Yesterday Bob McKenzie announced that the Oilers promoted Bob Green to oversee all player development. That change will also include overseeing all scouting for the franchise. The former GM of the Edmonton Oil Kings is quickly moving up the ranks of the Oilers.
The move is yet again an example of the Oilers hiring from within, but at least Green’s resume is stellar. He was responsible for very good things as the head of Edmonton’s WHL Franchise. The team was a joke, an expansion team that looked every bit the part, and he elevated them to two time WHL Champions and a team that would win the Memorial Cup.
He is extremely knowledgeable about the Canadian Hockey League and it makes him an excellent choice to oversee the Amateur Scouting for the Oilers. McKenzie was very clear to point out that nobody has lost their job, but this obviously puts Stu MacGregor under the gun. He has overseen the Oilers Draft as the Head Scout but it would appear he has someone watching over his shoulder now.
This is probably a good development given how off the rails the Oilers Drafting goes once we leave the 1st Round. Drafting in the top 5 is not Rocket Surgery. Sometimes a player doesn’t work out the way you want (Nail Yakupov is struggling, for instance) but that’s a mistake 29 other teams would have made so you can live with it. In Yakupov’s case he was the consensus #1 rated Draft eligible player in his year. He broke a record held by Stamkos. Of course the Oilers took him 1st.
But what about Rounds 2 onwards? In 2012 the Oilers selected Moroz, Khaira, and Zharkov in the 2nd and 3rd rounds. Edmonton might as well have traded those picks for tickets to see Cirque Du Soleil. In 2014 the Oilers had 5 picks in the 4th round and later. They used 2 of them on Goalies who cant stop pucks very well and 2 of them on over-aged kids from the BCHL. Just letting one of those great BCHL prospects who will never play professional hockey slide and selecting Tkachev would have saved a lot of heartache this past Fall. In 2011 the Oilers had the 1st pick in the 2nd Round and used it to take the European Scout’s son instead of a player who could potentially play for the Oilers.
This team needs a babysitter at the Draft table. They haven’t been good enough to suggest they can keep going the way they were without some kind of adult supervision.
As much as I roll my eyes at the club making another internal hire, at least the man they hired has the right resume for the job.
LINEUP
I expect the Oil to keep a very similar lineup to the one that got completely manhandled by Detroit. If not for a very good performance by Fasth the team would have been completely destroyed by the Red Wings. The Wings smothered the life out of Edmonton all night. It was seemingly impossible for them to break through the neutral zone while Detroit sent in only 1 forechecker and held back. The Oilers refused to change their plan of attack, continuing to try long passes through the web of Red Wing skaters, and were peppered for shots against on the transition after their passes were intercepted. It was a pretty sad display, actually. One thing we should see is Yak playing on the Roy line. It has looked, by my eye, for a while like Yak has been skating well with the puck but he can’t get any time with Fraser or Lander. Nelson had him practicing with Roy. Let’s see how this develops.
Hall RNH Eberle Pouliot Roy Yak Fraser Lander Purcell Hendricks Gordon Klinkhammer
Ference Petry Klefbom Schultz Nikitin Fayne
Scrivens
OILERS KEYS TO THE GAME
1) First Line Heating Up. The Primary scoring source for the team is finally beginning to heat up. RNH looks dangerous every night and is leading the way 5v5. Eberle has 5 points in his last 5 games and Hall has 7 points in his last 8 games. It looks like this trio is finally getting a few bounces going their way. If Nuge can start picking up PP points this team would be significantly better off.
2) Shots Fired. Nobody creates more 5v5 shots than the Blackhawks and it isn’t even really that close. On a per 60 minute basis they create 34.9 shots. That’s 1st in the NHL in that category. 2nd in the NHL creates 31.7 shots/60 minutes. The Oilers are 26th at 29.9 Shots For/60 and not altogether that great at preventing shots either which suggests another potential turkey shoot for Edmonton.
3) Pick Your Poison. The Hawks have 6 players who would be leading or tied for the lead in Edmonton for Scoring. Brandon Saad is at 25 points then it starts going up from there with Keith, Hossa, Versteeg, Toews and Kane. Kane’s 45 points are 3rd most in the NHL. Chicago boasts an incredible wealth of offensive talent. Patrick Sharp has 21 points and that’s 9th on the Hawks. It would be 4th on the Oil. The Oil might be able to shut down 1 line tonight, but all of them? This team is in tough.
Puck drops tonight at 7:38PM Mountain Time on Sportsnet West. Tank On!
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