Slava Trukno has been mentioned a couple of times in recents posts on this blog. Although he is hanging by a thread as an Oilers prospect (and the smart bet is he'll play in Europe next season, ending his time with the organization) it is hard to believe his 3-year entry level deal is over and still more difficult to fathom just how little he got done in the AHL.
Trukhno was drafted in the summer of 2005 and his boxcar numbers were quality. To give you an idea about just how good he was (in math terms) on draft day, here's a list of 17-year old CHL kids who ended up being taken by the Oilers during those years:
- Sam Gagner (06-07) 53gp, 35-83-118 2.23ppg
- Ales Hemsky (00-01) 68gp, 36-64-100 1.47ppg
- Rob Schremp (03-04) 63gp, 30-45-75 1.19ppg
- Marc Pouliot (02-03) 65gp, 32-41-73 1.12ppg
- Jarret Stoll (99-00) 71gp, 37-38-75 1.06ppg
- Liam Reddox (03-04) 68gp, 31-33-64 .941ppg
- Slava Trukhno (04-05) 64gp, 25-34-59 .922ppg
- Tyler Spurgeon (03-04) 49gp, 8-16-24 .490ppg
- JF Jacques (02-03) 67gp, 12-21-33 .493ppg
- Zack Stortini (02-03) 62gp, 13-16-29 .468ppg
Trukhno is at the end of the group of skill prospects. He trails one QMJHL player (Pouliot) and is well clear of JF Jacques (another kid from the Q). His first few months in the QMJHL in the fall of 2005 were stunning (32gp, 15-44-59 by Christmas) and it looked for all the world like the Oilers had stolen a quality offensive player in the middle rounds. He trailed off after that (28gp, 13-24-37 in the second half) and his scouting report (team leader, plays with an edge; competes both ways; dangerous off the rush, loves to cut to the middle; can pass and shoot on the fly; slightly deficient skater, bit of a wide tracker, makes up for it with strength, hockey sense, puck control) remained positive.
But he didn't adjust well to pro hockey, and his point-per-game totals in the AHL have been going the wrong way for three straight seasons. He had a few hot stretches (played well with Pouliot one year, then played well the next year as soon as Pouliot was called up to Edmonton) but he never did get into the mix for recall.
This past season the Oilers were so banged up they ended up signing AHL veterans to NHL contracts (Linglet) and recalled pretty much every forward in Springfield. Among Falcons regular forwards whose rights belong to the Oilers, only Trukhno, Geoff Paukovich and Bryan Lerg didn't get calls to the majors.
What happened to Slava Trukhno? He didn't develop. We can blame the organization (this was a terrible place to find your way, a losing team filled with inexperienced kids in a very tough league) but we can also question the player. There's not really much of a heartbeat in the resume, his AHL numbers were subpar in his first season and went downhill from there. What we're left with is a series of questions, the most interesting being 'why on earth did some of us have such high expectations of a 4th round pick?' and 'why do we sometimes feel delight when our team selects a "draft faller" about 80 points below his predicted landing spot?'
We don't really have any questions about Slava Trukhno, though. Asked and answered.
I've always wondered why the Oilers drafted so little from the CHL during the Lowe/Predengrast years. They seemed happier with the college kids or Euros. Especially those that went NCAA route.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking that they were happier just stocking them on the shelf then only having two years to have them signed, sealed, delivered.
DangerMan: I think Bill Dandy or Chris McCarthy would have been responsible for the Trukhno pick. Frankly, I still don't think there's a reason to regret picking him. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't.
ReplyDeleteLT: I don't really begrudge the Trukhno pick as I believe it was a 5th rounder home run type pick, kinda like the Rajala pick from last year. I'm just curious as to why the CHL got so little loving over the last decade.
ReplyDeleteDanger Man: I think you've made a great point and one we should watch this summer. During the KP years the club did spend a lot of picks in very specific ways. Lots of US High School, USHL, EJHL on the way to college types and of course a few NCAA kids too.
ReplyDeleteThey also spent a ton of late round picks in Sweden but it didn't get them much. Once they started using earlier picks under MBS they end up the MPS and Lander.
Oh well.
Anyway, I bet we see little attention paid to the NCAA and tier 2 kids this year. The one exception might be the USHL, there are some really good prospects in that league.
Yeah I agree LT. I'll interested to see where the picks come from for the Oilers this year. Stauffer made a good point the other day about US Dman, how the US U18 program is starting to really churn out some quality defenseman. AT the WJC I thought the Americans had the advantage on the D as they had more depth. I thought the OHL and WHL had a strong year for prospects this year and I hope they get in on the party there.
ReplyDeleteI think it's a guy who should be given a long look at TC. You never know when skilled men can burst out, might be a very useful guy with good size.
ReplyDeleteWell it's better than Colin $(/""$($" Mcdonald.
I remember following Trukhno and his linemate Giroux after he was drafted thinking we may have gotten a steal.
ReplyDeleteThe only recent prospect that has not run in place is Gagner and I am willing to give the credit there to Dave Gagner.
Not sure what the problem is, but its serious if none of your picks will ever turn out.
Good thing we have the #1. They should be close to ready.
Maybe, .....just maybe he is not a very good player
ReplyDeleteHe has had lots of opportunities to excel and has gotten absolutely nothing done
He broke your heart eh, LT?
ReplyDeleteDucey: Nah. I still have Pouliot. :-)
ReplyDeleteSorry to plug something here that's not hockey, but i just saw a beautiful piece of flash. I'm usually a harsh critic even with my friends, but this one's a beauty.
ReplyDeleteIt's On the song ''Rosie had everything planned'' from Supertramp.
http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/537413
Feel free to leave comments and please put some good ratings. (It's my best friend and it's girl who did the animation).
Truly a sweet thing.
Love TSN's promos for their combine coverage tomorrow - WATCH IT ALL LIVE!
ReplyDeleteShould be riveting.
If those kids don't show well enough on the stationary bike, they can kiss their dreams of giving post-game interviews for the early-2000s Sens good-bye.
Lowetide,
ReplyDeleteThere's $50 in it for you if you'll write my eulogy someday.
Truk was a 5th round pick - we all know the odds are very long downthere - so having him turn out would have been unlikely even with the equivalencies. Basically he just did what was projected - not much.
ReplyDeleteLowetide,
ReplyDeleteThere's $50 in it for you if you'll write my eulogy someday.
"Ben's Dead - Thanks for the $50 - Where's Lunch?"
When a supposed offensive player can't even produce at a point per game in junior on their draft year, I tend not to get my hopes up at all. Unless, there's some special circumstance like injury or they're bringing size or some other intangible that would lead me to believe they could play on the 3rd or 4th line. Thus I never really had high hopes for Trukhno to ever make the NHL.
ReplyDeleteThe reason the Oil drafted so many Euros and NCAA-bound players prior to 2004 was so that they could hold onto these picks for a few years longer than CHL picks.It was purely a cost-saving measure as the Oil believed they could save on operating an AHL team as these players would, supposedly be, further along in their development than CHL players amd thus close to being NHL-ready needing a minimal stay in the minors.
ReplyDeleteWe all know how that "plan" worked out ;) .