Around the Oilogosphere – May 3rd Edition – Could the Oilers Draft the Next Jake Guentzal? RNH to the Canes Proposal, See Ya Slepy, and Many NHL Rumors!

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It’s always tough to say goodbye to an Oiler who you think could’ve been a great contributor to the club had he been given some more opportunity. I really liked watching Anton Slepyshev progress through the club from his days in the AHL to bottom 6 spot duty to being top 6 in the playoffs in 2017 but it seems as if the Oilers management and coaching staff haven’t seen enough from the Russian skiller to be able to give him what he needs to stay in North America and so he’s off back to his homeland to play with CSKA Moscow.

I hope the Oilers retain his rights somehow because there’s a player there and maybe he just needs a bit more time to refine his game in a different environment. Could he be Evgeni Dadonov 2.0?

THE NEXT JAKE GUENTZAL/KYLE CONNOR

Last week we talked about three of the draft options the online scouting community were projecting for the Oilers at #10 which included Isac Lundestrom and Jesperi Kotkaniemi as well as the player we’re going to talk about below whom I’m ready to throw my support behind 100% as the player the Oilers should take.

I imagine the reason I really like this kid has recency bias playing a major part. I think he looks very similar to Jake Guentzal or Kyle Connor and both of those players are having good-to-great playoffs right now. And Farabee had an outstanding U18s as well.

But I’ll let you judge for yourself.

Joel Farabee
Position: Left Wing
Shoots: Left
Height / Weight: 6’0, 164 lbs
Born: February 25, 2000 | Cicero, NY
Nation: United States

First off, you can’t go wrong taking a highly touted prospect who’s playing for the USNTDP these days. That program is fast becoming one of the best for developing high-end NHL players like Auston Matthews, Jack Eichel, Charlie McAvoy, Matthew Tkachuk, John Gibson, Jacob Trouba, etc. I could go on and on.

Basically, you’re going to get an NHLer if you take a player who is thriving on this team.

Secondly, I like players with some jam to their game. Not taking anything away from the skilled Marners, Ehlers, or Johnny Hockeys. It’s a personal preference. To me, it means there’s a bit more depth to that player apart from offense. Joel Farabee has this in spades.

“The best thing about Joel is that he competes so hard, and he goes to the areas most people don’t want to go to, and he scores tons of goals at the front of the net. He’s talented enough to score nice goals, but he adds so many goals because of his willingness to go to the hard areas, and he’s comfortable in those areas because he’s legitimately tough.” – NTDP Coach Seth Appert (link)

That’s not to say that Farabee is simply all blue-collar with respects to his game. No, he’s also got the skills to play in today’s NHL.

Shot? Check!

“He has a quick release and can snap the puck with pace.” – NHL Central Scouting’s Greg Rajanen (link)

Stickhandling? Check!
Playmaking? Check!

“Farabee has good hands and stick skills allowing him to control the puck while moving at top speed. Defenders must respect his speed, and so they back off him on the rush, creating shooting and passing lanes.” (link)

Skating (Speed/Agility)? Check! Check!

“Joel Farabee is an excellent skater, with the agility and edge work to get by defenders in one-on-one situations. He also has an outstanding first step and lightning quick acceleration” (link)

Hockey IQ? Check!

Farabee has good vision and is an outstanding playmaker off the wing. He anticipates extremely well and seems to be a step ahead of the play. Farabee finds open ice without the puck and makes smart plays with it. (link)

Two-Way Attentiveness? Check

What sets Farabee apart is how effective he is defensively. He uses his smarts to put himself in position to intercept passes and break up plays. Once he gets the puck on his stick, he’s excellent at transition offense. He’s one of the best 200-foot players at the top of the draft. (link)

Compete? Check!

“His fearlessness and work ethic make him a load to handle in the offensive zone.” (link)

“One thing you notice instantly is his work ethic on the ice — Farabee has a nonstop motor and will bust it from start to finish on every shift” (link)

“He excels in all zones, providing his team with a tireless work ethic” (link)

That’s a lot of checks and one would think if he’s that good he’d be no.1, right? And that’s true. What I’d say to that is he’s not at the same level in some of those areas as the forwards listed ahead of him (Svechnikov, Zadina, Tkachuk, Wahlstrom) and vice versa.

What is holding him back from being ranked higher is his physical stature. He’s on the smaller end being 6’0″ and 165lbs at the moment and what that means is that his shot isn’t where Wahlstrom’s or Zadina’s is and his skating isn’t as powerful as Svechnikov’s or his checking isn’t quite as good as Tkachuk’s, but by no means is that an indication of the kind of player he’ll develop into.

A player as smart as Farabee is will find a way around his limitations and turn them into strengths as a professional and if his floor is as a 3rd line special teams specialist, I’m fine with that because his ceiling is that of a top-6 scoring winger.

AN INTERESTING HURRICANES/OILERS TRADE PROPOSAL

I’ll just lay it out here and let you mull it over.

To Carolina: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins + Jesse Puljujarvi OR the #10 pick
To Edmonton: 2nd overall pick this year + Justin Faulk

We all love Nuge, myself included, and we all know Chiarelli and McLellan love him but does the salary cap love him? Could the Oilers use a bit more room under said cap to add a free agent or two?

Look, I know that if RNH plays alongside McDavid for an entire season AND stays healthy, he’ll put up at least 60 pts. He’s probably one of the last players I’d like to see the Oilers trade BUT Andrei Svechnikov will score 20 next season for sure. He’s that good. My good buddy The Oil Knight (Sean) has watched him a bit closer since he’s based in Ontario and he says that Svechnikov plays a very similar power game to that of Evgeni Malkin.

So would the Oilers be better off with Nuge at $6M and 60pts for the next three years or Svechnikov at $3.75M for the next three years with 20 goals or more each year?

Conversely, could McLellan handle another teenager on the roster where English is his 2nd language? (Ridiculous excuse btw)

I think Carolina wants a star centre and as much as I like Jordan Staal, he’s not that guy. Justin Faulk is now Carolina’s Justin Schultz and could use a change of scenery and depending on if they took Pulju or the #10, they could have Aho’s winger for the next 10 or so years.

Thoughts?