Tag Archives: Pierre-Luc Dubois

BLH NHL Playoffs Weekly Recap Apr 24th-May 3rd

May 3, 2016 Beer League Hero

Ah round two of the NHL Playoffs have begun and we have some good series. I’ll be honest, I haven’t watched as much of the playoffs this year as I did last year. I think it’s because of it being crunch time at work (teaching gig!) and some weird times for some games. Still you have some really good match ups with the Blues vs the Stars (tied 1-1), Islanders and Lightning (tied 1-1) Sharks vs Predators (Sharks up 2-0, boo San Jose boo) and Penguins vs Capitals (Penguins up 2-1).

My Playoffs bracket has taken a severe beating: My Stanley Cup pick (The Ducks) are out. Only 4 teams I chose (The Stars, Lightning, Penguins and Capitals) advanced. Not winning any brackets this year, that’s for sure.

The Edmonton Oilers News

Like last week, all is quiet on the Oilers news front. There’s not too much going on.

Saturday, we had the draft lottery where I did a live blog during the lottery that saw the Maple Leafs win the first overall selection (which by the way, total shameless plug, but the Oilers Rig has a new look. It’s great. Check it out.)

The Oilers ended up finishing outside the top three, finishing fourth overall, moving two spots down. I strongly believe that the Oilers will be trading the 4th overall pick. While it’s important to replenish the farm team (no real elite talent now that McDavid, Nurse and Draisaitl have graduated), it’s time to move towards a win-sooner-than-later model. It’s an attractive asset.

If they did keep it, I’d love for them to draft Pierre Luc Dubois. He was ranked 9th on our top ten prospect rankings here at BLH.

World Championships start soon. Connor McDavid, Taylor Hall and Cam Talbot represent Team Canada this go around. Of course, McDavid will be the biggest name worth following but Hall did play very well last year with Sidney Crosby and Jordan Eberle.

Also speaking of Connor McDavid: He’s in the second round of the NHL 17 Cover Vote! You can vote as many times as you wish.

For obvious reasons, I’d love to have McDavid on the cover. The Sharks had a player on the Cover back on NHL 2001 with Owen Nolan. Tarasenko is a great player but the Blues had Pronger in 2000. Benn would be the first Star representative to grace the cover. No Edmonton Oiler (other than some Midnight release signings) has graced the cover. So vote away.

The NHL Playoffs News

The biggest stories coming out of the playoffs are the firing of two head coaches this week.

In Anaheim after their colossal let down of a first round, fired head coach Bruce Boudreau. Feel bad for Boudreau here: he was the scape goat and did get them to a conference final the year prior. The big guns like Perry and Getzlaf underachieved on an epic level. General Manager Bob Murray promises that there will be changes.

My likely guesses? Sami Vatanen is gone (I’m really interested in seeing the Oilers snag him. He’s a good second pairing option and a Power play Quarterback.) and possibly Frederik Andersen (an RFA, have Gibson behind him). Where will Boudreau go? I was thinking Ottawa but….

The Calgary Flames fired Bob Hartley. Hartley definitely had his detractors from Flames fans: the Flames were a poor possession team with Bob Hartley under the helm. It was a rough four years for Hartley there besides last season’s Jack Adams Victory and a playoff appearance.

I’d be scared if Calgary snagged Boudreau. That would be a very wise move.

Brooks Orpik was handed a three game suspension. It was a nasty, nasty hit. Clear, late hit, interference. Very easy decision.

He wasn’t the only player suspended. Kris Letang was given a one game suspension.

Videos

NHL Draft Lottery

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peZEcmo3CsU

Top Moments

Capitals and Penguins

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

Backes scores OT winner to tie the series

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rqt8M1DU51w

Sharks go up 2-0….

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKvkpMdge84

A Special Message

While this is a hockey blog and I just do a weekly recap, I cannot express my sincerest wishes to all those effected by the Fort McMurray fire that is taking place right now.

I don’t have anything for what’s coming up or some follow me on Twitter thing. There’s just far more important things going on.

I’m lucky. My dad and brother have worked up north multiple times. I may not be in the trades, but both of them are Ironworkers. They’ve gone up there months at a time. I can only imagine the families of loved ones who are trapped up there or without any place to go.

Or the ones who live there on a full time basis. People who are about to or have already, lost everything.

I am providing a Red Cross Link for donations. Keep them in your thoughts.

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?

If your’e a fan of Lowetide, you need this shirt! Click the pic and get yours today!

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!

Edmonton Oilers, Kosmic Burrito, NHL, NHL Entry Draft, Prospects

Kosmic’s Top Ten 2016 NHL Draft Prospects: #9 Pierre-Luc Dubois

March 28, 2016 Kosmic Burrito

Word up ladies and gentlemen! Here we are this fine Monday continuing the Top Ten 2016 NHL Draft Prospects. Since it’s been confirmed now, that Nail Yakupov asked for a trade leading up to this past trade deadline. I’m wondering how this will influence the Oilers drafting game-plan? Since it seems inevitable that Yak City is on his way out of town, do the Oilers look to replace his skill at the draft? Or will it be addressed through a trade? Either way, there is still quite a few beauty’s left on this list.

If you missed #10 on our list, check it out here:

10 – Alexander Nylander

So let’s get straight to it, next up in the series is one of my personal favourite prospects of 2016, #9 on our list:

Pierre-Luc Dubois
Cape Breton Screaming Eagles
6’3” 201lbs
62GP 42G 57A 99PTS 112PIM 40+/-

What is not to like about Dubois’ game? Seriously? Size? Check! Offense? Check! Defense? Check! Nasty side? Check! Speed? Ok, ya got me there! Skating has always been the weakest point for Dubois. But that doesn’t stop him from being a top-end talent. To say that this kid isn’t a one-trick pony would be an understatement. As he can impact a game in many different ways. Be it his offensive touch, stopping a rush, or laying somebody out with a bang from his big 6’3” 201lb frame. There isn’t much that he can’t do, and by “do”, I mean do it excellently. He is incredibly consistent, which is one of his biggest strengths. Pierre-Luc also possesses an incredibly high Hockey IQ and rarely makes a bad decision, and has always been highly relied upon by his coaches.

NHL Comparable(s): Jamie Benn, James Neal, and Ryan Smyth

Dubois does so many things exceptionally well, and playing with menace and snarl evokes memories of hockey’s heroic warriors of the 1960’s or 1970’s. A real leader with elite offensive skills and off-the-charts intangibles, Dubois comes across as the perfect specimen who we feel is less than a year away from the rigors of the NHL. – Steve Kournianos, thedraftanalyst.com (source)

Why would this player be on the Edmonton Oilers Draft List? Really? Why wouldn’t he be? He has the size that Chiarelli loves to build around, and he possesses the skill to complement our top six. Honestly, if the Oilers land Dubois, I’ll be a happy camper.

BLH’s Comments: I like Dubois if the Oilers choose not to draft a dman and they’re out of the running for Matthews, Laine, and Puljujarvi. I love the idea of the Oilers drafting a mean winger who’s smart with the puck and can go top ched on demand. I do like him a bit better than Matthew Tkachuk just because Tkachuk is playing on a stacked London Knights team. But then again, when aren’t they stacked…

As always, it’s been a pleasure! Stay tuned, as I’ll be back with #8. Until then, stay trippy and always weird…it’s way more fun 😉

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

NHL Entry Draft, Prospects

Day 5 of the Ivan Hlinka Memorial: CANADA WINS GOLD!!

August 16, 2015 Beer League Hero

After what was a great tournament that featured many highly skilled players and future NHL players the final day has come upon the Ivan Hlinka memorial tournament. Let’s recap what was the days efforts.

The first game of the day was the Bronze medal game between Russia and Finland where Russia went into the 3rd period down 3-1 but Finland collapsed in a major way. 2 goals from Nikita Popugaev and another from Artur Kayumov gifted Russia the Bronze.

The final most important game remaining was between Sweden and Canada. All it too was 4 goals in 17 minutes to sink the Swedes. Canada won the game 7-3 in what was their 8th straight gold medal at this tournament and 20th win in 25 years of the tournament.

If you’re interested in watching the game, I’ve included it at the bottom of the post for your viewing pleasure.

With all that in the books the final standings for the 2015 Ivan Hlinka memorial were as followed:

Canada
Sweden
Russia
Finland
USA
Czech Republic (host)
Switzerland
Slovakia (co-host)

After some very impressive showings throughout all of the Hlinka Memorial here are the players who stood out to me today:

Nikita Popugaev (Russia): Another skilled forward to add to a Russia empire filled with them. Nikita recently noted that he will not be showing up to the Moose Jaw Warriors training camp effectively ending any chances of him playing in the WHL this season. With all that aside Popugaev is a skilled forward who possesses a blistering shot and soft hands that all add up into to make a helluva pure goal scorer. Popugaev finished the tournament tied for 3rd in points with 6 in 5 games (3 goals 3 assists).

An aspect that Nikita showed today that caught my eye was his ability to make tape to tape passes through defenders with ease. As a 2016 NHL draft eligible he is going to have a lot of eyes on him and will most likely have a lot of controversy as the Russian factor still exists and he is small in stature.

In my opinion I would slot Popugaev somewhere in the first 2 rounds which may be high, but he played exceptional through the whole tournament and has potential to be a WJC threat in years to come ala Evgeny Kuznetsov.

Alexander Nylander (Sweden): He was crucial in today’s gold medal game as he was always on the ice, and scored the second goal for Sweden off of a wicked shot over the shoulder of Dylan Wells. He finished the tournament with 6 point in 5 games and was finished tied for 3rd and was one of the top European players.

Since he was drafted 12th overall in the CHL import draft in 2015, the Mississauga Steelheads are hopeful to see him suit up with them the coming season and play alongside Gold medal game opponent Michael McLeod. Talk about a 1-2 punch!

As the brother of former top 10 draft pick William Nylander, you could go on and say he is a mirror image of his elder brother when it comes to playing style. He brings along a very creative player who always finds a way to get the puck on his stick. Although he may not go as high as his brother did, he will still be a top prospect to any team he goes to. Depending on where in the draft he goes, he could be a steal.

Pierre-Luc Dubois (Canada): The current Cape Breton Screaming Eagle finished off an amazing tournament with a solid 3 point effort and was awarded player of the game in a 7-3 win over Sweden.

Pierre is a slick and shifty forward who can be a force on any power play unit. His skating stance is quite wide but he still able to avoid hits and uses that stance to protect the puck exceptionally well.

A couple of items I liked about his game was how he was chirpy at times and how he liked to get under the skin of opponents after the whistle. The other side I liked was his ability to pick pocket players before quickly turning up the ice.

Another potential top 20 pick who is someone to look for the coming season. I expect him to be paired on a line with Detroit Red Wing’s first round pick Evgeni Svechnikov this upcoming season.

Samuel Girard (Canada): The 5’10 defenseman who currently plays for Shawinigan in the QMJHL had a great tournament as he put up 3 points in 5 games to lead the Canadian defense in points.

A small two way defender who has a lot of offensive upside but doesn’t get enough credit for the defensive side of his game. He’s a very reliable defenseman who works hard defensively and uses his stick very well to break up the passing lanes and to separate the opponents from the puck.

He recently put up 43 points in 64 games, and was given QMJHL rookie of the year amongst defensemen. Going into his draft year I expect Samuel to try and bulk up as he only weighs 161lbs, he should also work towards being more physical. Personally I thought he was one of the top 2 defenseman on Team Canada.

Now that the tournament has wrapped up and all the medals have been handed out, I have to say THANK YOU! to everyone who read my work the past 5 days. I have tried my best to scout all players and to bring the ones that popped out to me. Tomorrow will be my last post on the tournament as I will be sharing my tournament MVP, best defenceman, etc.

Huge thanks to Beer League Heroes for having me guest write for him and I look forward to helping out again in the future. For any questions or if you want NHL draft news and rankings you can follow me @sullydraftgeek or you can find my scouting services at draftgeek.ca .