Uh.. Kailer?

[Upperchucker]

Playing for a new coach, especially after not being around to learn a new system, would be a detriment. Has he really been playing first line minutes and on the PP lately? The "team chemistry" thing sounds like Robbie Ftorek, and his weird and probably egotistic, use of Gretzky when he was with Los Angeles. The move to start taking faceoffs seems odd as well.

He doesn't appear to be getting first line minutes right now. I haven't been keeping track but it doesn't seem like he's on the ice as much. He's been on the PP1 some but hasn't really been noticeable during his shifts, which also seem to be shorter now too. I think the team has more guys with something to prove so they're putting in the effort to get noticed by scouts. He hasn't taken that many face-offs that I've seen other than when he's had to slide in when the ref boots the first guy.

Let me know what you guys want me to keep a watch on and I'll try and update you with what I see from his game. The really disheartening part is his passing has gotten much better from last year, but he's about a half stride ahead on his passes and his teammates don't always expect them. I'm not so concerned about the goal scoring since he's being double teamed so much, which leaves the rest of the team 4-3. With the rest of the team getting more looks and getting more scoring opportunities, teams are going to have to back off some.

I really hope he finds his groove because he was an absolutely awesome player to watch last year.

 

[Senor Catface]

I'd like to hear from someone reputable and who knows what's going on, rather than 3 or 4 posters on a seldom used message board or from someone's "friend".

Then fly to Spokane.

 

[oilers'72]

Then fly to Spokane.

Maybe one day, although I'd prefer to drive. 'til then, I'll have to rely on some media reports from there or if the Pipeline Show does a story.

edit: Oh, and no op-ed pieces.

 

[GodPucker]

I bet he jut felt down to start. He probably knew he wasn't going to make the Oilers, but it's probably such a downer going from the NHl to Juniors.

 

[McFlyingV]

Does he have the inside edge? A lot of these World Junior teams but a lot of emphasis on how good the player has been lately, and in Kailers case, he is currently playing himself off the team.

He's a lock to make the team. The Mittelstadt-Brown-Yamamoto line are absolute money and could quite easily lead the tournament in scoring.

 

[KarmaPolice]

Remember the Tkachev debacle? He thought he had a contract, but then it was nullified. Went down, probably disappointed, had a mediocre year and wasn't drafted for the second time in a row. Now it looks like he certainly should have been.

I always wanted him back, and was shocked when (I believe) they drafted that shit goalie with our last pick in that draft instead of taking Tkachev again. Idiot pick by a former idiot goalie coach (or so I've heard).

As for Kailer, he has nothing more to prove down there, and I don't see much player development to be had. He's been lighting it up since his rookie season at age 15. I would've kept him up, but maybe that's just me. There should be an AHL exception rule. Maybe just for 1st round picks, or a team can send ONE player selected per draft to the AHL if they think it would be best for him. I think he was perfectly ready for the AHL. These dumb CHL draft rules need to go, or be amended to some degree. (well, I understand why they're in place: the CHL teams want to make as much money as possible while paying the players very little. Just like the NCAA, except less perks. Seems legit).

 

[JarvisFunk]

He showed enough in his stint up here that Im not worried at all, and wont be for a while.

 

[McFlyingV]

I always wanted him back, and was shocked when (I believe) they drafted that **** goalie with our last pick in that draft instead of taking Tkachev again. Idiot pick by a former idiot goalie coach (or so I've heard).

As for Kailer, he has nothing more to prove down there, and I don't see much player development to be had. He's been lighting it up since his rookie season at age 15. I would've kept him up, but maybe that's just me. There should be an AHL exception rule. Maybe just for 1st round picks, or a team can send ONE player selected per draft to the AHL if they think it would be best for him. I think he was perfectly ready for the AHL. These dumb CHL draft rules need to go, or be amended to some degree. (well, I understand why they're in place: the CHL teams want to make as much money as possible while paying the players very little. Just like the NCAA, except less perks. Seems legit).

Who Svoboda? He seems to be tracking fairly well despite no longer being Edmonton's property. .944sv% in Czech 2nd league last year, and .927 in the Czech league this year. I did want them to pick Tkachev, but Svoboda really wasn't a bad pick there.

 

[KarmaPolice]

Who Svoboda? He seems to be tracking fairly well despite no longer being Edmonton's property. .944sv% in Czech 2nd league last year, and .927 in the Czech league this year. I did want them to pick Tkachev, but Svoboda really wasn't a bad pick there.

Keven Bouchard. Maybe I got the wrong draft. If so, my bad.

Zaiyat was our very last pick in the Svoboda draft, but yeah, was thinking of the 2014 draft, so I could be wrong about which draft we had our 2nd chance to grab Tkachev.

 

[McFlyingV]

Keven Bouchard. Maybe I got the wrong draft. If so, my bad.

Oh I completely forgot about him my bad. You probably had the right draft. Yeah that dude sucks lmao. Actually yeah it was the 2015 draft not 2014 when we could have drafted him.

 

[KarmaPolice]

Oh I completely forgot about him my bad. You probably had the right draft. Yeah that dude sucks lmao.

Legit, lol
That's why you don't let goalie coaches influence your draft picks, I guess. Or at least not bad ones.

But yeah, it was either the 2014 or 2015 draft we passed on Tkachev with our 2nd chance, and was NOT impressed at all about that. I was both pissed at the waste of a pick on Bouchard and not taking a shot on Tkachev, so maybe I'm just conflating the two separate events.

 

[Hockey Nightmare]

Yama-uh oh

 

[Alowlyoilersfan]

as long as he heats up and gets into the playoffs I'll be happy

 

[McSendy]

I happened to be in Spokane this past weekend so I went to the Chiefs game on Saturday night with the specific intent of watching Yamamoto. Here are my thoughts:

- What stood out more than anything was his complete lack of hustle that we saw while he was playing with the Oilers. He isn't getting to loose pucks or winning any races. When he actually gets the puck, he isn't moving his feet, and as a result isn't creating any space for himself. I wondered if he is just completely disinterested in junior hockey, or if he is sick or injured. On multiple occasions he had trainers leaning over his shoulder talking to him for extended periods of time on the bench, which made me wonder if the sick/injured hypothesis was true.

- He was also visibly frustrated by his own teammates on multiple occasions. One play in particular stands out in my mind. Similar to the Letestu pass to Kassian for his goal tonight, one of Yamamoto's teammates intercepted a pass in the Chiefs zone. Kailer had a hop on the defense and would have had a breakaway, but instead of a nice soft pass up the middle, the pass was too hard and his teammate iced the puck instead. He also made a couple of deft little passes that were NHL type plays, but were wasted on teammates that didn't anticipate properly.

- I thought his ice time was appropriate given the circumstances in the game. He got PP time but didn't do a lot with it. He got a bunch of offensive zone starts. He also took some faceoffs, although it seemed like about half of them were because the first guy got waved out.


Overall, this wasn't the player we saw in Edmonton. I question whether he is just disinterested, sick or injured, or if there is some other personal or locker room issue.

 

[Raab]

7 games, 1g 5a? What's wrong with our boy?

He got picked by Edmonton....

 

[NeverForget06]

Meh, probably a little down after getting sent down. I don't think there is any doubt that he will be a pro one day.

If I had to guess, he was told by the organization that he needs to work on his 200ft game, always be in position, etc etc. So hopefully the focus is on playing a complete game instead of run and gun

 

[iCanada]

I think its just a fiery kid pissed that things didn't go his way.

Most kids that go back to junior limp for about 20 games. These are passionate people that just had their dream ripped out from under their nose, and can't do anything about it for another year. To get to this level, these are also people who are ridiculously hard on themselves, just in general. Its easy to get in your head and spiral a bit, ya know? Especially when suddenly regular season games just kind of feel meaningless compared to what you recently experienced.

It happens, will probably take some time to refocus. I'd only be concerned if his game doesn't come around come world juniors / playoffs.

Another factor is that Yammo is a kid that uses his teammates a lot, I think sometimes for these type of players playing in a more raw environment is a lot harder to do. He is a smart player, he sees the ice and evaluates and perceives not only his moves but the moves of people around him; frankly he is likely better than 95% of junior, and is used to seeing guys make the right reads, will take a while to get used to his teammates usually not making the right reads.

 

[LaGu]

He could just also be unhappy to start. Drai was really cold when he first went back to Jr's too IIRC.

Drai's first 10 GP 6 G 9 A... He was alright, it is true that he got even better after that but it was not a bad start really. He did have a bad start in the AHL though.

Who Svoboda? He seems to be tracking fairly well despite no longer being Edmonton's property. .944sv% in Czech 2nd league last year, and .927 in the Czech league this year. I did want them to pick Tkachev, but Svoboda really wasn't a bad pick there.

4th in SV% OA and playing starter on the league leaders. I had totally forgot about that pick but it was interesting looking him up. I could not find anything in English though.

 

[Pressure]

Not worried. Yamo is a player and showed it up here.

 

[Tobias Kahun]

He doesn't appear to be getting first line minutes right now. I haven't been keeping track but it doesn't seem like he's on the ice as much. He's been on the PP1 some but hasn't really been noticeable during his shifts, which also seem to be shorter now too. I think the team has more guys with something to prove so they're putting in the effort to get noticed by scouts. He hasn't taken that many face-offs that I've seen other than when he's had to slide in when the ref boots the first guy.

Let me know what you guys want me to keep a watch on and I'll try and update you with what I see from his game. The really disheartening part is his passing has gotten much better from last year, but he's about a half stride ahead on his passes and his teammates don't always expect them. I'm not so concerned about the goal scoring since he's being double teamed so much, which leaves the rest of the team 4-3. With the rest of the team getting more looks and getting more scoring opportunities, teams are going to have to back off some.

I really hope he finds his groove because he was an absolutely awesome player to watch last year.

Sounds like his passing issues are from playing and practicing with NHL players and he hasn’t readjusted to junior

 

[CycloneSweep]

His team wins 6-2 he goes even, has 4 shots and a single secondary assist.

 

[Risingwind]

Maybe he’s focusing on off-ice strength training more than during the previous seasons.

 

[Upperchucker]

I was at the game last night. He was 3rd line last night. Overall, as I said before, he seems to be focusing much more on his passing and puck movement. His teammates aren't anticipating his passes well and he looks like he's skating for a different team. He is setting up for rebound shots. Effort appears to still be lacking but has improved a little.

 

[oilers'72]

I was at the game last night. He was 3rd line last night. Overall, as I said before, he seems to be focusing much more on his passing and puck movement. His teammates aren't anticipating his passes well and he looks like he's skating for a different team. He is setting up for rebound shots. Effort appears to still be lacking but has improved a little.

Why is the coach having him take faceoffs? He never took one before and I don't think he took any with the Oilers.

 

[CycloneSweep]

Why is the coach having him take faceoffs? He never took one before and I don't think he took any with the Oilers.

Cause players get thrown out of the circle all the time?