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 Adam
Messages: 6959
Registered: August 2005
Location: Edmonton, AB
6 Cups
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| Skookum Jim wrote on Sun, 04 June 2023 02:58 |
| stemhovlichski wrote on Sat, 03 June 2023 11:35 |
... When the Oilers had little or no farm system, it really showed in the management of the team. There was no pool to pick from and no planning for the future and it showed on the ice. Bakersfield changed all that - we can assign or elevate players as necessary, fill in holes in emergencies and let new guys test the NHL. ..
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Agree. In fact I think that maybe one of the most important people in the organization is Keith Gretzky.. he's almost full time looking at Bako and the ECHL team.. essentially the minor league GM.
He's doing a good job.. Oiler farm teams almost never had mid to late round picks developing into NHL players.. part of that was the scouting.. but I think the most important factor is the development after.. oilers seem to be putting more resources towards the farm system.. positive sign.
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Is he doing a great job? What's the evidence of that? They've had relatively early exits the last two years. Other than Broberg and Skinner, have they graduated anyone else? Desharnais I guess, but enh...that's not been great.
If the idea is that your depth draft picks and signings feed the bottom of your roster, that isn't showing right now on the Oilers. Here's the bottom half from last year:
Foegele - trade
Janmark - UFA signing
McLeod - drafted - 2nd full NHL season
Kostin - trade
Ryan - UFA signing
Holloway - drafted - rookie season, arguably rushed given poor results
Shore - UFA signing
Bjugstad - trade
Malone - UFA signing
Hamblin - UFA signing (overage junior)
Kulak - trade
Broberg - drafted - officially his rookie season (played 23 games last year)
Desharnais - drafted - rookie season
Murray - UFA signing
Niemelainen - drafted - officially his rookie season (played 20 games last year)
So the vast majority of our forward depth has come via player acquisitions, not drafted and developed players. Maybe a little more evidence of promoting from within on defence, but I really only have confidence in Broberg out of those three. Worth noting of the three guys who played the most - Broberg and Holloway are 1st round picks, McLeod is a 2nd rounder. We aren't seeing huge contributions from depth drafts.
It's still early, but no depth picks from any of the Holland drafts have come close to making the NHL yet (with the exception of Matej Blumel who played 6 games for Dallas this year after the Oilers let his rights expire). I believe from the 2019 draft, only Broberg and Lavoie are still part of the organization - everyone else is gone.
I'm curious if there's something I'm missing that's suggesting Gretzky has done a great job so far...
With regards to the trade - if the scouts believe that he's a better shot at being an NHL player than the 10-20% odds that a 5th rounder gets you, then maybe it's a worthwhile bet.
He had not bad stats for a 20-year old, with a substantial jump from his 19-year old season, so maybe he's a bit of a late-bloomer. He's big, shoots right and plays center, so that gives you lots of options. Also, theoretically, he's 2 years closer than anyone we picked in that spot this year which matches a little better with our window. I'd be pretty okay if we traded all the picks this year in order to give ourselves a better shot at winning the Cup in 2024.
[Updated on: Mon, 05 June 2023 12:53]
"Thinking that a bad team's best players are the reason the team is bad is the "Tambellini re-signing Lennart Petrell" of sports opinions." @Woodguy55
#FireLowe #FireBobbyNicks #FireKenHolland #FireKeithGretzky
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