Prospect Info: Oilers invite Russian Prospect Vladimir Tkachev to Training Camp

[McOvechking]

Great move, i like it.

 

[McDeathbyCheerios*]

His stat lines are interesting.

And although camp invites are risk-free, what are they expecting to see from this kid? After Omark, Rajala, Rieder and the other half dozen undersized wingers who've gone through the system, what would he have that they didn't?

Undersized wingers can either be amazing or fall of a everest sized cliff. Look at guys like Zucarello and St Louis, both good players, both undrafted, both very small. It costs us nothing other then maybe flight and accommodations so it's a win win for us. Either we give it a try and he sucks or... He succeeds.

Good move.

 

[Aerchon]

His stat lines are interesting.

And although camp invites are risk-free, what are they expecting to see from this kid? After Omark, Rajala, Rieder and the other half dozen undersized wingers who've gone through the system, what would he have that they didn't?

This this and more this. I don't understand the move.

Is he a right winger as well?

Wow, we potentially found Omark version 2.0.

I suppose these kind of moves don't hurt but I am completely lost as to why we are even bothering. Our winger depth is ridicules, his skill set not needed, and I am not even sure why he would want to sign here since he has such a small chance of making the team in the next 5+ years.

 

[Aceboogie]

This is a real good invite. He is probaly better than anyone we drafted this year besides LD and Lagesson. His ridiculously skilled.

Him and Holmberg will be fun to watch at camp, one of them should be a good AHLer possible NHLer.

He is two years younger than Holmberg two.

Does he have to play in the CHL next year? Or AHL. It would be funny to watch him and Holmberg outscore Godrau and Bartschi next AHL season.

He is two years younger than Godrau and has similar stat lines (better ppg, easier league) than JG at same age. Pretty similar skill too

 

[Aceboogie]

This this and more this. I don't understand the move.

Is he a right winger as well?

Wow, we potentially found Omark version 2.0.

I suppose these kind of moves don't hurt but I am completely lost as to why we are even bothering. Our winger depth is ridicules, his skill set not needed, and I am not even sure why he would want to sign here since he has such a small chance of making the team in the next 5+ years.

He's likely three years out from the NHL ( if he ever makes it). Who knows who our wingers are in 3 years. We maybe have to replace Yak or Ebs if they are traded.

Our forward prospects are abysmal, we can always use more.

Even if this guy only tops out as a 60 pt AHL guy, he is still adding value by surrounding prospects in the AHL with skill

 

[AlowlyMcOilersfan]

Wait, is this not the same player?

Same player.

It costs us nothing to send him a camp invite, so this is a no risk move.

If they like him, he gets an ELC and goes back to jr. If not, then he probably goes back to jr anyway and goes back into the draft.

I wouldn't mind signing him if he shows well at camp. It's like having an extra 7th rounder and taking some skill.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

Wow...my kid is 12 and 5'8, 140...lol

Can he play? Who's his agent?

 

[Mr Positive]

but how enigmatic is he?

He's worth 2.5 enigmatic Yakupovs

 

[Dorian2]

Nice pickup. Stock the shelves MacT. Never know when your gonna need him.

Maybe Yaks attitude (the good part anyways...which I think is most of it) will rub off on some of these players from his own country. Not saying the Russians have poor attitudes, but that damned Russian factor always seems to creep in the NHL every once in a while.

Maybe we should stop calling it the Russian factor though. There are Canadian, American, and European players that do the same thing every so often.

It's not only Russians Mr. Cherry.

 

[J4M13M]

I've seen this guy in games first-hand. He plays for a team I passionately dislike based on regional rivalry, but I have to admit I like the invite.

He had some strange visa issues last season (related to Canadian government workers' rolling strikes), and was very late arriving in Canada. Once he got here, he showed he was worth the wait. The small sample size and the KHL history are probably the only reasons he wasn't drafted, because there is no shortage of skill.

 

[Valic]

I'm very for this. I don't care about size as long as at an NHL level moves are made to augment what you have. Hope we can sign him.

You know, we honestly have a lack of small skilled forwards in the system.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

Why not? As long as he's stronger on his skates than Gagner was it doesn't matter how small he is.

 

[Dorian2]

Why not? As long as he's stronger on his skates than Gagner was it doesn't matter how small he is.

Don't worry. When Drai gets the call, it'll be like watching 2 Gagner's at the same time.

 

[Aceonfire*]

I am a huge fan of this signing. You can never have to many skilled players.

Will he get to play in the Penticton tournament? That would be sick to have him play with Yakimov.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

Don't worry. When Drai gets the call, it'll be like watching 2 Gagner's at the same time.

He's probably 3X as strong as Gagner was! I have nothing against smaller players, they just need to be either exceptionally fast, strong, skilled or full of heart to get to where they need to go.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

I am a huge fan of this signing. You can never have to many skilled players.

Will he get to play in the Penticton tournament? That would be sick to have him play with Yakimov.

I believe that it's just an invite not an actual signing as of yet anyway.

 

[Aceonfire*]

I believe that it's just an invite not an actual signing as of yet anyway.

They had invites play last year that were never drafted. I think he might be able to play.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

They had invites play last year that were never drafted. I think he might be able to play.

Fair enough, Baddock immediately comes to mind. However you did say signing

 

[doulos]

His stat lines are interesting.

And although camp invites are risk-free, what are they expecting to see from this kid? After Omark, Rajala, Rieder and the other half dozen undersized wingers who've gone through the system, what would he have that they didn't?

That's the question the team gets to try and find an answer to at camp. Hence why he was invited!

 

[doulos]

This this and more this. I don't understand the move.

Is he a right winger as well?

Wow, we potentially found Omark version 2.0.

I suppose these kind of moves don't hurt but I am completely lost as to why we are even bothering. Our winger depth is ridicules, his skill set not needed, and I am not even sure why he would want to sign here since he has such a small chance of making the team in the next 5+ years.

The super small sample size has him tucked in neatly with top end of the first round draft picks this year - including Draisaitl. So the team gets to extend that sample size a bit and take a crack at a player who could add some significant skill to the team.

You asked why the Oilers are bothering. You might as well ask why they bother even drafting players then. Strange question. There is an incredibly small down side to this, and such massive upside.

 

[ChaoticOrange]

The super small sample size has him tucked in neatly with top end of the first round draft picks this year - including Draisaitl. So the team gets to extend that sample size a bit and take a crack at a player who could add some significant skill to the team.

You asked why the Oilers are bothering. You might as well ask why they bother even drafting players then. Strange question. There is an incredibly small down side to this, and such massive upside.

Agreed - nothing but positivity to this. I love that the oilers are taking flyers on smaller skilled guys like him, Holmberg, and Winquist. With Omark, Rieder, Rajala and Hartikainen all flying the coop for one reason or another we suddenly had quite a lack of talent up front on the farm.

 

[McPuritania]

Don't worry. When Drai gets the call, it'll be like watching 2 Gagner's at the same time.

No thanks, I could hardly stand watching one Gagner.

 

[Cerebral]

These kinds of moves can pay off sometimes. I remember when we brought Nick Holden to camp on an invite and I was really hoping we'd sign him. After some good seasons in the AHL, he played a regular shift in Columbus last year and ended up scoring 10 goals in only 54 games.

We have a ton of skill already but I don't see that as a reason to not bring in a guy like Tkachev. If he shows anything in camp, we'd be silly not to sign him to a contract and see how he develops. He's the kind of player who might not be ready for 3 years (if he develops) and if that's the case, who knows what our team will look like at that point. I really like this move and it would be awesome if he got a chance to play in Penticton and lit it up.

 

[OilBuoy]

Some quotes from Tkachev from yesterday:

“I wasn’t happy about not being drafted. It was probably the Russian factor with people thinking that I will go back home to play in the KHL. I made the decision after last season that I’m not going to play in the KHL again. I just want to play in Moncton this season and keep improving my game. I’m happy with my decision to come back here. The NHL is what I’m thinking about. The NHL is my dream and I’m going to work hard to get there.â€

And from the Moncton Wildcats GM:

“I think that NHL teams did make a mistake by not drafting Tkachev. It's going to take a team to be very patient with him. If I was with an NHL team and I had a guy like him, I would have a four-year plan for him. A lot of it would be physical training and getting stronger. I would invest time and effort in him. I believe that when you’ve got a mind and a talent like him that he could turn out to be a player like Henrik Zetterberg. He’s not big, but he’s highly skilled and has an ability t avoid people.â€

 

[OilTastic]

the Oilers baffle me sometimes....they don't want the almost exact same talent in Toni Rajala at 5' 10" and 165, but they want Connor and Kellen Jones in the system, both at 5' 9" and 165 and now Tkachev at 5' 8" and 165. just baffling!