Oilers for a long time if everything goes to plan. Also, we might be seeing them both playing for Team Canada at the World Juniors this Christmas. Skinner falls into that Dubnyk range though, so he might take a while to get there. Whereas Wells has shown enough progression so far that it leads one to believe he’s going to be a pro sooner than later. I’m not saying Matt Murray fast but within the next 4 years isn’t out of the question.
Spencer Foo Dillion Dube Mark Jankowski D’Artagnan Joly Andrew Mangiapane Matthew Phillips
It’ll be speed and skill this year for Calgary. All of the players listed above are highly skilled and can move like the wind. Foo was up for the Hobey Baker award this past season and had Oilers fans all up in a rage when he signed in Calgary instead of his home town. This is a slippery group that’s for sure.
At 34 years of age, it’s nice to finally see Mark Jankowski getting a shot 😉
But more seriously, this Calgary team should be very entertaining to watch from a pure skill perspective.
Rasmus Andersson Josh Healey Jusso Valimaki
I’m telling you now, Valimaki is a player you’ll want to keep an eye out for because he’s the new shiny toy for Calgary but Josh Healey will be the guy that draws you. He’s a bonafide maniac out there. I was hoping the Oilers would sign him because he’s a predator and I’d rather have him on my team than have my team play against him. Skillers better keep their heads up when he’s on the ice.
Tyler Parsons
If Parsons isn’t the best goalie at this tournament, I’m not sure who will be. Maybe Demko? The Flames have a good one here in Tyler Parsons. He’s ridiculously solid between the pipes and he definitely gives his team a chance to win just by showing up every night.
Ummmm. What happened here? I thought the Jets had one of the best prospect collections in the NHL. None of them are coming? Well at leasts Jets fans will get to see a very hard working Jansen Harkins. A very blue collar type he is.
Logan Stanley
Hello up there! Standing at a massive 6’7″, Logan Stanley shouldn’t be hard to find on the ice. Maybe he is Hunter Smith’s dance partner this year? A couple of near 7-footers dropping the mitts is something I’d watch.
Mikhail Berdin
Can’t say I know a lot about this fella but from what I have read, he’s been performing well in the USHL and is a long-term project for the Jets.
Some notable absences:
Jonathan Dahlen, Elias Petterson, Jesse Puljujarvi, Tyler Benson, Kyle Connor and Kristian Vesalainen will not be playing for a variety of reasons.
Young Stars Classic Schedule
Penticton, BC – September 8-11, 2017
GAME TEAMS DATE TIME
Game 1 Edmonton vs. Calgary Sept. 8 4:00pm
Game 2 Vancouver vs. Winnipeg Sept. 8 7:30pm
Game 3 Winnipeg vs. Edmonton Sept. 9 7:30pm
Game 4 Calgary vs. Vancouver Sept. 10 2:00pm
Game 5 Winnipeg vs. Calgary Sept. 11 10:30am
Game 6 Vancouver vs. Edmonton Sept. 11 2:00pm
Have I missed anybody? Let me know in the comments below!
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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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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.
Click the pics and grab a tee!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!
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What’s going on, all you trippy, sexy people out in the BLH Universe? Here we are, almost through the 2nd week of April already. One thing we do know as of now, we officially didn’t finish last this year, and now possess the second best odds at taking the 1st overall pick. My dude Laine is getting a big push lately, and deservedly so! The kid is Magic Beans baby! Now that’s totally not taking anything away from Matthews, or any other kid on this list for that matter! Is it just me, or is this 1st Round Draft Class not starting to look better and better? Man oh man, soooo many excellent options.
So continuing the trend, let’s get down to biz…checking in next on the list is an elite defensive prospect. This choice was hard for me, as it basically boiled down to him, or another top notch defender. Don’t get me wrong, both of them look like sure fire, money in the bank, safe bets on the back-end. So here we are, checking in at #4 on the list:
If you haven’t read no.5 through no.10 on our list, check them out below! And please keep in mind that these are my projections based on the Oilers’ needs as an organization.
Will this Finnish rearguard be the first dman whose name is called at the draft this summer?
Olli Juolevi – D
London Knights (OHL)
6’2″ 185lbs
57GP 9G 33A 42PTS 16PIM 38+/-
I’ve said it before, I love me a London Knights prospect! The kids just seem to step into the big show more ready than others. I’ll be honest, I don’t expect anything less with Olli Juolevi. This kid is some top shelf shiznit ladies and gents! He’ll piss you off in your own end of the rink, and then piss you off some more in his. Juolevi is a premier two-way defender, who isn’t afraid to finish his checks with ferocity from time to time. Now I’m not saying that he’s overly physical, but he definitely knows how to us his size well. He possesses great skating ability that allows him to jump in on the rush, or back-check with ease. This allows him to constantly be a part of the play, and his elite vision has him consistently making smart plays. Speaking of consistency, Olli always gives 100% every shift and is constantly competing on the ice. His puck handling ability, and elite play-making skills help set him apart from almost every defender in his draft class. If you mix it all up, you have one helluva sweet defensive prospect with an excellent hockey sense. I would be INCREDIBLY happy if we land this future stud d-man.
“He’s a poised minute-muncher with very good size and strength for a young defenseman. He makes excellent plays in the defensive zone, using his stick and body to take pucks away and clear the zone. He does a very nice job of moving the puck, showing a sharp first pass and excellent vision. Understands the game extremely well and also has good mobility. Juolevi’s poise consistently stands out.” – futureconsiderations.ca (source)
“The Helsinki, Finland native adopts a cool and calm approach to all facets of his play; never panics and is always in astute positions to lead a charge up ice or make a staunch defensive play. Due to his calming style of play, he gives his forwards a considerable amount of confidence as they know he will address the defensive duties allowing them to push up more offensively” – David Burstyn, McKeen’s Hockey (source)
NHL Comparable(s): Olli Maatta (fellow Knights alumni) is said to be an exact clone.
Why would this player be on the Oilers Draft List? Seriously? Ummm maybe because we suck on defense? In all seriousness, we would be very lucky to land this player. Olli would help to fill up our glaring need on the back-end. He can move the puck well, and has excellent play-making ability. Something that we’re going to need a lot more of moving forward. Somebody has to get those pucks to all those skilled forwards that we have. They only issue that I have is, we’d most likely need to move a defender out. As Juolevi is yet another LHD. What are your thoughts?
BLH’s Comments: I think if the Oilers are in a position to draft Olli Juolevi, they should trade the pick. As good as Juolevi might be, he’d be surplus to requirements in Edmonton. Now if he was a potential 2nd round pick, that’s a different story but in the top ten there are simply better organizational options for the Oilers. I’m a tad concerned that he could get beat up in the Western Conference as well but let’s say the team did draft him, it would be an imperative that he’s sent to Bakersfield for two-three seasons or back to London for another year or two.
Well thanks again folks, as always, it’s been my pleasure. Have an awesome day, and stay tuned for #3!
