Shining Positive Light on Oilers' Scouting

[Larry Fisher]

They gang, my latest coming out of the Young Stars tournament on some of the unheralded successes from this off-season: http://thehockeywriters.com/shining-positive-light-on-oilers-scouting/

Click to read more...

 

[Aceboogie]

slowly starting to do it right

This is what happens when you draft skill. You land Jones, Laleggia, Platzer, Chase, Slepyshev, Yakimov etc. Not saying these guys are all future NHL players. But they are way more promising than past "size" prospects

 

[Larry Fisher]

Platzer was another standout from the Young Stars who I haven't had a chance to highlight. He was centering Rankin (AHL-only) and Cole Sanford (tryout), but their line might have been the most consistent and most dangerous offensively throughout the tournament. They were always buzzing it seemed and Platzer was a big part of that. He kind of reminds me of a more skilled Kyle Brodziak from his Oilers days.

I saw a comparison somewhere of LaLeggia to Boston's Torey Krug and there are definitely some similarities to their playing style. But LaLeggia could also be the next Brad Hunt, many similarities there too. He does have the skill to make an impact offensively and quarterback the power play if he gets that chance in the future.

 

[Stoneman89]

They gang, my latest coming out of the Young Stars tournament on some of the unheralded successes from this off-season: http://thehockeywriters.com/shining-positive-light-on-oilers-scouting/

All wonderful, but in reality, none of those guys has made the big boy team yet and tasted success at the NHL level. I have little doubt the easy picks, the slam dunk high first rounders will have the best chance, just as our other top picks have done. Where this organization has failed miserably is rounds 2 and beyond. Lander is the only one who is up now and even at that it is tenuous. Braden Christoffer, for example, did very well, and I love the way he plays, and am hopeful. But if he or the others can't do it at the NHL level at some point, it really doesn't mean squat. Unless you're a big AHL or European league lover.

 

[I am the Liquor]

Really well done and thorough article in regards to the tournament and some of the lesser known prospects/invites.

Thanks for that.

 

[Larry Fisher]

Thanks for the compliment "I am the Liquor" and ultimately you are right "Stoneman89". These are wait-and-see type projects, but they did outperform a lot of top (drafted) prospects from the other three organizations. In some cases, there is an age/experience difference or discrepancy, but every team had players there of similar ages/experiences to Winquist, Christoffer and Rankin, but those three were clearly better than their counterparts, so that's impressive scouting/signing by the Oilers/Condors.

 

[McHilman]

Also streamed on Sportsnet.ca for those interested.

 

[Jumptheshark]

They gang, my latest coming out of the Young Stars tournament on some of the unheralded successes from this off-season: http://thehockeywriters.com/shining-positive-light-on-oilers-scouting/

well they sacked 1/2 before the draft and traded most of their picks at the draft

need to wait for the positive light thing

 

[fancy dan]

i feel like you could cut and paste names from the magnificent b*stard era and write the same article.

 

[Larry Fisher]

I wasn't necessarily referring to the draft in this piece, more to the free-agent additions coming out of junior and they were great again last night, especially Christoffer and Winquist. That was a game against older competition and they still looked a step ahead, impressive IMO. Even Cole Sanford, on a tryout, had a heckuva third period too. He was a poor man's Tkachev this year.

If you look at the 2013 draft class, you could make a case for six of the 10 picks to be trending towards seeing some NHL action. 2014 was a step back IMO and probably the reason some scouts were fired. 2015 is a wait and see obviously. But the draft is only one way to find talent and the Oilers seem to be finding some late-bloomers now that just might make it.

 

[thadd]

I agree with pretty much everything written in this article and it leads me to think the following:

1: Outside of the players mentioned and our more popular prospects, the drafted players didn't look very good. I know some people who are still Mac-T supporters and it seems that most of the draft picks he picked up aren't working out.

2: These undrafted guys we've picked up are probably going to push some guys into the ECHL if they don't get their act in gear. Still hoping the Nurse and Leon start the year in the AHL and if they do these undrafted guys will push them to be better players while also making it easier for them to win.

 

[nexttothemoon]

I honestly can't see Draisaitl not winning a spot on the Oilers to start the season.

He's been nothing but a winner ever since he left the Oilers.

It's like he used that half a season in the NHL to assess his weaknesses and what he had to work on... and he did exactly that... worked on his weaknesses and worked hard to become a better all-around hockey player.

He's ready for the NHL from all I've seen. Of course he'll have some growing pains as he's essentially still a rookie... but I think he's ready to play with the big boys and that's the best way he's going to develop and get better.

I can see Drai starting on the 3rd line and that 3rd line will give opponents fits as the top 6 will see most of the top opposing defensive units. There's real potential there for a line of Lander/Drai/Yak to eat up opponents when this team finally has that mythical 3 lines of offensive depth they've been searching to find for a decade.

 

[McDoused]

For like the thousandth time, I still believe our scouting hasn't been that bad. We just suck at developing and transitioning players from the AHL to the NHL.

 

[Zaddy]

For like the thousandth time, I still believe our scouting hasn't been that bad. We just suck at developing and transitioning players from the AHL to the NHL.

Partly, yes. But we've also had lots of guys that were just plain bad picks. The most recent draft is a good example of how you should draft in the later rounds. We got a lot of value for those picks and even if they don't pan out it would be very hard for anyone to argue those weren't good picks at the time. The same cannot be said for the 2014 draft with Coughlin, Vesel and Bouchard. Picking the "right" guys in the later rounds goes a long way.

 

[Tyrolean]

Pretty sad how the drafting has goen about in the past. It makes you downright angry.

All teams make mistakes though but the Oilers seem to make more of them.

Did anyone write an article comparing all teams drafting records in the past 5-10 years? That would be interesting.