The NHL All-Star break feels a bit foreign to me after losing it to the Lock-Out then the Olympics. No hockey on TV left me live Tweeting episodes of Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune as a surrogate. Needless to say I found the Quiz Show equivalent of Justin Schultz when the Final Jeopardy contestant guessed that a Candy Bar whose original packaging featured a Fleur de Lis was Almond Joy instead of the obvious and correct 3 Musketeers. Almond Joy? What kind of simpletons are they letting on Jeopardy these days? Classic Jultz move.
In any case, this seems like a good time to go over a few of the prospects on Edmonton’s farm team to see how they’ve been doing up to this point. This season has been a nightmare for the NHL club but the Barons are the best team in the AHL and rolling along fine. Whatever malaise is infecting the big club is not deterring their kids on the farm
As mentioned above, the OKC Barons are leading the American Hockey League standings with a record of 28-9-2-3 for a total of 61 points. They are cruising along even without former Head Coach Todd Nelson who has taken over in Edmonton. If there’s one thing you can say about Oilers management, it’s that they know how to ice a good AHL team. I just wish they didn’t do it at the NHL level too.
Here are the notables from OKC:
ANTON LANDER
I think it would be unfair to keep him off of this list even though he’s up with the big club and likely to stick all year. He was probably their best player and leader. If this was the 1st time he had ever been called up we would be excited more, I think. He is 23 turning 24 in the Spring and finally may have turned the corner.
29GP, 9-22-31, 1.07 p/g
IIRO PAKARINEN
The Barons leading Goal-Scorer so far this year, Pakarinen had a very limited call-up with the Oilers earlier in the year. He looks like a good bet to get called up considering the injury to Tyler Pitick. After the Trade Deadline there might be even more holes on the wings where he might get his chance to play again.
36GP, 16-11-27, 0.75 p/g
CURTIS HAMILTON
A Heartbeat! I’m still not convinced he gets another contract from the Oilers because others could probably take his spot but this is his best season yet. I think injuries played a big part in taking Hamilton off track as a prospect. This is the best he’s ever played but I don’t really see him sticking in the organization past this summer.
36GP, 8-12-20, 0.64 p/g
JORDAN OESTERLE
This Rookie-Pro is in the middle of his 1st ever AHL season at the age of 22. He is 2nd on the Barons Blueline in points so far and I would suggest that’s something to be pleased about. Brad Hunt leads the team and he’s an AHL All-Star but he’s past the point where we can reasonably call him a prospect. Oesterle is just getting his feet wet. He should stay in OKC all year and preferably for as long as humanly possible while he gets learns the pro game.
41GP, 5-14-19, 0.46 p/g
BOGDAN YAKIMOV
As a 20 year old who is playing his first season in North America I am relatively pleased with how Yakimov is doing. I’m hoping that he turns up the offense during this 2nd half of the season. At 6’5” and 230 lbs he is one of a kind in Edmonton’s organization. It would be huge if he turned into an NHL player for the club. My hopes remain high (as in a capable 3C) but I would be just fine if he didn’t play another game for the Oilers all year. His boxcars are very similar to what he did in the KHL last season and I think that’s acceptable over a few months on a new ice surface and style of play.
37GP, 6-10-16, 0.43 p/g
JUJHAR KHAIRA
I have been suspicious of Jujhar Khaira as a prospect every year he played since the Oilers drafted him and convinced him to leave College after 1 year. As soon as he couldn’t add an appropriate level of offense I started to worry. He’s still very young, just 20, but his lack of offense is following him around. As a 6’4” 215 lb kid he wasn’t able to dominate in the WHL and now in the AHL we get the same. I worry.
37GP, 2-5-7, 0.19 p/g
MITCH MOROZ
I cant think of a worse way to start off as a Pro. The Oilers were forced to be extremely patient with Mitch Moroz, who they blew a 2nd round pick on for reasons that only make sense if you think character supersedes ability at the Draft table. He was a 3rd line player in the WHL when they drafted him that high and they let him develop at that level for 2 more years. He eventually became *almost* a point per game player in his final season. Now he looks further behind than Kale Kessy, who I wont even acknowledge with an entry here. They say he isn’t getting much playing time, but this is wretched.
32GP, 0-3-3, 0.09 p/g
MARTIN MARINCIN
I am a little concerned about his lack of offense but people who watch him keep saying he is an NHL defender playing in the AHL. That said, I still want to see him add more offense. I strongly believe he belonged with the Oilers this year but at least he’s getting ice time with the Barons and learning to win at that level instead of learning to cling to sanity at the NHL level.
24GP, 0-6-6, 0.25 p/g
LAURENT BROSSOIT
The big get from the Smid trade is coming along nicely in the AHL. This is his rookie year in the AHL after a successful turn last year in the ECHL. His save percentage is adequate, not good, not terrible. Considering he’s just 21 and Goalies are entirely unpredictable he could just as well win the Vezina next year as he could drop back down to the East Coast League. With Edmonton’s goaltending finally looking normal we probably wont be seeing him any time soon. He picked up an assist which puts him just 2 behind Moroz in scoring so I included his points per game below…
22GP, .915 sv%, 2.62 GAA, 0-1-1, 0.05 p/g
THE FARM
I expect to see Marincin in the NHL again because I’m a sucker to be let down by the Oilers and I would like to see Iiro Pakarinen get another shot in the NHL when the situation calls for it. Other than those two I don’t particularly care to see more AHL players join Edmonton. I’ve had my fill, actually.
And honestly, most of the players down in OKC aren’t going to help Edmonton do anything particularly special in the NHL where as they can be contributing to a winner in the AHL. Bogdan Yakimov isn’t over-ripe and dying on the vine. He still has a lot to learn still. Nobody is dominating the league and the ones who were, even for a short time, all played in Edmonton.
Keep them down there where they belong and as far away from this mess as humanly possible.
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • 
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