I dunno, it's a whatever move for me. I've not been as big a fan of Pakarinen as others seem to be here. I don't see much of a ceiling with him. He hits a little, skates a little and did have that 1 decent goal in his 17 games on the big club last year. IMO he's a decent to good AHLer but a marginal NHLer.
So much for that narrative during the preseason that went along the lines of "no big deal if Draisaitl goes down to the minors, he'll play in all situations and be the first callup if injuries hit", it would seem. Looks like the Oilers would rather call up anyone but Draisaitl at this point...both Eberle and Hendricks hurt, Slepyshev barely playing and being shown zero confidence by his coach, yet Draisaitl is still riding buses.
It also strikes me as a bit odd that the Oilers are insisting that he be played as a center in the AHL after talking all training camp about how they felt he had his best chance to make the team in the short term as a winger, which Draisaitl seemed OK with embracing. If the Oilers truly feel he's best as a center then that's fine, in fact I agree...but if that's the case, then how does that make him a long term fit on the club with RNH and McDavid not going anywhere anytime soon, and Lander a natural fit as the 3rd line center?
Just my own crackpot theory, but I can't help but wonder if the Oilers are regarding Draisaitl as having more value as trade bait, and grooming him as a center helps elevate his value that much more because centers always have more value than wingers.
I guess we'll see how the year transpires. I bet Chiarelli looks at Drai and gets tempted by what a high end prospect like him would return in a trade to shore up that weak defensive group if the team continues to scrape by, win some games and perhaps be within sniffing distance of a playoff spot once the trade deadline draws near.
] his roster spot
