Edmonton Oilers

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Logan Couture scored a power-play goal 1:29 into overtime to help the San Jose Sharks bounce back from two losses in Los Angeles to beat the Kings 2-1 in Game 3 of their second-round series on Saturday night.

READING, Pa. – Nikita Kashirsky’s two goals, including a game winner with 10:18 left in overtime, helped the Reading Royals send the Stockton Thunder to a 6-5 OT loss in game one of the 2013 Kelly Cup Finals before 5,493 fans at Sovereign Center ...

SAN JOSE, Calif. - The NHL fined the San Jose Sharks $100,000 on Saturday for general manager Doug Wilson's public comments about forward Raffi Torres' suspension.

CHICAGO - In case they weren't aware already, the Chicago Blackhawks now know they're going to have to earn it if they want to get past Detroit.

BOSTON - In the corner of the Boston Bruins' locker room, hanging from the hooks in Andrew Ference's stall, is a yellow running singlet with the team's "Spoked B" logo on the front.

The Edmonton Oilers have six players participating in the 2013 IIHF World Hockey Championships in Helsinki, Finland and Stockholm, Sweden: Devan Dubnyk, Jordan Eberle, Taylor Hall and Justin Schultz (Canada), Ladislav Smid (Czech Republic) and Jef...

Long-time observers of the Edmonton Oilers at the draft table know the club has a tendency to go "walkabout" during the second and third rounds of the draft. Recent comments by the GM perhaps give hope that the club will go in a new direction for picks 31-100. THE 2009 DRAFTAn excellent example of the Oilers "walkabout" at the draft table occurred in 2009. The club ended up with four players from Bob McKenzie's final list but went about it in unusual fashion. Here's how it actually went down:2009 Oilers draft Magnus Paajarvi selected #10 overall, ranked #10 (attended combine) Anton Lander selected #40 overall, ranked HM (attended combine) Troy Hesketh selected #71 overall, unranked Cameron Abney selected #82 overall, unranked Kyle Bigos selected #99 overall, unranked Toni Rajala selected #101 overall, ranked #50 (attended combine) Olivier Roy selected #133 overall, ranked HM (attended combine) The Oilers have done this in the past (although 2010 had 5 BM names and 2011's list boasted 6), basically setting aside their list after round one or two and spending the "middle" selections on a very specific need--in the case of 2009, a tall tree blueliner, an enforcer of some repute, and a massive defender who could block out the sun.If the Oilers had drafted (in order) Paajarvi, Rajala, Lander and Roy in their first four selections would the value of the player be more in line with the pick's value? Certainly. However, the fact that players like Rajala and Roy were available long after their projection suggests the Oilers weren't the only ones cheating for size over skill in 2009.The question is: does that kind of drafting model produce results?THROUGH THE PAST, DARKLYStu MacGregor's 2009 draft resembles several from the KP era, but I've chosen 2003's edition to compare. I am using Redline Report's draft rankings in this instance (McKenzie had Pouliot #13 ranked, but his list didn't go past round one in 2003).2003 Oilers draft Marc Pouliot: selected #22 overall, ranked #40 Colin McDonald: selected #51 overall, ranked #57 JF Jacques: selected #68 overall, not ranked in top 100 Michal Joukov: selected #72 overall, ranked #62 Zack Stortini: selected #94overall Kalle Olsson: selected #147 overall David Rohlfs: selected #154 overall Dragan Umicevic: selected #184 overall Kyle Brodziak: selected 214th overall Mathieu Roy: selected #215 overall Josef Hrabal: selected #248 overall Troy Bodie: selected #278 overall There are a couple of examples in this draft (using Redline's numbers) of Prendergast and his scouting staff going draft walkabout: Selecting JF Jacques late in the 2nd round and passing over higher ranked eligibles. Jacques was ranked #118 by Redline, which would have put him squarely in the 4th round. Selecting Zack Stortini #94 overall, ahead of higher ranked (by Redline) prospects. Stortini was #194 on the Redline list, and the Oilers would go on to select Kyle Brodziak (#185) more than 100 picks later. WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?In a recent article, Jonathan Willis quoted Oiler director of scouting Stu MacGregor on his new boss: "Every GM sees things a little bit differently, and he works a little bit from a coaching standpoint in that guys have to be able to think, players have to be able to figure out what the coach is showing and teaching." There's always a danger in reading too much into these quotes; then again, I don't recall reading many articles on the "hockey sense" of what I'm calling the "walkabout" group. A change in the weather? We wait.(OKC Barons photos courtesy Rob Ferguson. All rights reserved).

Under head coach Todd Nelson, the Oklahoma City Barons have been a consistently competitive club in the American Hockey League. However, many of the Edmonton Oilers’ young prospects have struggled to make the jump to the professional level. Is Nelson finding the right balance between winning and developing players? Nelson’s TakeA few weeks back, Nelson was asked a question along this line during an appearance on Oilers Now. Here’s what he told host Bob Stauffer:It’s a very delicate balance, Bob. One form of development is just the player himself, physically, learning the pro game, just trying to manage his life as a pro. The second part of it is, I think having success is a form of development. I think you have to balance it, you can’t go after wins all the time, of course everybody wants to win. In our case this year we never really dressed in our eyes at the time over the course of the season our strongest lineup every night. We had certain players that didn’t deserve to come out but we had to get players in so they could develop. Besides the skill development and learning the pro game, I think winning’s a form of it as well. Let’s face it, if we go into a situation where we’re losing a lot here, and a player’s good enough to play in the NHL, how’s he going to bring that winning attitude to the big club?The Rookie ProsHow well have graduating forwards done under Nelson? To try and answer that question I’ve turned to Gabriel Desjardins’ NHL equivalencies. I’ve taken the points per game performance from each of Nelson’s first-year pros, projected it to the NHL, than projected it back to the AHL. The “Expected” column shows how many points we should have expected each player to score given the number of AHL games they’ve played; the “Precent” column shows how close they came to meeting that mark.The picture painted is bleak, but I think it tends to overstate things (I’m also a little worried about survivorship bias – NHL projections are based on the players that make the jump from a league to the NHL, which suggests that on the whole they’re better than the group that jumps to the AHL).Of the players on this list, I think there can’t be much in the way of complaint about anybody over the 80% mark. That’s a very strong group of first-year AHL’ers (and Kristians Pelss). Additionally, I’d suggest that defensive forwards like Tanner House and Chris VandeVelde likely scored the way they did due to situational usage – as older players on a college team, they were placed in offensive situations that they simply don’t have the ability to play at the professional level.The most concerning group on this list are the major junior forwards. Aside from Kristians Pelss (who didn’t play that many games), every junior age forward Nelson has taken as a rookie pro has struggled early on – and most have found themselves consigned to depth roles. Milan Kytnar and Philippe Cornet fit this description, but the poster boys are Ryan Martindale, Curtis Hamilton and Tyler Pitlick – all reasonably high draft picks, all major scoring options in junior, all profound disappointments early in their professional careers.Should that be placed at Nelson’s feet? To some extent, probably. However, Ryan Martindale wasn’t much better in the ECHL than he was in the AHL (and it’s hard to imagine that he wasn’t given opportunities in AA hockey). Milan Kytnar is playing in the KHL and isn’t scoring any better than he did in the AHL. Cornet has emerged as a scorer but Pitlick and Hamilton haven’t been any better in year two than they were in year one – and it’s hard to blame Nelson when guys like Rajala and Cornet are blowing past them offensively. Both Cornet and Rajala started in the ECHL, both played their way into a spot on the Barons and then played their way into offensive minutes.Looking at this list of players, I tend to think that Nelson could perhaps place more of a premium on getting minutes to Oilers draft picks than he does. With that said I come away th

Future Edmonton Oilers captain Taylor Hall isn’t the first NHL up-and-comer who has had to play a secondary role when wearing Team Canada silks at the Olympics or the World Championships and he won’t be the last.So, while there's a segment of Oilers fans out there less-than-impressed with how Hall was used, or wasn't used, by Lindy Ruff and his staff at the 2013 World Championships, my guess is his lack of ice time and any consternation that comes with it will play in Hall's favor in the long run.I can't imagine Hall, coming off a season in which he scored 16-34-50 – he's the first Oiler to finish in the top-10 in NHL scoring since Doug Weight did it in 2000-01 – is going to waste any time sulking about his role. He's got a little bit too much "I'll-show-you" in him not to use this experience as motivation.As Jason Gregor pondered earlier today, I wonder if Team Canada brass will take a look at how Hall reacted, and will react from here on out, to his use with an eye to the next Olympics. Chances are, Hall, who is still only 21, won’t be looking at top-six minutes at Sochi in 2014, so if he's going to make the cut he'll likely have to show he can accept – and excel – with bottom-six minutes.My guess is Hall will.FAST FREDDIEI had to smile when former Oiler draft pick Fredrik Pettersson scored the shootout goal to beat Team Canada in Stockholm because I know first-hand the former Calgary Hitmen forward knows how to make an impact.Pettersson, a seventh-round pick by the Oilers in the 2005 Entry Draft, and I had a little run-in at training camp in Edmonton – I want to say it was right after his draft year, or maybe it was 2006.Anyway, I rolled out of the parking lot at Rexall Place in a spanking new Charger SRT8 I was driving at the time and headed into the intersection at 118th Ave and Wayne Gretzky drive with Pettersson, Alexei Mikhnov and Patrick Thoresen right behind me in a pick-up truck.To make a long story short, a dump truck stalled just past the intersection. I saw it and braked in time. Pettersson didn't and ploughed into me – nothing serious, maybe 20 KMH, but the bumper of his truck fit nicely into my trunk lid and peeled it back like a sardine can.I'll never forget the look on Mikhnov's face when he saw it was me. Mikhnov looks at me, looks at the car and, barely able to speak a word of English and perhaps envisioning an account of the mishap in the newspaper the next day, said, "This is bad."Not really, although it cost Fast Freddie about $4,000.WHILE I'M AT IT. . . We still don’t have word whether mayor Stephen Mandel, who oversaw the downtown arena debate from the start to the final 10-3 vote to approve the project, intends to run for another term of office, but I certainly hope he does.Simply put, Mandel strikes me as a man who says what he means and means what he says. I think no matter where you stood on the question of a new arena for the city, we can agree that's all too rare in the world of politics. I've been in Edmonton since 1989 and I don't recall a straight-shooter like Mandel occupying the mayor's chair.. . . So, what's the over-under on the number of players who finished this season on Edmonton's roster who will still be with the team when the Oilers play their first game in the new arena? I say six.Listen to Robin Brownlee Wednesdays and Thursdays from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. on the Jason Gregor Show on TEAM 1260.

Future Edmonton Oilers captain Taylor Hall isn’t the first NHL up-and-comer who has had to play a secondary role when wearing Team Canada silks at the Olympics or the World Championships and he won’t be the last.So, while there's a segment of Oilers fans out there less-than-impressed with how Hall was used, or wasn't used, by Lindy Ruff and his staff at the 2013 World Championships, my guess is his lack of ice time and any consternation that comes with it will play in Hall's favor in the long run.I can't imagine Hall, coming off a season in which he scored 16-34-50 – he's the first Oiler to finish in the top-10 in NHL scoring since Doug Weight did it in 2000-01 – is going to waste any time sulking about his role. He's got a little bit too much "I'll-show-you" in him not to use this experience as motivation.As Jason Gregor pondered earlier today, I wonder if Team Canada brass will take a look at how Hall reacted, and will react from here on out, to his use with an eye to the next Olympics. Chances are, Hall, who is still only 21, won’t be looking at top-six minutes at Sochi in 2014, so if he's going to make the cut he'll likely have to show he can accept – and excel – with bottom-six minutes.My guess is Hall will.FAST FREDDIE I had to smile when former Oiler draft pick Fredrik Pettersson scored the shootout goal to beat Team Canada in Stockholm because I know first-hand the former Calgary Hitmen forward knows how to make an impact.Pettersson, a seventh-round pick by the Oilers in the 2005 Entry Draft, and I had a little run-in at training camp in Edmonton – I want to say it was right after his draft year, or maybe it was 2006.Anyway, I rolled out of the parking lot at Rexall Place in a spanking new Charger SRT8 I was driving at the time and headed into the intersection at 118th Ave and Wayne Gretzky drive with Pettersson, Alexei Mikhnov and Patrick Thoresen right behind me in a pick-up truck.To make a long story short, a dump truck stalled just past the intersection. I saw it and braked in time. Pettersson didn't and ploughed into me – nothing serious, maybe 20 KMH, but the bumper of his truck fit nicely into my trunk lid and peeled it back like a sardine can.I'll never forget the look on Mikhnov's face when he saw it was me. Mikhnov looks at me, looks at the car and, barely able to speak a word of English and perhaps envisioning an account of the mishap in the newspaper the next day, said, "This is bad."Not really, although it cost Fast Freddie about $4,000.WHILE I'M AT IT. . . We still don’t have word whether mayor Stephen Mandel, who oversaw the downtown arena debate from the start to the final 10-3 vote to approve the project, intends to run for another term of office, but I certainly hope he does.Simply put, Mandel strikes me as a man who says what he means and means what he says. I think no matter where you stood on the question of a new arena for the city, we can agree that's all too rare in the world of politics. I've been in Edmonton since 1989 and I don't recall a straight-shooter like Mandel occupying the mayor's chair.. . . So, what's the over-under on the number of players who finished this season on Edmonton's roster who will still be with the team when the Oilers play their first game in the new arena? I say six.Listen to Robin Brownlee Wednesdays and Thursdays from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. on the Jason Gregor Show on TEAM 1260.