His skating overall seems fine for the NHL. That pivot and gap control though. He's going to get torched in the early goings by even moderately fast guys, unless McLellan and staff become wizards at controlling his matchups. Even then . . . . He'll need a solid, solid defender beside him if he's going to succeed as a nineteen-year-old rookie, to mitigate overall the inevitable 1-on-1 battles he's going to lose.
Proposal: Rumours and Proposals Thread: Brouwer Bought Out
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His skating overall seems fine for the NHL. That pivot and gap control though. He's going to get torched in the early goings by even moderately fast guys, unless McLellan and staff become wizards at controlling his matchups. Even then . . . . He'll need a solid, solid defender beside him if he's going to succeed as a nineteen-year-old rookie, to mitigate overall the inevitable 1-on-1 battles he's going to lose.
I think you're underestimating how difficult it is for a young player to fill a full time role on an NHL team. We have no one internally who's ready for that assignment.
Franson has a good track record when he's been given the keys to a PP. He's a big body with a big shot and he is a reasonably solid puck mover.
guymez
The Seldom Seen Kid
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Jimmi McJenkins
Sometimes miracles
I'm not, I'm just not over estimating what Franson will bring to the table. If he were a better player I would suggest bringing him in now.
Being the player that he is, let the organizational depth try a fill gap, and bring him in if you think you need to down the line. If the "worry" is someone else signs him, it's not much of a loss/not super likely.
Jumptheshark
Rebooting myself
Curious to know if the oilers are thinking about this because Upshall and Brodziuk had some chemstry with the blues when they played together?
L1
Hopkins-McDavid-Ratti/Pizza boy/Reider
L2
Lucic-Leon D-Ratti/Pizza boy/Reider
L3
Adberg/Upshall-Broadziuk-Strome
L3
Adberg/Upshall/Reider/Rattie-Khaira-Kassian-
Bryanbryoil
Pray For Ukraine
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We keep hearing about how solid Yawney is in terms of helping young D, basically all of our D not named Sekera or Russell are young D so he could really put his stamp on this team in a big way.
McShogun99
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Keep in mind that a right shot D that can provide some offence is one of the hottest commodities in the league. In saying this, Franson has interest from exactly 0 teams. He’s practically done as an NHL player.
backhandsauce
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ChaoticOrange
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Del Preston
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Klefbom Larsson
Nurse Benning
Lagesson Russell/Bear/Bouchard
Lagesson is obviously not a lock, but he was very impressive this year in SHL. Especially defensively, always playing the oppositions top players and loads of PK time. He should be ready to take that spot imo (I thought he'd challange for that spot even before Sekera went down again).
ChaoticOrange
Registered User
From the interviews I’ve read Lagesson - even before the Sekera injury - had absolutely zero intention of going quietly down to Bakersfield. I really think he will push for a spot.
19:30 a night on the top pairing in the SHL is nothing to sneeze at (remembering that 20+ minute a night defencemen in that league are somewhat of a rarity. Djurgardens has a 29 year old as it’s #1, playing 24 minutes a night (the most in the entire league). Lagesson was their #2.
That's right, he has been quite clear (in a quiet sort of way, he is a quiet sort of guy) that he's gunning for roster spot with the big boys. When pressed he said he'll stay even if sent down, but he preferred not to talk further about it since his focus is the NHL.
He was their #2 easily, but he was tasked to carry their shut-down pair so he played 2nd pair minutes. Ice time in SHL is always hard to get, veterans will almost always have the edge due to experience, and in Djurgården he was team mates with SHL's best D (Hogstrom). It is very hard to rack up minutes as a young player there and he'd never surpass Hogstrom for the #1.
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Suffice to say I disagree.
But lets just say we go with your argument. Which capable PP producer are you suggesting we add?
You can be as confident as you want in your abilities. That doesn't mean you're actually ready to play in this league.
ChaoticOrange
Registered User
Maybe, but i’d far rather have the ‘im good enough to be here and I’m gonna prove it’ attitude than ‘well I guess the AHL isn’t so bad maybe I’ll start there and see what happens’.
I don't disagree. But it still doesn't make him more likely to be an NHL player.
ChaoticOrange
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I don’t agree. I like his game a lot and I thought he stood out in a positive way at last year’s camp as well.
redgrant
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guymez
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Upshall adds experience in the bottom 6 for sure. Probably more of a 4th line player (than a 3rd line player) at this point but I think he still has some game left.
ChaoticOrange
Registered User
He was good enough to be an everyday player on a much better team than ours, and was a key penalty killer on a better PK than ours. He had a hilarious 30%-70% split (Offensive-Defensive) zonestart bias in his shifts at even strength. He’d be cheap, fast, he’s from here, and he won’t have his development damaged by not playing every night. For a guy that’s ‘barely an NHLer’ he had a better points per game than a lot of guys that we iced last year. 19 points in 63 games on 11 minutes a night is not bad at all.
He’s very physical, loves to hit, and a tenacious forechecker.
He’d be a league minimum signing and a single year. If he does well he could fetch a pick at the deadline if we’re not in it from a team that wants a solid vet for a playoff run.
We need a 14th forward. That’s what he’d be.
I literally don’t see a downside.
Del Preston
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Brodziak was Upshall's most common linemate (by far) the last three seasons in St. Louis. They have also done a lot of PKing together.
Jumptheshark
Rebooting myself
that is what I point out earlier and I am thinking that is what the oilers brain trust is thinking. I know last year someone said Upshall still lives in Northern Alberta--so this could be in the oilers favour
ChaoticOrange
Registered User
I think this stat is overrated as well, but let’s have a little gander at points per 60, Upshall vs Depth Oilers, keeping in mind Upshall started just about all his shifts in the defensive zone, on the fourth line, with Brodziak in the middle.
Upshall 2017-18
1.91
Depth Oilers 2017-18
Aberg 1.94 (tiny sample size)
Strome 1.5
Khaira 1.4
Puljujarvi 1.3
Kassian 1.28
Slepyshev 1.23
Caggiula 1.21
I’d like to have an actually good fourth line for once. This isn’t Cammalleri we’re talking about, a guy that can’t skate and hates physicality. Upshall can still scoot and loves to hit.
Upshall 2017-18
1.91
Depth Oilers 2017-18
Aberg 1.94 (tiny sample size)
Strome 1.5
Khaira 1.4
Puljujarvi 1.3
Kassian 1.28
Slepyshev 1.23
Caggiula 1.21
I’d like to have an actually good fourth line for once. This isn’t Cammalleri we’re talking about, a guy that can’t skate and hates physicality. Upshall can still scoot and loves to hit.
Dan Kelly
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But he stuggled mightily defensively. I hope Bouchard if he stays can put up good points but also play sheltered minutes and not be thrown to the wolves like Justin Shultz was when he was here.
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