The Oilers froze the signing of junior eligibles after inking Olivier Roy, Tyler Pitlick, Curtis Hamilton, Cameron Abney, Martin Marincin, Anton Lander and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.
It left Brandon Davidson and Ryan Martindale--two junior players certainly headed to pro hockey--on the outside looking in.
The training camp cuts will decide this and of course there are always trades. Having said that, I would think that both Martindale and Davidson will end up in pro hockey if they show well in camp and pre-season. Jonathan Willis has an article up at Oilers Nation and lists several candidates he feels might be flushed. I rarely disagree with Jonathan but in this case four of the five men he lists are players that are very likely to stay with the organization. Ryan O'Marra, Chris Vande Velde, Milan Kytnar and Hunter Tremblay are players I believe will be in OKC or Edmonton in 11-12. I do agree with Jonathan that Johan Motin is in a spot of bother as an Oiler prospect and might end up going the way of Josef Hrabal.
My list? Beyond Motin, I'd suggest that Gilbert Brule (IR) and Phil Cornet are possibles, and the club may choose to send Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and or Martin Marincin back to junior. I think VandeVelde will get a long look and an NHL chance this season, O'Marra might be a candidate for extra forward for the Oilers out of TC, Kytnar is quietly building a strong resume (which Jonathan mentions) and Tremblay has a growing reputation within the organization. I don't think those men are going anywhere.
Not overly surprised that Martindale wouldn't be given priority given the circumstances in which he scored his points and the depth at his position.
ReplyDeletebut davidson seems a bigger shock
Management????
ReplyDeleteKevin Lowe hires his buddy ST.
ST hires his buddies PQ, TR and now Duane Sutter.
Tampa Bay on the other hand evaluates and hires best available GM in Steve Yzerman. Then they evaluate and hire a very successful junior coach and not surprisingly Tampa Bay has a substantial increase in points.
Oilers management meanwhile - two 30 place finishes....
O'Marra is terrible, the Oil should quit wasting money on him.
ReplyDeleteJust one of the reasons to question the Ryan O'Marra signing...
ReplyDeleteIt has been raised before that Davidson might benefit from an extra year in Junior, especially given his later start to higher level hockey. In that case, there seems little benefit to signing him this year.
ReplyDeleteI'm more confused about the Abney signing. He's not likely to make the AHL team... so why sign him so he can play in the ECHL? I don't understand why he wouldn't be served well with another year of Junior. It would've saved a contract spot for... you know... a goalie... a defenseman... anybody... Bueller...
It could well be that they've already deciede both players will be heading back to junior, but as you mention they've got a bit of flexibility because of RNH and Marincin.
ReplyDeleteIf Davidson looks ready to move on and Marincin looks like he could use another WHL year, not too hard toi imagine them signing Davidson and sending Marincin back to the WHL, same as Martindale and RNH.
Of the two, I'm more surprised by Martindale. He's an earlier pick, and because of his situation (probably going back to play with the same two players in Prince and Toffoli, both of whom are not AHL eligible and are unlikely to make their NHL teams) you'd think they might have wanted to get him onto the next level. Would be interesting to hear the differing thoughts from MacGregor, Sillinger, Moores, and Tambellini's on whether Martindale should be turned pro, which route they see as better.
This actually is another indictment on the Ryan Jones signing. Not only does he not fill a need, but it feels like he is actively preventing roster flexibility.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Sutton does get traded sooner rather than later. ;-)
rations - what poor pro hockey players subsist on
Cam Abney has a spot on the 50 man list and two actual prospects don't. That is all.
ReplyDeleteI would wager severing my balls while bathing in acid against a nickel that a better tough guy will be easily available via free agency than Abney in his RFA years. That is all.
ReplyDeleteAs hard as I try, I can't paint a DFL twopeat in the bobble-pass from GIG to Batman as an indictment of established relationships.
ReplyDeleteGIG = Gotham Investors Group.
From Wikipedia:
With more than thirty individual shareholders, GIG was the largest ownership group in the NHL. Among the four North American major sports leagues, only the Green Bay Packers have a larger ownership group.
There will be time enough for sour kisses if the two-stage DFL booster-stick falls back to earth like 2.9 tons of space station wetwipes in a rare Kazakian mishap.
Further malicious cribbage:
Chrono-synclastic infundibulum are "those places ... where all the different kinds of truths fit together. Vonnegut notes that any detailed description of this phenomenon would infuriate the layman, but any comprehensible explanation would insult an expert.
So we're both right, after all.
Davidson is a long term project and will be sent done for another year in the WHL, that's a well known fact.
ReplyDelete...what kris said. Who drafts and develops one-dimensional goons anymore? Let alone have them stand in the way of developing actual prospects?
ReplyDeletescurve - about the only thing an Oiler player hasn't lost man games to since fall '06
Re: Motin, this newspaper interview was from May 5 in his hometown of Karlskoga. He says I think I've improved alot in the two years and that I'm a much better hockey player than since I came to the US. I've worked on being more of a two-way player and can get more involved in the offensive zone as well, also focusing on having more good matches in a row.
ReplyDeleteHe notes that his January 2011 shoulder injury set back his place in the depth chart and he was disappointed to be assigned to Stockton upon his return.
When Motin was drafted, the Oil scouting staff knew he was a defensive defenseman. If I remember correctly, on draft day Kenta Nilsson compared him to K.Lowe.
Yet in similarity to Pääjärvi's N.America lessons, Motin is too defensive-minded and has had to re-learn his role in the offensive zone.
This is certainly not the case for all Swedes, but I wonder if pushing young teens into the Elite Series against men (instead of having an appropriate junior league) stunts their offensive zone development.
Motin had a starting role (#5/6 d-man) on the Färjestad blueline as a 17yr old.
Instead of these kids being able to dominant at a junior (ie. CHL) level, they play against seasoned pros where they are perhaps overwhelmed. It is more a "don't screw up" and "defense first" instead of dominating vs. opponents and scoring lots.
I'll be disappointed to see Motin get the walking papers, but such is the case in the NHL/AHL development. Specialty players, like a stay-at-home D, are less versitile and need to be allround players.
I bet that upon his return to Sweden, Motin will show up as one of the top shut-down D-man in the Elite Series. Maybe a bit of offense here and there too.
Sirens of Lowetide: ScarJo, Wood, Zeta-Jones plus seven or nine small consolations from the mind-blending pulse-frap of Eternal September.
ReplyDeleteActually, I'm impatient to kick off Eternal September 4.0--though I have to wonder why we bother with the dot digit, since nothing will happen until the March expansion pack, 4.0-Lite. A little bird tells me we should switch to "Tambo IV". No bump dots for you.
Life is like a bag of popcorn. The first sloppy handful is bursting with buttery goodness, then nothing but cactus pollen, floss flechettes, and steam-duds of dental distress. But you eat and you eat until the salt melts your gums but the machine is broken and you dream of buttery goodness to the last unpopped kernel, and not even the gods of faux butter answer your torpid prayers, until sirens abate.
Here is what HF said last week:
ReplyDeleteA member of the CHL’s top scoring line last season, Ryan Martindale had an impressive season statistically. Despite the success, he couldn’t shake the criticisms that led to him sliding on draft day in 2010, namely that he had questionable work habits and lacked passion for the game. On the plus side, opposing coaches named him among the best defensive centers in the OHL, and he managed to post 34 goals, 83 points and a plus-38 rating in 65 games. Martindale is eligible to play in the AHL this season, having completed four years in the OHL, but it looks like the Oilers will have him return to Ottawa for another season of junior, as they have yet to sign the 6’3 center to a professional contract. They are likely looking for improvement in the same areas they were looking for last year—work ethic, consistency, and passion.
If the Oilers are trying to send a message, I don't see a problem sending him back to junior.
They can just sign him next year.
I want some of whatever Deadman Waking is on.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, and I think bringing up Martindale would be a good idea. If he is having success without putting in a consistent effort (as the whispers are telling us), then what better way to cure him of that than to throw him into the AHL. There will be no coasting there.
Davidson is a long term project. Give him more time.
rikiter- wobbly and unsure, as in Whitney's ankles were rickiter before he came here.
@kris & Clay: I got a nickel apiece for the two of you. I just can't pass up odds like that.
ReplyDelete