Jesse Puljujarvi, 18, is the most significant prospect in
the Edmonton Oilers’ system, a rookie pro with a bright NHL future. Anton
Slepyshev, 22, is a step down the prospect ladder but combines size and skill
and could well enjoy a major-league career. Taylor Beck and Anton Lander, both
25, seem to have settled in as tweeners at the NHL level, with both being good
enough to dominate the AHL or fill an end-of-roster role in the majors.

The interesting thing about those four players is this: the
Oilers have decided that Beck and Lander should fill the prime development
slots in the minors, while Slepyshev and Puljujarvi are repeatedly healthy
scratches in Edmonton.

General manager Peter Chiarelli was asked several questions
about Puljujarvi in his media availability this week, and his answers touched
on a lot of different points. From my viewpoint, two were particularly significant:

Language is obviously a problem, but what isn’t immediately obvious
is why it’s a problem that forces the Oilers to keep Puljujarvi in the NHL.
Chiarelli pointed out that the rookie is taking language lessons and has an
English-speaking roommate; none of those sound like things that can be done in
Alberta but not California.

Nevertheless, the Oilers may have some reason to worry. There’s
no question that the Europe-to-North America jump is one that a lot of players
struggle with, and Edmonton has had some unpleasant incidents over the years.

Bogdan Yakimov may come to mind. The 6’5” centre was seen as
so valuable that he almost made Edmonton’s roster out of training camp in the
fall of 2014 and even got an early call-up a short time later. He stagnated in
the AHL, though, and bolted to Russia midway through his second campaign in the
minors.

Toni Rajala is another example. An undersized scoring
winger, he started his pro career in the ECHL in 2012-13, one of many young
players pushed down a tier by that year’s lockout. Yet he excelled, pushed his
way into the AHL, and when the lockout ended really took off. By the end of the
year he had 45 points in 46 games, not bad at all for a rookie pro. Instead of
following up on that success, he left the organization that summer and hasn’t
been seen on this side of the Atlantic since.

Yet even if Rajala and Yakimov reflect problems in the
minors—which is debatable anyway, given that both were relative longshots as
prospects—that isn’t an argument to abandon the AHL as a development league. It’s
an argument to do a better job.

Besides which, it’s not like using the NHL as a development
league has ever been all that effective for the Oilers. 

Nail Yakupov never
played a game in the minors and hasn’t exactly been a rousing success. Magnus
Paajarvi went to the AHL only after more than a season in the NHL, a season
which remains the highwater mark of his career. Lander himself started his
North American career as a fourth-line forward in Edmonton. All were far better
prospects than Yakimov or Rajala; all have had disappointing careers.

There’s little certainty when it comes to developing young
players. What does seem to be undisputed is the need for them to get minutes.
Chiarelli talked about what he called the “age-old dilemma” between playing
eight minutes in the NHL or 15-20 in the AHL, but even he was willing to admit
that having an 18-year-old in the pressbox wasn’t an optimal scenario.

Finding those minutes is the raison d’etre of the AHL. It’s
a development league. There has to be a place where the Puljujarvis and
Slepyshevs of the world can play 20 minutes a night, can adapt to playing
against men in North American rinks. Winning games is the primary goal of an
NHL organization; developing prospects to help the NHL win games is the primary
goal of an AHL organization.

Bakersfield’s top line in their last game was Lander (six games, 11 points), Beck (19 games, 30 points) and Ryan Hamilton (20 games, 17 points).
There’s a lot of value in having veterans in the AHL—they keep the organization
from losing too many games when it lacks prospect depth, they provide the NHL
club with recall options, they can help keep younger players from being handed
too much responsibility too early—but it’s hard to see how this line’s success
is going to help the Oilers win games down the road.

Edmonton has two spots on its roster right now going to
forwards who spend a lot of time in the pressbox. The team’s management has
decided to give those jobs to two of its most promising forward prospects.
Meanwhile, two of the most valuable development positions on the farm are going
to a pair of forwards currently in the primes of their respective careers.

To borrow a phrase, it’s not ideal.