After rocky NHL debut, Edmonton Oilers loan Dmitri Samorukov to AHL
By Zach Laing
2 years agoWednesday night was far from a perfect night for Dmitri Samorukov.
He took only four shifts in his NHL debut and made mistakes that cost the Edmonton Oilers goals against on two of them.
This morning, the Oilers assigned him back to the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors.
As I wrote in the wrap-up last night, I question the coaching staff’s decision to bench him after playing a mere 2:28. Sure, the mistakes he made were big ones but the kid was playing in his first game.
Breakdowns like the one Samorukov had are coachable, but instead, the Oilers chose to ride five defencemen including giving Duncan Keith over 26 minutes of ice time.
Keith got walked on the game-winning goal, a mistake as egregious as Samorukov’s, but instead of sitting on the bench Keith didn’t miss a shift. Rookie or 1,213 game veteran, there needs to be a level of consistency in the decision making.
Nonetheless, the move to send Samorukov back down signals that one of, or both of William Lagesson or Darnell Nurse are ready to return to play
Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@oilersnation.com.
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