News to nobody is the Edmonton Oilers have sent our favorite sons Jesse Puljujarvi and Kailer Yamamoto to their AHL affiliate in Bakersfield, California to play for Jay Woodcroft’s Flyin’ Condors.
After watching both youngsters tear up the field in the pre-season, it’s been disappointing to watch their performances tail off to the point to where they need to be sent down to the AHL. I’ve thrown a lot of vitriol the direction of Todd McLellan during the first 16 games of the season with how he’s been handling Puljujarvi and even a bit of that has landed on Yamamoto and Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli too.
Speaking of Chiarelli, should he be vilified for waiting so long to move these boys to the minors or praised for actually going through with it? I feel like it’s a bit of column A and a bit of column B. The move was a long-time coming and neither Jesse Puljujarvi or Kailer Yamamoto should’ve needed to in the press box for a week but with that, if Chiarelli had acquired the necessary forwards, perhaps McLellan wouldn’t have had to healthy scratch them.
Just a word on pre-season scoring before we get into the nitty-gritty. Jason Gregor likes to play down the competition during the preseason and I don’t agree with how he more or less mocks any player that performs well in that time because the teams are more or less glorified AHL teams. Isn’t that the utmost perfect time to be performing well when challenged? And all three of Puljujarvi, Yamamoto, and Rattie answered the call. So what were the Oilers supposed to do at that point?
Also, not all of those teams were completely AHL lineups. I believe that Puljujarvi had a helluva game versus the Canucks when they dressed 6 NHL defenseman. Correct me if I’m wrong.
Either way, I support this decision for the long-term development of both Pulju and Yammo and I hope there are no hard feelings. I understand that Jesse isn’t happy with the decision but would he rather be in Edmonton getting shafted by the coach there or in Bakersfield playing for a coach who, we hope, will play the living shite out of him.
TSN’s Darren Dreger recently reported there may be some frustration on the part of Puljujarvi that he didn’t get what many see as a fair shake to build consistency on the Oilers roster. (source)
These boys are only 20 and they’ve got a lot of professional hockey ahead of them. The way I see it is that when Chiasson and Caggiula’s production dries up, as it always does, or injuries rear their ugly mug, they’ll be looking for someone to come in and provide some offense and at that point, Jesse will get the recall because he’s got the most experience at the NHL level.
 Edmonton Oilers 2018-19 Upper Deck Compendium Blue Parallel Card Team Set |
WHO’S COMING UP?
The Oilers have 12 forwards at the moment, so they’re going to need a couple of players to replace Pulju and Yammo. My guess is two of the Condors top line of Joseph Gambardella, Patrick Russell, and Brad Malone will be coming up.
I’m sure there’ll be fans who reckon that Tyler Benson should come up or Cameron Hebig or Cooper Marody again but I would counter that argument by saying the Oilers just sent two 20-year-olds down to Bakersfield, why would they recall a couple more young players? Leave those kids in the Bake and let them continue to dominate.
I mean, I could be wrong but I feel like they’ll want older, more mature players to be brought up. Players that are very good at listening to instructions and doing what they’re told. Gambardella is the youngest at 24, then Russell at 25, and then Malone at 29.
Just as an aside, can anybody tell me why Joseph Gambardella wears the #5? I have never seen a forward in my life wear that number. There has to be a story behind it.
DO THE CONDORS HAVE THE BEST TOP-6 IN THE AHL?
Benson-Marody-Puljujarvi
Yamamoto-Malone-Hebig
Christoffer-Currie-Gust
Polei-Esposito-Callahan
That’s what the Condors’ forward lines could look like for their next game against Dallas Eakins’ San Diego Gulls later this upcoming week.
Now just imagine what that’d look like if Edmonton found a way to bring in a couple of proper NHL players and both Gambardella and Russell were on the roster!
Benson-Marody-Puljujarvi
Yamamoto-Currie-Hebig
Gambardella-Malone-Russell
Polei-Esposito-Callahan
Gust/Christoffer (Extra)
That’s a helluva forward group eh?
Brad Malone has been the team’s no.1 center this season but I don’t feel like he has the right tools to play alongside Jesse Puljujarvi. It’s important that he plays with skill players and Marody/Benson will be the best linemates for Pulju at this junction.
Josh Currie could probably rotate in and out on either line 1 or 2 as he’s got some offensive flair to his game.
I subscribed to AHL TV, so I’ll be able to watch the games and let you know how things went for our boys.
TODD McLELLAN’S COMMENTS
JP and KY to the AHL also confirms that McLellan is coaching for his job.
Its probably playoffs or bust for his job.
I can see a HC arguing that if he has to develop kids at the same time it could cost games as you have to keep playing them regardless of the mistakes.— Woodguy (@Woodguy55) November 10, 2018
We want a confident set of players and if he can’t gain that confidence or that traction here then maybe the best answer is somewhere else (AHL). Those decisions will be made as we go forward.” — Oilers coach Todd McLellan on struggling winger Jesse Puljujarvi
That is a quote taken from Rob Tychkowski, a journalist with the Edmonton Sun and the Edmonton Journal.
I have one question though, why did Tychkowski put AHL in brackets behind “maybe the best answer is somewhere else”?
Do we know for sure that Todd McLellan meant the AHL or was that a shot at Peter Chiarelli? I did ask my sources what they’d heard and their comments remain consistent. The Oilers want to be patient with Puljujarvi and do what’s best for his development but, and this is my opinion, I think if there’s a deal on the table that will make them better this year, they’ll consider it.
If Chiarelli and McLellan are performing their duties with the intentions of saving them, they’re already gone.
Edmonton’s next 7 games ring out as such:
- Colorado – Top line of Landeskog/MacKinnon/Rantanen are on fire
- Montreal – Somehow they are tearing through the league on the back of… Max Domi?
- Calgary – I don’t know how they’re doing it with the goaltenders they have. They’re utter shite.
- Vegas – Didn’t we say they’d fall back to Earth?
- SJ – How’s that Karlsson/Burns combo working out for ya there?
- Anaheim – They’ve had Edmonton’s number for a while but are those the winds of change I hear?
- LA – They held Calgary to a goal against last night. Can they do the same with the Oilers?
Do you think the Oilers can run the table here? 7/7? That’d be something but I have a feeling those are some lofty wishes.
What do you think?
