Anaheim Ducks fans are still bitter and they have every right to be, after prized prospect
Justin Schultz spurned their team and chose to sign with the
Edmonton Oilers in the summer. However, any ill-will that may have been directed towards the young defenseman has fallen on deaf ears - How do I know?? - Because the guy is tearing up the
AHL.
The overall consensus was that Schultz was NHL ready and could have an immediate impact on any
NHL back-end. But, the lockout robbed him of the opportunity to show his stuff.
Instead the 22-year-old is playing for the Oilers AHL affiliate, the
Oklahoma City Barons, and leads the league in scoring with 32 points (11g 21a) through just 22 games. He is the only defenseman among the Top-20 in AHL scoring.
Schultz may not only be the best player in the AHL (at this moment) -
he could be the best player on his own team - the Oilers - outscoring even his high-profile teammates
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Jordan Eberle and
Taylor Hall.
This is great news for both the AHL and NHL. Whenever a great young talent emerges everybody benefits from it. Unfortunately, we may not get a chance to see him in an Oilers jersey anytime soon.
I thought some of these quotes best summed up Schultz from what I have read about him.
"[The hockey world] all knew he was a pretty good hockey player, we just didn’t know how fast he would be able to translate his game to the pro hockey game." - Oklahoma City head coach Todd Nelson
“His biggest asset is the way he reads the game offensively, The way he joined the play, he wasn’t trying to go end-to-end with the puck. He was just jumping at the right time whether, you know, going to the net and trying to go backdoor ... just kinda being that, you know, we call it the ‘second wave’ on the offense off the rush. He’s just a very smooth skater." - Charlotte Checkers head coach Jeff Daniels
“It’s pretty impressive, This is probably the first player for me that’s been shocking me, like, constantly for every game he’s been playing.” - Magnus Paajarvi, Edmonton Oilers' 10th overall selection in the 2009 NHL draft.
If you are a Ducks fan it has to be a bit nauseating to hear all that praise of a guy that so defiantly turned his backs on you. But, if you are a hockey fan first, it has to at the very least get you somewhat excited to hear that such an exciting young player is coming into the league. Now I can fully understand why he was so sought after; even with having never played a minute in the NHL.
Then - as I dreamed of a day when NHL players and fans would again fill arena's all around North America and Schultz would "wow" us with his skills, I was quickly snapped back to reality when I read these words from the mouth of "chosen one" himself...
When asked what he thought of playing in Oklahoma City, Schultz did have these words of wisdom to say, "
Not too many people know that much about hockey." There you go again, young Padawan, judging another book by its cover. No surprise though, even
Superman had his Kryptonite. Schultz has his immaturity to hold him back. Once he outgrows that - watch out. The kid is the real deal.
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