NHLE (FORWARDS)
By Lowetide
11 years ago
The Edmonton Oilers have been blessed with some of the finest teenagers on the planet these last three years. NHL equivalencies courtesy Gabriel Desjardins has offered clues each summer about the cold winter evenings and the young men who would score at a worthy clip. What do the Desjardins’ NHLE’s suggest for this season?
SUMMER 2010 (for 10-11)
The Oilers drafted Taylor Hall, and Jordan Eberle turned pro. Sweden’s Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson crossed the pond because he looked ready to. NHLE’s from 09-10 season, all in 82gp notation and those who played 40+ NHL games the following year are in bold:
- R Jordan Eberle 22-24-46
- L Taylor Hall 17-29-46
- L Magnus Pääjärvi 16-22-38
- L Linus Omark 20-15-35
- C Chris Vande Velde 13-21-34
- L Philippe Cornet 10-17-27
- L Teemu Hartikainen 12-14-26
- R Toni Rajala 11-15-26
- C Robby Dee 13-12-25
- C Ryan Martindale 8-16-24
- C Milan Kytnar 8-14-22
- C Anton Lander 9-12-21
- L Liam Reddox 9-9-18
- C Tyler Pitlick 9-8-17
- L Curtis Hamilton 7-8-15
- R Colin McDonald 6-5-11
- C Ryan O’Marra 6-3-9
- L Drew Czerwonka 2-4-6
- R Cameron Abney 2-3-5
- L Matt Glasser 2-3-5
Five kids who were (mostly) outside the NHL in 09-10 played a significant amount in the league the following season. Desjardins’ equivalency pegged Eberle and Paajarvi pretty well, Hall overperformed by some distance, and the other two (Omark and Reddox) didn’t play enough to cover the number. I’d say Desjardins did a pretty good job telling us what to expect from the group.
SUMMER 2011 (for 11-12)
- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins 11-27-38
- Anton Lander 14-20-34
- Curtis Hamilton 10-23-33
- Liam Reddox 18-14-32
- Ryan Martindale 13-18-31
- Tyler Pitlick 12-15-27
- Colin McDonald 19-7-26
- Teemu Hartikainen 9-14-23
- Toni Rajala 9-13-22
- Tobias Rieder 9-10-19
- Drew Czerwonka 5-11-16
- Ryan O’Maara 1-14-15
- Phil Cornet 4-10-14
- Kristians Pelss 5-8-13
- Milan Kytnar 6-7-13
- Chris VandeVelde 6-3-9
- Travis Ewanyk 5-4-9
- Cameron Abney 3-5-8
Desjardins identified the players who would make the NHL grade in 11-12, although Nuge’s PP prowess (which was historic for a first year player) and Lander’s 4line struggles made their estimates moot.
SUMMER 2012 (for 12-13)
- Nail Yakupov 18-22-40
- Tobias Rieder 17-17-34
- Kellen Jones 13-21-34
- Linus Omark 14-11-25
- Toni Rajala 14-11-25
- Magnus Paajarvi 7-21-28
- Teemu Hartikainen 10-13-23
- Phil Cornet 14-7-21
- Kristians Pelss 11-9-20
- Drew Czerwonka 9-11-20
- Daniil Zharkov 11-7-18
- John McCarron 6-12-18
- Jujhar Khaira 6-11-17
- Tyler Pitlick 4-9-13
- Milan Kytnar 5-7-12
- Chris VandeVelde 4-8-12
- Antti Tyrvainen 4-8-12
- Ryan Martindale 3-9-12
- Tanner House 4-7-11
- Curtis Hamilton 4-6-10
- Mitchell Moroz 6-3-9
- Travis Ewanyk 2-7-9
- Cameron Abney 1-2-3
Yakupov is the third #1 overall in a row and his NHLE is right there in the range. Rieder had a dominant season in junior and has surged as a prospect since his draft day. Jones, Omark and Rajala are undersized on a team with too many already, and Paajarvi/Hartikainen are side by side as usual in their efforts to establish themselves at the NHL level.
Among the other prospects, Daniil Zharkov and Jujhar Khaira score pretty well, as does older prospect John McCarron.
WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?
The Yakupov numbers pop and Rieder is an interesting player. Desjardins’ NHLE suggests both Paajarvi and Hartikainen are a little shy offensively and the Oilers once again have a plethora of undersized wingers with skill. Unfortunately, they’ve already acquired their quota.
The top end of the three year look-see (Hall, Eberle, Paajarvi, Nuge, Lander, Yakupov, Rieder) is strong. Very strong.
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