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G6: Oilers vs Wild - The Janmark Show + Play The Kids |
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I was thinking as I drove into work this morning about the 2010-2012 Oilers. Those were some awful teams. Like impressively horrible. The best parts about those teams however was the young talent. Sure the team was probably going to lose 5-3, but you would get to see Linus Omark do something cool, or see Magnus Paajarvi look like a true power forward for a couple games, and of course the future of RNH, Hall, and Eberle.
Flash forward to the Oilers of today. While it is a good thing that the roster is no longer having to rely on 18 and 19 year old kids to carry the weight, we also haven't really seen any young players brought in to play impact minutes.
When is the last time the Oilers drafted and developed a young player to play in their top six that wasn't a top draft pick? Yamamoto was the closest thing to that. Before that?
Ryan McLeod has been a strong defensively sound player for the Oilers but what room does he have to grow in his role?
Dylan Holloway and Raphael Lavoie were drafted as high end skill players. Holloway remains in the bottom six with Janmark being played on the top line, while Lavoie, now 23 continues to play in the AHL.
Let's look around the NHL at some players.
Matthew Poitras, drafted 54th overall in 2022 has 2 goals and 3 points in 5 games with the Bruins this season and is currently playing on their second line.
Ridly Greig was drafted 28th overall by the Senators and has 4 points in 5 games this season, and was playing on the second line while Norris was out.
The 25 year old Matthew Phillips, drafted by the Flames in the 6th round in 2016 had played in 3 NHL games before this season. He currently has 3 points in 4 games and is on the Capitals top line with Strome and Ovechkin.
These are players around the league who are being given opportunities to play and are rewarding their teams with it. As I have said before, maybe Lavoie wouldn't be able to do anything or maybe McLeod is nothing more than a good third line centre. The point is you won't know how these players can adapt unless you give them the opportunity to do so.
Connor McDavid is out of the lineup. McDavid's on ice production cannot be replicated by any other player on this roster with the exception of Draisaitl but he cannot do it all. I don't know if this hesitancy on playing young players is coming from Holland or Woodcroft but it is heavily limiting what this team can do.
For all the "depth" this team added to it's forward core, we are 6 games into the season and McDavid missing a game means Matthias Janmark is on the top line... that is less than good.
Give these kids a chance to shine. If you only play them as third and fourth liners than that is all they are going to be.
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • 
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