Today the Qualifying Offers were announced for the Oilers and many other clubs. Those who received one will remain Oiler property, those who did not will become Unrestricted Free Agents on the 1st. The Oilers didn’t really do anything surprising today.
They made the offers to Justin Schultz, Tyler Pitlick, and Brandon Davidson. It has also come to light that the team made a QO to Martin Marincin before trading him, so the Leafs will retain his rights as well.
Among those who did not make the cut are: Curtis Hamilton, Matt Fraser, Tyler Bunz, Brad Ross, and Keith Aulie.
THE CUTS
Curtis Hamilton: This 23 year old 4th year pro just had his best ever AHL season going 63GP, 12-20-32. He seems like an AHL player right now. Hamilton definitely lost his “Prospect… status and is suspect at best. He may yet carve out a solid pro career and maybe even play in the NHL one day but he isn’t knocking down the door just yet.
Matt Fraser: 25 year old AHL goal scorer but not fast enough to make it happen in the NHL. Chiarelli already exposed and lost this player on waivers once this year while he was the GM of the Bruins. I was not overly impressed by his time with the Oilers and there should be better options available both internally and externally to fill his role.
Tyler Bunz: Proof positive that goalies are voodoo. Had back to back years in the WHL as one of their strongest goaltenders going .919 and .921 but was worse than ordinary at the pro levels. He sported a Scrivens-like .890 in the ECHL last year. It was…regrettable. I feel for him.
Brad Ross: He was never going to be an Oiler. He was a failed prospect from the Leafs that the Oilers took on knowing full well that they would let him walk. Known PED user and minor Pro washout.
Keith Aulie: He’s a victim of the numbers more than anything else. You might expect me to carve the season that Aulie had, but to be completely honest I thought he was pretty good in the 6-7 role. He’s a big man who played within his own game. He was physical and didn’t try to do more than he had to offensively which kept him from looking like a fool because he was out of position. His biggest problem is that the Oilers have about 5 other candidates for his role that are either more established or have higher upside. THE KEEPERS
Brandon Davidson: A wonderful story. Willed himself to even be an NHL prospect. My assessment (as meaningless as it is) hasn’t changed. I don’t believe he has NHL skill. That’s cruel and brief but that’s what I see and I have been told a million times over that I’m wrong, and good for him if he proves that I am totally out to lunch here. 55GP, 4-6-10 in the AHL. If he makes it to the show it’s as a bottom pairing guy who plays an honest game. With the moves made by Chiarelli it’s going to be difficult to break into the bottom pairing this year.
Tyler Pitlick: He has NHL talent. What he lacks, so far, is any kind of durability. He’s not much of a scorer but when he’s healthy he is a heat seeking missile. He has NHL speed and he plays a rough game. His NHL future, assuming he has one, looks to be on the 4th line in an energy role. However, he has been extremely limited due to his constant time on injured reserve. His last 3 years have been 44, 49, and 31 games played combined in the AHL and NHL.
Justin Schultz: Overpaid because MacT signed a player last summer that only existed in his fantasy version of the Oilers. Justin Schultz is the highest paid RFA this year and deserves absolutely nothing more than what the team is obligated to pay him because of that previous mistake. He lacks much in the way of defensive awareness and if the knock on Marincin was that he lacked the appropriate level of “Compete… then Schultz is completely devoid of the stuff. Unless the Oilers pick up a premium player in Free Agency or Trade before the Fall he will still be the prime candidate for 1D. That should scare Oiler fans.
I have not forgotten about the Draft and I will address the big moves done there, but I still need time to sort my thoughts there.
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