Over the weekend the Oilers signed European free agent forward Jere Sallinen to a 1 year ELC. It’s only worth noting because there is absolutely nothing that jumps out about this player that makes you believe he belongs in the NHL.

Sallinen is 25 years old, 6 feet tall, and 183 pounds. He has played the last 2 seasons with Jokerit (Jari Kurri’s club) of the KHL. During that time this past season was his most productive with 8 goals, 11 assists for 19 points. He did once have 42 points in the Finnish league, but even that was an aberration compared to his entire scoring history.

Frankly speaking, there is nothing on paper that makes this young man stand out in any way. However, despite his size he has gained a reputation as a fiery player. He seems bound to play in the AHL with the Condors and my personal expectations are low.

Certainly in the coming days the Oilers seem far more likely to target NCAA defensemen to add into the prospect pool as former prospects transition to suspects and are moved out.

As Jordan Oesterle’s stock in the organization rises, others are staying stagnant. I anticipate there will be decisions made on a few young blueliners this summer and we could be seeing the departure of a few players who have been around a while.

The youngsters are obviously going to stick around and develop a bit longer. Probably the best of the most recently drafted is Seattle Thunderbirds defenseman Ethan Bear, who is one of only 6 WHL defenseman with 60+ points on the season. He’s picked up 18-43-61 in 65 games this year. After him is Caleb Jones who is 11th in WHL scoring by defensemen. Jones is a versatile defender who has been switching between left and right defense even with games.

It’s players like Dillon Simpson and David Musil that the Oilers have to start making decisions on. Even as these two have been playing more minutes and taking on bigger roles in the AHL, they have pretty clearly been surpassed within the organization. Both are RFAs this summer. The Barons need defensemen too, but it’s questionable whether these kids will ever be anything more than AHL defenders.

Edmonton’s prospect pool on defense is not exactly knocking anyone’s socks off. There are a couple possibles in the WHL, Reinhart and Oesterle from the AHL, then a whole lot of question marks. I’ve been impressed with Oesterle in his most recent stint with the Oilers. He isn’t the answer to Edmonton’s problems on defense but at least he isn’t the cause of them. It’s the fact that there doesn’t appear to be anything in the professional ranks after him that have me worried.

LINEUP

This is the 3rd game Nurse will sit out due to suspension. Pardy should still be out “Week to week” with what looks like is still an undisclosed injury. Gryba hasn’t been heard from since he entered the witch’s forest. Klefbom just started taking full practices on the weekend. Davidson is out with…something in his knee (The Oilers haven’t really spoken about it). Ference is getting hip surgery soon. Hendricks is out with an undisclosed injury. And, finally, Pouliot wrecked his shoulder in freak gardening accident. All in all, the Oilers haven’t been healthier in quite some time. Brossoit gets the start!

Hall Draisaitl Pakarinen
Maroon McDavid Eberle
Korpikoski RNH Yakupov
Cracknell Letestu Kassian

Sekera Fayne
Reinhart Clendening
Nikitin Oesterle

Brossoit

OILERS KEYS TO THE GAME

1) Hall/McDavid. When on the ice together that line has looked dangerous the last two games. Hall’s speed has really been unleashed. However, part of me still really questions the decision to have them together over long stretches. We know Hall can drive a line. We know McDavid can drive a line. Why opt to have 1 line over 2? The Hall-McDavid line has to stop looking good and start actually producing if it’s worth keeping together. Otherwise, I would prefer to have the Oilers attack in waves with the Hall line, McDavid line, and RNH line. The last 11 games is about figuring out what might work for next year as much as anything else. Is this a combination worth keeping or something the coach should just resort to when the team is shortening the bench?

2) Process. It appears frustration has set in with the Oiler coaching staff. Edmonton outshot the Coyotes 44-29, out possessed them by a pretty large margin too. But, immediately after the game ended McLellan started laying into the team for playing the same old ways it has been in the past. There were multiple complaints from media guys about the Oilers sticking to the perimeter. To me, this reeks of outcome bias. Edmonton lost the game 4-0 and that paints the picture of what happened. The reality is something different, though. Maroon had 2 chances at the side of the net plus another 2 deflections in front that were stopped, Nuge rang iron, Hall & McDavid each had 5 shots, there were multiple time the Oilers were thwarted in the slot. Edmonton “same old ways” have never been controlling the play all game but losing anyway. I think if everyone is being honest about that game they would admit Edmonton played pretty well despite a brutal outcome.

3) That Blue. When you compare the Predators and the Oilers you cannot help but see the teams are polar opposites, especially on the blueline. Nashville as a franchise has been building their defense from day 1. They’ve been able to withstand losing Suter and Jones and still have the depth to be considered one of (if not THE) best defenses in the NHL. Josi and Weber followed by Ellis and Ekholm is a glut of riches. Edmonton is running just a single pair of established NHLers and right now only Sekera could probably fit in on the Predator defense. Edmonton’s forwards have to find weakness where it doesn’t really exist. Nashville’s forwards…not so much.

Puck drops tonight at 7PM Mountain Time on Sportsnet Oilers. Game On!

Follow me on Twitter @Archaeologuy

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