THIS, THAT AND THE OTHER THING
7 years ago
Having too many able bodies for available jobs isn’t a bad problem to have. It’s called depth, and that’s something the Edmonton Oilers haven’t had nearly enough of – they still don’t on the blue line — in recent seasons.
That said, it looks to me like GM Pete Chiarelli and coach Todd McLellan will have a logjam on the right wing going into training camp if the roster remains as it is today. Jordan Eberle, rookie Jesse Puljujarvi, Zack Kassian, Nail Yakupov and Iiro Pakarinen top the depth chart right now.
I’m not saying that it’s a prolific lot because we don’t know. Beyond Eberle, there’s not a lot of proven offensive skill at the NHL level in the group. Yakupov doesn’t qualify as that. Puljujarvi has the tools to become that, but he isn’t that yet. Kassian? He took a haircut on a one-year contract after struggling with consistency last season.
It’s not a big stretch to say all five can play in the NHL, even Puljujarvi, now, but at what level and where on the depth chart? Can Yakupov, if he’s here, play in the bottom six effectively? Do you try another pump-and-dump – I wouldn’t – by playing him in the top-six at the expense of somebody else? I don’t think it makes a lot of sense to keep Puljujarvi as a fourth-liner or press box guy.
SORTING IT OUT
Eberle will get, and should get, the top spot on right wing on a line with Connor McDavid and Milan Lucic. After that, it gets muddy. If two-thirds of the second line is Patrick Maroon or Benoit Pouliot and Leon Draisaitl, who plays the right side? I can see Puljujarvi getting a look there. That doesn’t mean force-feeding him minutes he can’t handle, but you’d think McLellan will take a peek.
If the third line is Maroon or Pouliot and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, is Puljujarvi the best fit there or is it Kassian or Yakupov? I can see any one of Puljujarvi, Kassian or Yakupov as a possibility, and I can also see Kassian moving to the fourth line, augmenting his ice time with PK duties, there. It makes no sense to me to have the rookie or Yakupov there. And I haven’t even mentioned Pakarinen, who bangs enough and skates well enough to see fourth-line duty.
If Puljujarvi impresses at camp and in pre-season and does enough to stick in the top nine comfortably – emphasis on “IF” — Chiarelli would get another chance to move Yakupov. That, of course, is easier said than done – he’s been trying since before the last trade deadline. No takers. That changes if Puljujarvi clearly isn’t ready or if Yakupov comes to camp with his head screwed on right and blows the doors off everybody. Unlikely? Sure. Could happen.
The best bet is Eberle and Kassian are going to be here. No news flash there. The rest hinges on how Puljujarvi, who can be sent to the AHL, shows. I’ll resist the urge to suggest Yakupov is a goner for sure because I said he’d be traded at the Entry Draft, as did a lot of people, and I was dead-wrong about that. There are some questions here, and that’s not a bad thing.
LEAN AND MEAN
Kassian showed up for the celebrity pro-am event at the Oil Country Championship out at Glendale today clean-shaven and looking leaner and fitter than he did last season. Looks like Kassian has dropped 10 pounds or so. I’ve got to say, I’m pulling for Kassian, who is a recovering alcoholic. A snippet from the Oilers here:
“First and foremost, it’s exciting just to get the opportunity,” said Kassian. “Obviously, I came in with a unique situation. I’m very thankful to be back another year, but at the same time, I’m coming in and I’m looking for this to be my last stop. I want to sign long-term here eventually.
“It’s one of those things where I’m coming into camp for the first time in a while taking my job very seriously. I want to be the best player I can be. For me, getting the opportunity to come to any team with the situation I was in, I was thankful, but when I heard it was Edmonton I couldn’t be more happy to be honest.”
WHILE I’M AT IT
- I mentioned Lucic near the end of an item I wrote July 20, wondering what his points total might look like if he plays most of the season alongside McDavid and if they both stay healthy. I said I could see Lucic bettering his career-best of 62 points. What’s your over/under on Lucic?
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