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Oiler Camp Kicks Into Gear |
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Main Camp opened up and the on-ice sessions started yesterday for the Edmonton Oilers. With North America eliminated from the World Cup of Hockey, Todd McLellan and Peter Chiarelli managed to return to Edmonton in time to not miss anything.
Edmonton’s top three centermen are still not ready to join the team. McLellan and company have given Nugent-Hopkins and McDavid several extra days off. They will return to the ice on Tuesday. When Draisaitl is finished with Team Europe he will get a similar number of days off. This makes sense. Both McDavid and Nuge played a half dozen games at a high pace between the pre-tournament and tournament games. That is roughly how many pre-season games they would figure into during a normal pre-season.
Oiler line combinations and pairings from Day 1 are as follows:
Group A
Lucic Caggiula Eberle
Maroon Lander Yakupov
Pitlick Vesce Versteeg
Christoffer Sallinen Slepyshev
Simpson Fayne
Reinhart Gryba
Oesterle Benning
Fraser Bear
Talbot
Laurikainen
Group B
Pouliot Letestu Puljujarvi
Benik Hendricks Kassian
Beck Khaira Pakarinen
Moroz/Hamilton Platzer Russell
Klefbom Larsson
Nurse Davidson
Laleggia Musil
Jones Niemalainen/Betker
Gustavsson
Brossoit
Of course early line combinations can change (and will change) but it’s hard not to read a little bit into this set-up. The top two lines from Group A and B are pretty much complete as expected for opening day but without McDavid, RNH, or Draisaitl. If the Oilers opened the season with this forward group then it would be the least surprising thing they do:
Lucic McDavid Eberle
Pouliot RNH Puljujarvi
Maroon Draisaitl Yakupov
Hendricks Letestu Kassian
The only vague hint of a surprise is that Versteeg hasn’t been placed in a position to look very good. To be completely honest, I was half expecting him to be in the top 6 for either group. That’s one of those things I expect will change as cuts start to happen and the Oilers give some of their contracted wingers nights off in the preseason.
As for the defense, I think the top 6 will eventually round out like this:
Klefbom Larsson
Sekera Fayne
Nurse Davidson
I might be overestimating Fayne’s hold on his roster spot and underestimating Davidson or Nurse. It’s possible that Fayne and Davidson flip spots. It’s also possible for Reinhart or Gryba to force their way onto this club. Personally, I would sign Gryba to a 1 year deal and he would be a capable 7D at the very least.
CAMP BATTLES
1) Scoring Line RW
2) 13th F
3) 6-7D
4) 2G
RW – There ought to be 3 scoring lines in Edmonton this year. Well, actually there ought to be three scoring centers in Edmonton this year and the team might be able to take advantage of that. The Oilers should run McDavid, RNH, Draisaitl 1-2-3 down the middle and the LWs seem set. The RWs are up in the air.
There are 4 RWs with skillsets that match the needs of those three lines: Eberle, Puljujarvi, Yakupov, and Versteeg. The outsider is Versteeg who is on a PTO, but his performance last year suggests that he can still play. He has to displace either Puljujarvi or Yakupov for a job. Edmonton’s aversion to giving Yakupov a chance with skilled players means it’s likely him who Versteeg has to beat out. However, Puljujarvi can be assigned directly to the AHL where he can play 20 minutes a night against pros thanks to the fact that he was drafted out of Europe.
13F – Pakarinen is the incumbent, so to speak, but that isnt worth a lot. Khaira is poised to make a push and as a center he brings something that Pakarinen does not. Pitlick is on his last legs with the organization. Lander is on the verge of complete and total failure. Slepyshev is a total wild card and then there’s Versteeg who we already mentioned. There are a lot of skaters who could conceivably take that position on the roster so from my perspective the competition is wide open.
6-7D – I think Davidson has the 5 spot right now and is more than capable of climbing higher. The battle for 6 and 7 is between Nurse, Reinhart, and Gryba. The team is counting on development from Nurse. Based on the verbal from Chiarelli yesterday, they see Nurse as bigger and stronger and it almost sounded like his spot was secured. Considering that Gryba outplayed both Nurse and Reinhart last year it seems odd that he’s the outsider, but there’s time in camp for all three to show their stuff.
2G – The backup goaltender spot is *probably* between Gustavsson and Brossoit. Both of these men struggled in their recent attempts to play in the NHL. Brossoit was victimized last year posting an .873 save percentage in 5 games last season. Gustavsson, on the other hand, posted a still lackluster .908 save percentage in 24 games with the Bruins. I think Gustavsson has the edge here, but given his NHL track record it is a tenuous hold on the job at best.
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