Summer is dead! Hockey is back!!
At least that’s my take-away from the fact that tonight there will be an Oilers game for the first time since April. Yes, it has been 5 months to the day since the club has played a game. And, sure, these arent the “real” Oilers and it’s not a league game, but dammit the players will be playing in Oiler silks and it will be broadcasted by the Oilers so I’m taking it!
The truth is that the Young Stars tournament is the perfect way for me to get back into Hockey season. Much of the summer is dedicated to prospects on this and other blogs. Naturally this is because the month of August is historically devoid of news but we need to talk about something anyway. Summer is kicked off every year by the NHL Draft and there’s an influx of new prospects the majority of us haven’t seen much of either. The Young Stars tournament transitions us from all this prospect talk right into main camp.
This is the year of McDavid and everything this kid has been involved in has been a commercial success. This tournament is no different. Before the tickets ever went on sale tour companies from Edmonton were contacting the organizers to buy out the tickets. The McDavid Effect we’ve been talking about all summer
isn’t just for attracting UFAs. People want to see this kid and the young Oilers play.
And they SHOULD!
As we went through the countdown of Edmonton’s most important prospects 1, 2, and 3 were McDavid, Nurse, and Draisaitl. All three are appearing in this tournament. The Oilers have a top heavy team with high end picks who all possess the ability to become NHL stars one day very soon. McDavid is the big draw, no question about it, but Oiler fans will have their eyes on Nurse and Draisaitl too.
What we know is that the Oilers want McDavid in particular to play in 2 of the 3 games and they are considering him playing the full contingent of games. This is normal for high end Oiler prospects. All of the others who appeared here played 2 of 3 games as well. We know the kid is going to be in the NHL this year. He’s also going to be playing against the Golden Bears on the 16th. There’s no need to overload him with games early on, although I’ve heard sports radio figures opine that they should only play him 1 game in this tournament and I think that’s ridiculous. Why bring him if he’ll only appear once?
Beyond Edmonton’s big 3 players my eyes will be on Ethan Bear, Anton Slepyshev, and Greg Chase. Slepyshev by all accounts is a legitimate NHL prospect, Chase has a lot to prove after a down year in the WHL, and Bear is by several accounts a raw talent that could blossom. He was a pleasant surprise at development camp and I want to see him in game action.
LINEUP
With the limited coaching influence and the tournament being out in Penticton we are left in a place where we might not have all the information we want. I am waiting to hear about the lineup and will update this section as soon as I hear word of the line combinations and pairings but in the meantime I’m going to put the lineup I’m expecting. Let’s see how terribly off I am! (For the sake of having others available when one of McDavid or Draisaitl gets the night off I am guessing Platzer sits the first one out)
Moroz McDavid Slepyshev
Winquist Draisaitl Chase
Rankin Roy Sanford
Christoffer Soy Linaker
Nurse Bear
LaLeggia Betker
Jones Leveille
Laurikainen
UPDATED
Slowly the real line combinations and pairings are trickling in. Honestly I don't know how much more we're going to get from Twitter because the focus of some people is squarely on the big three. I wasn't off by much though (in the top 6). Here's what we know:
Moroz McDavid Chase
Winquist Draisaitl Slepyshev
Rankin Platzer Sanford
Christoffer Loiseau Bukartz
Nurse LaLeggia
Betker Bear
Waltz Leveille
Laurikainen
OILERS KEYS TO THE GAME
1) Get McDavid The Puck. That objective shouldn’t be difficult. The puck will find McDavid as it always seems to do with talented players. There is no denying that the skill and speed of super rookie Connor McDavid is going to factor into Edmonton’s attack. He’s the guy everyone at the tournament is here to witness. He does things at top speed that others can’t do at quarter speed, and that top speed is faster than everyone else too. Unlike his time in Erie, he’ll likely be playing with a pretty solid winger. I mean that with as little disrespect as possible, but his linemates weren’t even in the same area code as him in Jr.
2) After Nurse. The Defense after Nurse gets a lot more questionable. LaLeggia should look the best of the remainder because he’s older and has more experience, but even he has question marks. Betker’s skating was noticeably causing him problems at development camp. He really looked like he had trouble moving backwards, which for a defender is really going to expose you. The perceived issues with Bear right now are about his conditioning. Rick Carriere, Senior Director of Player Development,
believes the kid hasn’t bought into fitness. That will factor into things long-term, but in the meantime how he looks in game will be what matters most.
3) Eetu Brutus. I’m not even sure he’s going to play tonight, but the Oilers acquired Eetu Laurikainen this Spring after a very successful campaign in Finland. The 22 year old finished his WHL career with Swift Current where he posted .922 and .914 save percentages then went to the SM-Liiga where he posted a .933 save percentage with the Blues. He is a very promising goaltending prospect even if he lacks the size teams want these days (He’s only 6 feet tall). He is going to get a big push from the team this year, it might as well start at this tournament.
Puck drops at 8:30PM Mountain Time on the Oilers’ website. Game On!
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