Edmonton has signed another junior, this time D Theo Peckham. They took him 75th overall in the 2006 draft and I think he may play another season in junior (he doesn't turn 20 until November and the Oilers have a ton of young, inexperienced defenseman who are either turning pro or young pro's).Peckham was 6-1.5, 216 at the time he was drafted last summer (SOURCE: ISS) and is now listed on the Oilers website as being 6-3, 223. ISS had him rated #82 in their final 2006 edition, stating "he has been fearless since his rookie season and was willing to fight all comers. We feel he understands his limitations and avoids mistakes while playing to his strengths."
He exploded offensively this season, going from 67gp, 6-9-15 in 05-06 to 53gp, 10-25-35. 7 of his goals were on the powerplay.
Peckham is the type of player Edmonton usually has success developing, I have him as their 6th best D prospect (in order: Gilbert, Hrabel, Chorney, Young, Petry. This is the DEC list, doesn't include Grebeshkov) but in all honesty he's probably more likely to play in the NHL as a regular than Hrabel (who I believe the Oilers must sign pdq or lose him).
His Desjardins' NHLE from last season is 82gp, 5-11-16 but those numbers don't jive with previous seasons and he clearly got a lot of PP time. Peckham's scouting report (solid positioning, tough, reads plays well) is boring but effective should he be able to establish himself at the NHL level. A very safe prospect who joins Bryan Young as "young defensemen in the system who fit the dictionary definition of stay-at-home type" very well.
http://thepipelineshow.com/clips/season_2/Scott_Howson_May_7.mp3
ReplyDeleteGuy had Scott Howson on the Pipeline show last week, who mentioned the Oilers wanted to sign Peckham and turn him pro next season.
Peckham is the type of player Edmonton usually has success developing, I have him as their 6th best D prospect.
ReplyDeleteYou know I used to think this was the case, that the Oilers handled dmen well in general. Veteran, rookie, prospect; it doesn't matter. However, Vic pointed it out one time - How much success have the Oilers really had developing defensemen at all?
I had to admit they haven't done that well. I think Lowe is probably the best GM in the league at finding veteran dmen, but the entire staff hasn't done well with dman procurement or development IMHO.
LT,
ReplyDeleteAny specific reasoning for having Hrabal over Chorney? Asides from the disappointment that Chorney is going to be 20 and in the NCAA, I don't see much reason for it?
Then again, we all have our Chris Hajt's =D
I think the Oilers are good at identifying talent but they rush it. Kind of like the Toronto Blue Jays and pitching.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if it would be possible to identify the culprit re:D but you could make a case there's a disconnect between coach and management going all the way back to Tom Poti.
In 99-00 Poti had a fine year with Lowe as coach, but the following year it was MacT as a rookie. I probably saved a couple of articles that had "MacT breaking down his game" and he sure as hell did, to the point where Poti lost confidence and played so badly he got booed out of town.
Poti's fault? MacT's? Lowe's? Since 00-01, the procurement department has delivered:
Chris Hajt
Ales Pisa
Alexei Semenov
Marc Andre Bergeron
Alex Henry
Kari Haakana
Mikko Luoma
Doug Lynch
Matt Greene
Mathieu Roy
Danny Syvret
Sebastian Bisaillion
Bryan Young
That doesn't include guys they dealt for (Gilbert, Smid, Hejda). 13 defensemen, only 2 look like they're certain to have long NHL careers: MAB and Greene (and we could debate that but let's let it go). Some of the 13 were overage Euro's (Haakana, Luoma, Pisa) drafted to bridge a gap that had been made possible from the previous admin, and some were either juniors called up for an emergency (Bisaillion) or minor league veterans getting a taste (Chris Hajt).
MANY have yet to have enough of the script written to make any call at all (Roy, Syvret, Young) so if we're going to say this Oiler management group is poor at developing defensemen we can point to:
Alex Henry: went elsewhere to play 172 of his 175 NHL games
Alexei Semenov: Stepped into an elevator shaft and has only partly righted the ship.
Doug Lynch: Wrist injury changed his career.
Matt Greene may be frustrating as hell but his player-type is slow to develop (similar to Semenov).
Is that enough to say they aren't successful? Yeah, probably. Bergeron is the only clear case of a guy getting 500 ab's over several years.
However, we're a little early for a lot of these guys, and it isn't like the Oilers have spent a high pick on any of them.
PDO: Desjardins' number on Hrabel has always been impressive and he's been playing in some pretty good leagues. He isn't big or anything but his Desjardins NHL (7-19-26) is well clear of Chorney (6-15-21).
ReplyDeleteChorney may end up being a better player overall, but I don't see any evidence of it.
LT:
ReplyDeleteIs 5 points really much to write home about? Especially considering that the NCAA is a lot more "famous" than the Vsetin HC and that Desjardins' numbers aren't more than a line in the sand AND they're still counting numbers and not rates?
Hrabal definitely looks like a guy who has out-performed his draft position by a significant amount, but at this point I have a pretty big problem putting him ahead of a guy who has performed (very well) in the NCAA and played a good role on a good US team at the WJC while Hrabal was cut from the (mediocre) Czech team.
I have to admit though - I was hoping you'd seen him play live ;)
PDO: Hrabel has been playing (and apparently surviving) in a better league for some time now (played 6 games in the CZE elite league at 17) and at 22 played for a time in the RSL this season (and put up points).
ReplyDeleteChorney is 2 years younger, that's his big advantage. He had a very good year, but in seeing him it seems his defensive coverage could use some work.
The rankings I listed are from DEC and may change, but at this point imo Chorney is still behind Hrabel and Gilbert, and we can add Grebeshkov to the list too.
LT:
ReplyDeleteFair enough, though I couldn't find Hrabal's stats in the RSL anywhere. I also worry a lot about the kids who play in the elite leagues at 17 but spend more time in the stands and on the bench than anything. I don't really have anything to back that up other than a feeling that it just causes them to miss out on a key development year. Maybe it's the year where they finally develop a slap shot... and yes, that is a small dig at Smid ;).
I still think Grebeshkov is the real wild card. They have a handshake deal done already, and he's a guy who's put up massive point totals... well, everywhere.
PDO: He played for Cherepovets (RSL) and in 20gp went 3-4-7. hockeydb has all that kind of thing.
ReplyDeleteInteresting team btw, former Oiler Andrei Kovalenko led the team in scoring.
LT:
ReplyDeleteWhoops. Looked at his Czech numbers for 06-07 that were unavailable instead of the Russian numbers and thought I'd read the Russian numbers.
Suppose that's what I get for opening my mouth. But I do like Grebeshkov ;)
PDO: Ah. He was 20gp, 3-7-10 in CZE this season, with Vsetin.
ReplyDeletehas to control his temper though... that's the biggest thing I saw from him this year.
ReplyDeletehow would he rank against Young? That seems to be the first comparable. It looks like he has more offense and likes fighting more but is he that much above him? Don't get me wrong, it's good to have depth but it would be nice to have a guy that could move the puck and, and before you say Smid, perhaps even be able to score a goal:D
ReplyDeletePeckham and Young played together against the Bears last preseason.
ReplyDeleteIt's just one viewing, but Young looked competent and Peckham didn't.
Peckham threw a couple of memorable hits, but he also resembled a plyon half the time. Hopefully a year of development makes a big difference.