ROOKIES
By Lowetide
11 years ago
They arrive in our city from exotic places like Toronto, Regina, Norrkoping, Burnaby and Ann Arbour. They don’t yet shave, and we don’t yet have our favorites. Eventually, they find a way into the hearts of Oilers Nation and we begin the process with a new batch every fall.
What will this fall bring us? Ever heard of Nizhnekamsk?
Back in the olden days, before the internet, advanced stats and 24-hour commentary, a fan had to choose his favorite rookie from the Hockey News July edition. A long, painful list of names would appear from the draft, and the stories from each team (easily less than 500 words) would convey management’s belief that this fellow or another gent would win the day come the turning of leaves.
It was not terribly scientific. I always cheered for the underdog, the downtrodden, the 12th round pick. Nowadays it’s much easier, as the draft day profiles put their skills in order and we can have a pretty good idea about a player’s chances based on draft pedigree and what the team did over the summer to bury/push their chances come training camp.
SURE HAVE BEEN A LOT OF ROOKIES
Since the 2006-07 Oilers season began, Edmonton has been graduating kids to the NHL one 6-pak at a time. Lordy. If you went to the rink without a program, it would be the middle of the third period before you knew anything about the home team. Here’s a list–in order–of the rookies 06-12 and their TOI in their debut seasons:
- Jeff Deslauriers (09-10) 2798
- Devan Dubnyk (10-11) 2061
- Tom Gilbert (07-08) 1820
- Ladislav Smid (06-07) 1481
- Sam Gagner (07-08) 1238
- Magnus Paajarvi (10-11) 1231
- Jordan Eberle (10-11) 1220
- Taylor Hall (10-11) 1140
- Andrew Cogliano (07-08) 1112
- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (11-12) 1091
- Kyle Brodziak (07-08) 1033
- Jan Hejda (06-07) 795
- Linus Omark (10-11) 783
- Patrick Thoresen (06-07) 776
- Taylor Chorney (09-10) 730
- Jeff Petry (10-11) 713
- Curtis Glencross (07-08) 709
- Marc Pouliot (06-07) 600
- Anton Lander (11-12) 594
- Lennart Petrell (11-12) 578
- Liam Reddox (08-09) 481
- Brad Winchester (06-07) 476
- Colten Teubert (11-12) 303
- Danny Syvret (06-07) 295
- Jean Francois Jacques (06-07) 293
- Ryan Stone (09-10) 293
- Theo Peckham (09-10) 241
- Ryan O’Marra (10-11) 231
- Matheiu Roy (06-07) 226
- Teemu Hartikainen (11-12) 221
- Chris VandeVelde (10-11) 207
- Zach Stortini (06-07) 207
- Bryan Young (06-07) 151
- Steve MacIntyre (08-09) 86
- Alex Plante (09-10) 54
- Phil Cornet (11-12) 21
That’s spot on: one 6-pak per season, 36 rookies over a 6 year period. And this group has (at the top end) some outstanding talent. I don’t know that a team has had 20 rookies play 500+ minutes each in a 6 year period before, but would guess that it is seldom done.
WHAT ABOUT NEXT YEAR?
I think we’ll see the beginning of a slower period for Oiler rookies. Nail Yakupov and Justin Schultz are as certain as a rainbow after the rain, but after that the candidates become more sparse. Perhaps one of Olivier Roy or Tyler Bunz will make their NHL debuts; or maybe Teubert grabs a job through injury and 12-13 becomes his rookie season, or Taylor Fedun beats him to it. MAYBE Tyler Pitlck has a fast start and gets here by Christmas.
All possible, none likely.
WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?
It means we’re coming to the end of an amazing cluster of Edmonton Oiler rookies that began in the wake of Chris Prongers trade and continued unbridled into the 11-12 season. The Oilers should be good enough to hold all but the very best rookies at bay.
Finally. Music!
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