October 25, 2021 /

Edmonton Oilers Talk: McLeod, Lavoie, and Does Carter Savoie have a Shot at Team Canada (WJHC)?

This is your TL/DR (too long, didn’t read) summary post where excerpts are taken from the best of the best when it comes to Edmonton Oilers blogs. BLH gives you his two cents on the latest posts being published in the Oilogosphere! Including those from Lowetide.ca, The Athletic, Oilersnation, The Cult of Hockey, Copper N Blue, Oil on Whyte, and more!

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Lowetide.ca

THE GUESS WHO?

SKILLS THAT TRANSFER FROM AHL TO NHL

  • The forwards who succeeded over the years noted above are mostly bottom-six forwards. VandeVelde, Pitlick, Khaira, Gambardella, they’re all players who refined their games and made themselves into something close to mistake-free options.
  • The outliers from that job description, names like Slepyshev, Puljujarvi and Yamamoto, all possessed higher end skill. Some of the players who didn’t make it, like Hartikainen and Rajala, were also high skill but suffered due to a shuffling of management at inopportune times.
  • Marody is a bit of an odd duck, he’s in the “Colin McDonald” category where it’s obvious he has NHL skill but is in the wrong organization. McDonald played 148 NHL games, all but two after leaving the Oilers organization.
  • A player like McLeod, or Lavoie, has enough unique skills that can be useful in the NHL it’s hard to see either man missing out on at least the 102-game Slepyshev career opportunity.
  • Turnover of management and coaches.
  • Bottom line: The AHL forwards who succeed (Pakarinen was 1.15 pts-60 in 2015-16) bring at least some offence. So, when you look at a group of rookie forwards from a specific season, click on pts-game and chances are the cream will rise.

BLH’s Thoughts: Every year, the top ten or fifteen scorers in the AHL produce maybe one NHL player, sometimes two, sometimes three, but it’s rare when more than a couple make it out of that group. In the AHL, smaller skillers can thrive production-wise simply because their hands, feet, hockey IQ or a combination of all three make it so. Case in point, Cooper Marody. 

I’m sorry, I have to nitpick something here with LT’s post. In 2015-16, Iiro Pakarinen played FOUR GAMES for the Condors and scored three points. FOUR bloody games but he tore up the NHL with 13pts in 65 games that same year… I’m thinking that Iiro’s last campaign with the club in 2018-19 would’ve been a better example of where he brought offense because he played 18 games and score 13pts, not the four game heater from a couple of seasons prior. 

Sorry, I don’t know what it was that touched a nerve there. In my opinion, Pakarinen never really succeeded in Edmonton and by the time he was becoming a force in the AHL he was getting too old for that league and he still wasn’t good enough to play higher than the Oilers third line then… I suppose my definition of minor league success might be different than LT’s.

I do agree with him on McLeod and Lavoie though, at the moment they look like they’ve got the tools to make it as NHL player for a few seasons, but some refinement is still in order and they’d better improve what needs improving considering their GM is in “Win-Now” mode and they might be used as trade fodder. 

The Athletic

Oilers prospect Carter Savoie thriving at Denver with improved fitness and ‘bomb’ of a shot: ‘He’s a one-shot scorer’
  • Carter Savoie is off to a torrid start to his NCAA season with five goals and six assists in four games… As impressive as those gaudy numbers are, though, the Oilers are more pleased with the cause than the effect.
  • Savoie, 19, a sophomore forward at the University of Denver, trained under the watchful eye of Oilers strength and conditioning coach Chad Drummond during the offseason, cutting down his body fat thanks in part to a nutrition plan while adding strength to his 5-foot-10, 193-pound frame and quickness to his skating stride.
  • Wright felt the Oilers were fortunate to get Savoie in the fourth round, at pick No. 100, believing a poor showing by Savoie’s Team West at the World Junior A Challenge contributed to his draft slide.
  • (David) Carle has Savoie playing on the penalty kill at Denver and uses him in five-on-six situations to protect leads. The coach is trying to make the scorer better at other aspects of the game without sacrificing offence.
  • Another goal for Savoie is to get invited to the Canadian world junior camp in December and ultimately make the team. Savoie’s quick start has him on the right path after he wasn’t asked to Hockey Canada’s summer camp…
  • The Oilers have no plans to rush Savoie along or force him to sign before he’s ready. 
  • The Oilers have until Aug. 15, 2024 to sign Savoie before he becomes a free agent, so it would be ideal for the team if he doesn’t play his senior season.

BLH’s Thoughts: I do recall saying over the summer that Savoie could get a call from Hockey Canada considering how good of a scorer he is, plus, who doesn’t like a good brother act at the World Juniors if his brother Matthew makes the team?

I’m betting as we get closer to December that we’ll start to hear more rumblings on our version of Cole Caufield and what the Oilers plan to do with him. If I’m not mistaken, I think I remember Craig Button saying he’d have him signed at the end of this season because he really has nothing left to prove at the collegiate level. So keep an ear peeled for little hints from Bob Stauffer and Jason Gregor as we approach the end of the calendar year. 

The Athletic

The 2021-22 NHL prospects viewing guide: Where and who to watch in every league and country

AHL and ECHL: AHLTV and FloHockey

CHL: CHL TV

USHL and U.S. NTDP: HockeyTV

Tier II junior: HockeyTV

NCAA

Russian hockey (KHL, VHL, MHL): 

  • KHL: The KHL signed a new streaming rights deal with ESPN+ (the U.S. only) and Portable.tv (U.S. and Canada)  in August.
  • The second-tier VHL and junior-level MHL both broadcast games on their respective YouTubes

Swedish hockey (SHL, HockeyAllsvenskan, HockeyEttan, J20): 

Finnish hockey (Liiga, Mestis, U20): C More/Ruutu

Czech hockey (Tipsport Extraliga, U20): FanSeat

Slovak hockey (Tipos Extraliga, U20): YouTube

German hockey (DEL, DEL2, U20): Magenta Sport and SpradeTV

Swiss hockey (National League, Swiss League, U20): NL TV Pass

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CategoriesArmchair GM Beer League Hero Edmonton Oilers NHL Rumors

TagsEdmonton Oilers Edmonton Oilers Rumors NHL NHL Rumors

Beer League Hero Written by:

I'm the Beer League Hero! I am from Camrose, Alberta but I make my home in Taipei City, Taiwan. I've been through the ups and downs and the highs and the Lowes, the Bonsignores and the McDavids, the Sathers and the Eakins but I'll never leave my Oilers, no matter what! They're with me until the end and then some. GO OILERS GO!