CHASING THE DREAM
By Lowetide
10 years ago
A lot of the Edmonton Oilers collective future is in the three junior leagues that make up the CHL. This year’s group is having a solid year, almost across the board. With the season winding down, let’s have a look at the movers among them.
As the season winds down, here’s the boxcar numbers for Edmonton’s CHL kids this season. The +1 and +2 indicate seasons after they were drafted.
- +1 Greg Chase 66GP, 32-45-77 1.17
- +2 Mitch Moroz 67GP, 34-28-62 .925
- +1 Jackson Houck 64GP, 30-25-56 .875
- +1 Marco Roy 35GP, 11-19-30 .857
- +1 Darnell Nurse 62GP, 12-36-48 .774
- +2 Jujhar Khaira 54GP, 16-23-39 .722
- +1 Kyle Platzer 62GP, 22-14-36 .581
- +1 Ben Betker 63GP, 6-11-17 .270
Three 30-goal scorers and Nurse enjoying a strong offensive season. Marco Roy’s numbers are good, but it’s been a disappointing year after a tremendous start. Injuries have impacted Roy’s season in a big way.
HOW DO THESE NUMBERS COMPARE TO RECENT GRADS?
Edmonton’s recent past includes three #1 overalls, so their numbers can’t be included in this look. Why? Well, none of these players returned to junior after their draft. Here’s a look at the boxcars anyway:
- Taylor Hall 57GP, 40-66-106 1.86
- Nail Yakupov 42GP, 31-38-69 1.64
- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins 69GP, 31-75-106 1.54
These players scored at a crazy clip in the year BEFORE their draft day. There’s no way to compare those players to a recent draft pick not taken number one overall. Now, players not taken first overall.
- +2 Jordan Eberle 57GP, 50-56-106 1.86
- +1 Tobias Rieder 60GP, 42-42-84 1.40
- +1 Curtis Hamilton 62GP, 26-56-82 1.32
- +1 Ryan Martindale 65GP, 34-49-83 1.28
- +1 Jordan Eberle 61GP, 35-39-74 1.21
- +2 Tobias Rieder 52GP, 27-29-56 1.08
- +1 Tyler Pitlick 56GP, 27-35-62 1.11
- +1 Jeremie Blain 40GP, 2-35-37 .925
- +1 Martin Gernat 60GP, 9-46-55 .917
- +1 Martin Marincin 67GP, 14-42-56 .836
- +2 Martin Marincin 58GP, 11-29-40 .690
- +2 David Musil 62GP, 9-22-31 .500
- +2 Travis Ewanyk 58GP, 8-15-23 .397
Interesting. Eberle took a real step forward in year two, Rieder went back a ways. Now, Rieder still looks like a very good prospect (thanks,Tambi!) but maybe there’s something to be said for taking one giant leap at 19. Marincin also went backwards in his second year, but it’s interesting to note that (at least offensively) he showed better in draft +1 than Darnell Nurse has this season.
WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?
The impressive seasons for guys like Chase, Houck and Nurse this year aren’t historically significant. Chase’s year one number fades compared to Tobias Rieder, Curtis Hamilton and Ryan Martindale. He is “in the range” of Jordan Eberle at the same age, but Ebs took a major step forward in year two.
Greg Chase is the best offensive forward among Oiler picks currently playing in the CHL. His number is impressive considering his draft number, but he’ll need to build on it in year two. Based on this brief look at the Oilers recent past, that’s easier said than done.
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