Last time on Dragonball Zadam. Stupid things nobody cared about!
Welcome to Relevance.
If you got that reference it’s okay to just hide. That might be the worst I've ever done and I am terrible at it. I don’t know if I get points for trying to be bad at it…regardless. This is the pointless me blog. Indulge and welcome in the teased but not tantalized, not titillating, not arboretum. Look it up. Sorry for that. I got a few questions that superseded my own volume in this saga of bollocks. So I've decided to answer these before my long winded and pretty insane tank vs anti-tank debate. So the one person waiting for that…get on with it….I’ll finish when I do.
These questions were asked by a rabid Oilers fan and partial glancer in my direction. Mr. ChetManly of the prestigious Manly family...and I'm in.
1) Given Slepyshev's limited icetime in the KHL and his emergence this season (really starting from the Spengler Cup), what is a realistic expectation for his potential quality of play in North America?
Slepyshev is such an underrated pickup. I say this because five years of being on his tail would really be a fantastic way to validate me...and him. It's all about him! Seriously though, Slepyshev made a promise at 18 that he wouldn't move to North America until he was 21, this killed his draft eligibility and made him unpickable. At 21...he is ready to go to the AHL apparently. I'm not his lawyer, I only read his statement when he was 18 and saying he would stay in the KHL for 4 years...who is his PR agent? OJ? Michael Jackson? I could make a better defense with a sock puppet and some rum. The Warriors come out to play and when your name is called you need to show up. As for Slepyshev, he's coming...and he's going to be a second/third line 15-20 goal scorer. He's that good in my opinion.
2) With the state of horrible affairs in Edmonton, what do you see being the best route for both Nurse and Draisaitl? I've been an advocate for Nurse getting the same development treatment as Pietrangelo, so basically 18 NHL games and 2 seasons in the AHL prior to his fulltime arrival in the NHL. Would this be maybe too cautious? As for Draisaitl, do you think he should start the year in the NHL and be forced to tough it out, or should he be 9 games and then have a full AHL season?
That's definitely a difficult question to answer, but I'll try. I think Nurse should have one AHL season at least. We are all impressed with his mix of size, skill and mobility. We were all impressed with Klefbom's as well. You could have made an argument that Klefbom could have made the Oilers as a bottom pairing guy last season, but would that have been the right move? I think not. Playing heavy minutes in the AHL is a great way of getting defensemen in particular some real experience. Nurse and players of his caliber play upwards of 30 minutes a night for their junior squad on occasions, they are "the man." The AHL brings them back to reality without as much force as being the sixth defender on an NHL team does. He can ease into a top four role and learn to play the second PP etc. I know for Oilers fans this is a highly conflicted topic. They want Nurse being a dominant two-way defender as quickly as possible. Yet at the same time are paralyzed with the fear of ruining the best chance at a top-pairing player they have. One year in the AHL for me.
Draisaitl will be in the NHL next season full time. I still hate that the rules of the CHL prevent a special case rule for players like Draisaitl, Rielly, Grigorenko and a host of others that have little left to learn in their respective leagues, but are obviously in need of development before being thrust into the NHL. Some players perceive, others just falter and a 19 year old Draisaitl tasked with carrying a third line was a disastrous decision. His play in the WHL indicates that he will be ready for that role next season if the Oilers better insulate him. Which I suspect they will. This has been a really interesting learning experience for MacT and while I don't know what is on his mind, I suspect he will continue to add veteran depth in the off-season.
3) If Edmonton somehow makes it outside of the top 2 at the draft, who would be the best draft pick for them? Strome, Marner, Hanafin or Provorov?[/quote] Have it for you tonight.
If Edmonton is picking third, you pick Hanifin. It's not because they need defensemen right now, it's because he is the third ranked prospect for a very good reason. He's stable, calming and can eat minutes up. He doesn't have some of the dynamic qualities of some of the previous top defensive prospects like Jones or Ekblad, but he is a lot more rounded. I won't say he is as boring a top-3 pick as Ryan Murray, because he isn't. Additionally, Murray was as old as possible of a draft eligible player going in. Yet calming two-way players are always wanted, yearned for, yet ultimately not as appreciated. Werenski is more dynamic than Hanifin. Provorov is more dynamic than Hanifin. Neither have his attention to detail. I'm a firm believer in "on ice intelligence" a very vague concept that we all throw around. It's something you notice when a player has it and when they don't. Hanifin has it and it's what tells me he will excel at the NHL level when he gets his shot.
As per new "tradition" we have some of my favourite tunes that...well they don't fit, but I like them.