Four Sent Packing (Nurse, Fedun, Pitlick & Lander)

The Edmonton Oilers just announced that four players have been cut from the team just now. 

Taylor Fedun is off to the Oklahoma City Barons 

Darnell Nurse will go back to juniors. 

Tyler Pitlick is going to the OKC Barons. 

Anton Lander also to the OKC Barons

Buffalo trade looming? 'Anything is possible!'

Been getting some questions flying my way today on a possible Buffalo trade rumour in light of speculation they are in discussions with a couple teams and one being the Edmonton Oilers.

Let's be straight up, I have not heard Grigorenko's name used at all, only who could it be the Oilers could trade for and what do they give up. So since everyone is speculating let's have some fun and look at some possibilities.

1.Ryan Miller

2.Thomas Vanek

3.Some 3rd or 4th line player

4. Mikhail Grigorenko

Let's cover each one....

1. Ryan Miller? While it is always possible, unless Dubynk is going to Buffalo I do not see this happening. We can't have 3 Goaltenders here and Miller has a high cap this year and we are running out of space. The only possibility if MacT was interested would be a trade something like Ales Hemsky, Martin Marincin and Dubynk for Ryan Miller. The trade off would be 8.5 M in NHL salary to Buffalo and 7M in NHL salary to Edmonton. Marincin is the price to to pay to unload the salary and get a more established goalie. * For those doubters of Miller, he is still a top 10 Goalie in this league IMO but do not think he would want to come to Edmonton with his NMC.

2. Thomas Vanek? After Edmonton pushed up his value on the RFA Market, he is now being made available in their rebuild. A awesome player but not sure the Oilers can afford this player without sending some cash away. Again any possible trade means money out and that requires a team adding something extra to help compensate. Possibility could be Hemsky, Jones, a prospect like Marincin or even Gernat along with a 2nd rd pick in 2014. Not likely to happen for a 1 year contract but again does it matter if the oilers can afford even 1 year and give up little? 

3. 3rd or 4th line player? Take your pick but I highly doubt the Sabres are interested in a player like Hemsky for a single year at his price tag. Unless they are shedding salary for salary, it is highly unlikely.

4. Grigorenko? This could be a interesting twist. The Oilers liked what they saw in Grigorenko when he came to town to visit before the draft, the scouts liked him but Nail and Ryan were no brainers when it came to 1st OV picks. But with so much talent coming up the ranks in Buffalo, they could afford to unload him for the right price. Buffalo was not pleased with his progress last year offensively but are we not talking about the same coach Ruff who many Oiler fans feel mishandled Hall at the World Championships? This trade makes sense from many view points? But to make this a fair trade what would Edmonton need to give up. Remember Buffalo is rebuilding and earlier in their stages. Maybe Lander, Marincin and a 3rd round 2014 draft pick? Is that over payment or under payment?

This is ALL speculation but should these 2 GM's talk trade, it would make for some very interesting news.

in the meantime, keep your stick on the ice!

'A closer look into the Oilers Bottom 6 forwards'

There has been lots of talk about Edmonton's bottom 6, but as it currently sits with Hemsky still in the mix, I don't quite see it as bad as others might. When you look further around the league most good teams spend very little on those bottom 6 and too much IMO is made of the bottom 6. It has been mentioned our bottom 6 was the scoring problem last year. I agree, they lacked scoring ability last year but our second line struggled as well. I do feel strongly that Perron will make a huge impact on that 2nd line with puck possession ability and relentless forechecking.

Taking a look here at the Oilers VS others teams bottom 6, I feel much better about our ability to produce this year. 


Edmonton
Ryan Jones- Boyd Gordon- Ales Hemsky
Ryan Smyth- Anton Lander- Jesse Joensuu/Mike Brown

Vancouver
Higgins-Schroeder-Hansen
Weise-Richardson-Santorelli

Carolina
Bowman-E.Lindholm-Palushaj
Westgarth-R.Nash-Dwyer

San Jose
Torres-Pavelski-Wingels
Sheppard-Desjardins-Burish

Buffalo
Foligno-Ott-Flyn
Kaleta-Grigorenko-Adam 

Pittsburgh
Bennett-Sutter-D'Agostini
Glass-Vitale-Adams

Ottawa
Conacher - Zibanejad - Condra
Greening - Smith - Neil

Tampa Bay
Palat-Johnson-Malone
Panikt-Thompson-Crombeen

This list could go on but very few teams actually have a incredible bottom 6 forward core. Nothing earth shattering here but nonetheless maybe its time to relax on picking apart our bottom 6 forwards and focus in on other others for growth and improvement. IMO, Edmonton has always been more focused on bottom 6 forwards then most teams fans in this league. Just a thought to ponder through a real slow summer.

The NHL Lockout Provides Oklahoma City With A Boost

Oklahoma City

Everyone knows that with the lingering NHL lockout that's going on, the Edmonton Oilers have sent down a couple of their young stars to Oklahoma City to play with the Barons.

Jordan Eberle, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Justin Schultz, Anton Lander and when ready and healed, Taylor Hall are going to be in the OKC Barons lineup.

This is a once in a lifetime (probably not now with Bettman still in charge) opportunity for the people of Oklahoma City to come out and watch some very good NHL talent play right in their own back yard.

Jordan Eberle was a Lady Byng finalist this year. He piled up the numbers while playing a gentleman's game. He's classy through and though. To have him around your community is something to cherish and embrace. He's a great ambassador of the game.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was a finalist for the Calder trophy which is awarded to the NHL's top rookie. Some say he should have won. Who better to be a part of your hockey club to show what hard work really is than RNH? His work ethic will rub off on the rest.

When he's ready to play again in a couple of weeks, Taylor Hall is going to bring leadership to the team like they have never seen before. He oozes a winning attitude and no doubt, he will help bring the team to new heights in their quest to winning the Calder Cup.

Let's not forget the fact they still have Oilers prospect Magnus Paajarvi on the team. He's a year older and another year wiser. I'm expecting a big year from him too before he can make the jump to the Oilers.

Oklahoma City is extremely lucky to be getting these guys. Coach Nelson was given an NHL top line to have at his disposal. I can guarantee he isn't going to squander this. You can hear it in his voice, he's excited.
Not only are the OKC Barons going to flourish because of the NHL lockout, so will the ECHL affiliate, the Stockton Thunder. With the Barons gaining a few new players, that means they are taking spots from guys up there. Those guys will go down to Stockton until a spot becomes available with the Barons.

Goaltender Tyler Bunz and at least 3 other players will be sent to the Stockton to play in the ECHL with the Thunder. It could even be more.

The ripple effect has begun. Enjoy this Oklahoma City, it won't last forever.

-WRITTEN BY SMOKIN' RAY BURNT-

The Desperation Line

With how this season has started for some players, you would think Edmonton Oilers coach Tom Renney would simply create the Desperation line out of... well, desperation.

The Oil have three players who really need to get the offence going. So why not make them play together? It's not like they are contributing on any other line.

On left wing I'd put Magnus Paajarvi. He needs to get it going like no other Oiler and perhaps a solid set line is what he might need to find some chemistry and rhythm. I like Paajarvi and I think he needs sone help. He's not a "throw away" player like some suggest.

Next, I'd put Sam Gagner at center. He's his best when patrolling center ice and he's at the point of his career where he's got to take the bull by the horns. He's starting to show it now with his fight last night. He always picks it up after dropping the gloves. Paajarvi will benefit from Gagner's leadership and skills. These two together could be dangerous.

Lastly, I'd have Anton Lander on right wing. While he has been playing pretty good (at center), a little offence would give him that added piece of confidence. Lander can, and probably would mesh well with Paajarvi. This line can help both find the goal sheet if given a solid chance together.

The other bonus to having Lander on this line? Faceoffs. If Gagner is booted out, Lander can take the draw. Win-win for this line.

So there you have it. The Desperation line.

Paajarvi - Gagner - Lander

-WRITTEN BY SMOKIN' RAY-

A Real Wild One! The Oilers Lose In Fashion. Again

What a game that was!

I was absolutely blown away that this team lost yet another game after winning nearly the entire game. I'm not going to pick apart the game (there is enough blogs that do that already), but I am going to talk about what I liked.

- The kid line has been a thrill to watch. They buzz all over and created chances like no other. As they get older and wiser, these three are going to score at will. Oiler fans are lucky to have them wear the blue and orange.

- The crowd was buzzing right from the get go. Every play, every pass, they were on the edge of their seats and were loud. That was one of the best crowd responses I have heard in a long time. Well, except for the booing of Dany Heatley. That was rather annoying.

- Belanger and Horcoff were once again studs on the faceoffs. Horcoff was 50% and Belanger was 67%. Lander was also pretty good too at 46%.

- Andy Sutton and Ladislav Smid had 4 hits each. Big bodies banging the opposition is never a bad thing.

- Paajarvi, Smyth and Eberle each took 4 shots on goal.

- Ryan Jones scored the only goal for the Oil and was setup by Ryan Smyth. Beauty pass for a nice tip in goal or as I called it, 'the give and flow'. I didn't think those two would have chemistry. I was wrong. Now only if they could convince Horcoff to grow a mullet.

- Smid blocked 5 shots. FIVE! That was the team high tonight.

-Horcoff was a takeaway machine. He did it three times.

- Anton Lander impressed me. He took a beating and kept on going. He was on his game for sure. He played like he wants to stay.

MY STARS OF THE GAME

Ladislav Smid
Ryan Smyth
Nik Khabibulin (up until the tying goal)
Tom Gilbert
Shawn Horcoff
Ryan Jones
The kid line
Anton Lander

-WRITTEN BY SMOKIN' RAY-

GAME ON!!! Oilers vs Wild Tonight At 7:30pm MT

Tonight brings us another game to be excited for. Or does it?

The Oilers take on the Minnesota Wild tonight at 7:30pm MT and it should be a boring game to watch. It's painful for me when I watch the Wild play. It's like going to the dentist. But hockey.

But there might be some good things that come from this game.

- At least we know we can beat them in our arena. No stupid records to try and stop this go around. Rexall is our place. We can win here.

- Sam Gagner might return to the lineup tonight. If he doesn't play tonight, it sounds like he will by Saturday.

-Ryan Whitney will play his second game today. Watch for him to improve this game. He's just getting his legs under him.

-Nik Khabibulin should get the start going by the way Renney has started his goalies. I know it's only been 2 games, but he's looked solid so far.

- Is Theo Peckham the odd man out again? Or does one of the other guys like Cam Barker take a turn watching from up above?

- Jason Gregor talked about Lander possibly playing on the wing when Gagner returns. Will that happen tonight, or does Sam take a turn on the wing? This might be Lander's last time to impress.

Don't forget to join me on twitter tonight for the usual Oilers banter.

Enjoy your day... cause it's GAME DAY!!!

-WRITTEN BY SMOKIN' RAY-

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

With the kids jingle belling...

Nah, screw that! It's hockey season once again folks! Not just the beginning of the 2011-12 NHL season (which was a few days ago now), but more importantly, Oilers hockey season!

So... What's changed in the world since 2010-11?

Firstly, a new look: As soon as I saw Ryan Nugent-Hopkins pull on a vintage Oilers road jersey (albeit with the Reebok EDGE style collar), I knew one thing was certain: we'd OFFICIALLY dumped the Midnight Blue & Copper colours. Thank God we have, I hated them! The Oilers website looks fresh, it looks good, and it's got all the Blue & Orange touches I could ever dream of! The wallpapers there are also excellent. If you've not seen it, I recommend you go to the Oilers website (no link provision necessary) and download Marcel Schoenhardt's Taylor Hall wallpaper - it's bitchin'!

Secondly, a re-hashed line-up. I think the Oilers franchise made some very good off-season acquisitions, headlined by the "Return of #94", the one and only, Ryan Smyth! (acquired from LA for Colin "Crap" Fraser) Smytty's EXACTLY what this franchise needs right now - a leader (and I don't mean Horcoff) who can show these blossoming kids (Hall, Eberle, Paajarvi, Omark, Nugent-Hopkins etc...) exactly what it means to be an Oiler and play in front of these Diehard* fans.

*Pay close attention to that word, "Diehard", I'll be using it again towards the end of the blog...

We also made a excellent move by acquiring Éric Bélanger (accentuated name and all) from free agency; because, let's face it, the Oilers have stunk at winning draws in the faceoff circle for the last 5 years or so... There's also Ben "Hothead" Eager flanking our 4th line LW and new D's "BIG... Did I say BIGGGGGG?" Andy Sutton (acquired from ANA for Kurtis Foster) and Cam "trying to get my career back on track" Barker shoring up the Oilers blueline. I still think we're missing a top-end D-Man to pair with Ryan Whitney (when he returns from injury), but maybe he's there just waiting to be discovered in Oklahoma City, or Prince George, perhaps?

Whilst keeping within the same point, we're going the other way now with new additions that have come in the form of people like Anton Lander (very excited to see what he's going to do for us), who solidly edged out Gilbert "Bye, have fun in OKC!" Brulé from the Oilers roster, Lennart Petrell (excellent PK guy - he's a bit of a bitch for having a clause in his contract which states "If I don't play NHL, I'm going home to Finland..." My retort: "Grow up, you fucking child!"), Jeff Petry, I had said around various other websites he'd get an NHL job this season and Corey Potter, who's a bit of a dark horse, but had an excellent showing throughout camp, Potter's a necessity for us right now, because of our defensive injury crisis (Already!? Yes, already!) and finally... Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who'll get his 9 games this season for sure, will he get anymore? You're damn right he will! Not only can he find the back of the net, but he's an unselfish playmaker too, who'll have no problem finding a Hall or an Eberle in the right spot waiting to slot it home.

Although it's exciting to see how RNH handles his 1st NHL season, what REALLY excites me is Taylor Hall, he's the true Oilers franchise player. In 10 years time, if you're asked to name an Edmonton Oilers player straight off the top of your head, the first name you think of should be Taylor Hall, because he's this generation's Mark Messier; the embodiment of hard-work, leadership and having the ability to take charge and change a whole game at the snap of his fingers. (Remember Hall's first NHL hat trick when we played Atlanta? That's exactly what I'm talking about!)

Thirdly, not really Oilers-related, but kind of is; my wife is pregnant again with her 3rd (my 2nd) child - a girl, who we're going to name "Jasmine Leah Jericho". She's due in early February 2012, but she'll likely arrive sooner like her older sister (Alexa) did. Another Oilers fan in the world is a GOOD thing, not a bad thing!

Right... It's now time for some plugs:

I haven't designed any artwork for a while, but I'm waiting on some decent media to come my way, before I get started. I have, however, changed my Twitter handle. I can now be found HERE.

Remember the word Diehard? Good! You were paying attention. If you're on the ol' Facebook, be sure to check out the "Edmonton Oilers Diehards" group. It's a "closed" group, we don't let anyone just walk in - but if you're here to spread Oilers love without trolling other members, then it's all good. We don't allow Flames fans, or Canucks fans etc in; they'd make the group look bad (á la the Oilers Official Facebook page) when spreading their hate.

Erm... I think that's all I got for now. If there's anything you guys think I've missed, do drop me a comment and I'll post something up.

Final Cuts Have Been Made By The Oilers

Gilbert Brule, Ryan Keller, Josh Green and Ryan O'Marra have all been put on waivers for the purpose of assignment to Oklahoma City. Teemu Hartikainen has also been sent to the Barons. Hartikainen doesn't need to be on waivers.

That spells the end for Brule with the Oilers. He played like crap during the preseason and it's deserving. I'm thinking they hope he gets picked up on waivers cause he's paid way to much to be hanging out in OKC.

With the cuts that did happen, that means that Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Anton Lander and Lennart Petrell have all made the opening night roster. Quite the interesting look for the Oil. This should be an interesting year.

-WRITTEN BY SMOKIN' RAY-

Projected Oilers Lines For Young Stars Game vs Canucks

The Oilers announced the practice lines this morning on twitter.  I'd assume that these are the lines they go with for the first game at least.

They have one extra forward line and two extra defence pairing who will be sitting out tonight. The guys (IMO) in italics are going to sit out. I would also assume Bunz and Roy split this game, but the Oilers have given no indication on who or what they will go with for the goalie situation.

**UPDATE** Dan Tencer says that Olivier Roy will get the start for the game. He also says the Oilers will go with 11 forwards and 7 defencemen.

Don't forget to follow along at http://www.oilersjambalaya.com/ with the LIVE TweetCast starting at 8pm.

FORWARDS

Hamilton - Nugent-Hopkins - Pelss
Cornet - Lander - Rieder
Tyrvainen - Martindale - Czerwonka
Smith - Abney

Rajala - Schaber - Pitlick
Ferguson

DEFENCE

Marincin - Teubert
Fedun - Musil
Gernat - Lowery
Schmidt

Blain - Davidson
Vannieuwenhuizen


GOALIES

Roy
Bunz

-WRITTEN BY SMOKIN' RAY-

Oilers Jambalaya's Top 25 Prospects List

I was asked by Derek Zona from the Copper & Blue website to submit my top 25 Edmonton Oilers prospects, or in other words, the guys who have not yet made the team.  Here is the list and rankings that I came up with.  Agree? Dissagree?

Read the article by Derek HERE. Thanks for including my point of view Derek!

1. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, C
2. Jeff Petry, D
3. Linus Omark RW
4. Anton Lander, C
5. Oscar Klefbom, D
6. Teemu Hartikainen, LW
7. Martin Marincin, D
8. Curtis Hamilton, LW
9. David Musil, D
10. Tyler Bunz, G
11. Colten Teubert, D
12. Tyler Pitlick, C
13. Dillon Simpson, D
14. Ryan Martindale, C
15. Olivier Roy, G
16. Travis Ewanyk, C
17. Jeremie Blain, D
18. Chris Vande Velde, C
19. Alex Plante, D
20. Ryan O'Marra, C
21. Johan Motin, D
22. Samu Perhonen, G
23. Frans Tuohimaa, G
24. Tobias Rieder, RW
25. Cameron Abney, RW


-WRITTEN BY SMOKIN' RAY-

State of the Barons: July 4th

After the 1st weekend of free agency, the Barons have suffered some big losses. In addition to Brad Moran leaving for Sweden, we learned that Colin McDonald signed with Pittsburgh and Alexandre Giroux signed with Columbus, leaving the Barons without their top line and top three scorers from last season.

That's a huge chunk of the offense from last season, but how much exactly?

Obviously, that's a big hole to fill and unfortunately, the Oilers have yet to sign anybody that can really fill that hole. Jeff Taffe and Brett Sterling, who I would have put in that category, were both signed by Minnesota and St. Louis respectively. Josh Green showed he can score last season, but not those numbers. There's a slight possibility that Linus Omark starts out here next season, but without Liam Reddox, it'll be interesting to see if he can keep his pace where it was. Anton Lander is another possibility, but it still only fills some and not all of the gap.

One free agent that can help that is still on the board, Darren Haydar. Haydar scored 27 goals and 47 assists in 77 games for the Chicago Wolves last season. He's never had a season where he scored less than 50 points in the AHL, and he's another strong veteran that the Oilers have seemed to be looking for to fill out the roster for the Barons.

Oh, and we're still looking for a goalie.

-Written by Eric Rodgers-

The Future Of The Edmonton Oilers

I`m working today and I`m a little bored. I started thinking this morning about the Oilers and what lies ahead. The more I thought, the more I got fired up. Forget last year and even this year. The future is where it`s at. I know... that has been promised for the last 10 years. But the future is close. Last night watching the Taylor Hall revelation, I couldn`t help but think he`s finally arrived. It`s been a long time since I was sold on a young player so quickly. But how can you not embrace what he represents? The kid wants to be a winner and you know what? I believe him. Combine Hall with the other young players and you get a gnarly young core group to lead this team to Lord Stanley`s cup. Want to know the future? Here it is. Hall, Eberle, Paajarvi, Lander, Dubnyk, Peckham, Teubert, Petry, Vande Velde, Hartikainen, Omark (plus other players not named) and the two 1st round draft picks from 2011. Now if that doesn`t set this team up for years to come, then really.... nothing will.

-WRITTEN BY SMOKIN' RAY-

Edmonton Oilers Rookie Development Camp 3 on 3 Tournament LIVE *TweetCast*

Welcome to the final day of the Oilers Rookie Development Camp 3 on 3 Tournament. This Tweetcast is set up to get the reactions of a wide range of people.

It will pick up the following hashtags; #Oilers, #OilersCamp, #OilersJambalaya, #OilFieldHockey.

Include those hashtags in your tweets and it will be included in the Tweetcast.

The tournament will start at 9:00am.

GOILERS!!!

2010 KHL Draft

The KHL held their draft Friday, and there were some players of note that were drafted.

Oilers Prospects
Olivier Roy 88th Overall by Barys
Anton Lander 149th Overall by Spartak

Other NHL Prospects
Sami Vatanen, 2nd Overall, Ducks prospect
David Musil, 12th Overall, Blue Jackets prospect
Andrej Nestrasil, 30th Overall, Red Wings prospect
David Rundblad, 43th Overall, Blues prospect
Jakob Silfverberg, 46th Overall, Senators prospect
Roman Horak, 63rd Overall, Rangers prospect
Marek Viedensky, 80th Overall, Sharks prospect
Roman Josi, 95th Overall, Predators prospect
Mattias Ekholm, 108th Overall, Predators prospect
Niclas Lucenius, 122nd Overall, Thrashers prospect
Marcus Johansson, 133rd Overall, Capitals prospect
Jerry D'Amigo, 155th Overall, Maple Leafs prospect
Rasmus Rissanen, 159th Overall, Hurricanes prospect
Erik Haula, 160th Overall, Wild prospect
Eero Elo, 164th Overall, Wild prospect

John Tavares, Philip Larsen, and Mickael Backlund were also drafted, but those were voided as they currently have NHL contracts.
-Written by Eric Rodgers-

The Glass Half Full - Edmonton Oilers Prospects and the Junior Tournament

Well now that the World Junior tournament is almost over - minus the medal finals and the relegation games - it's time to look at what happened for the sake of the Edmonton Oilers and their prospects.  Not much is really going to change from now till it's over so why not get cracking?

In my opinion, the Oiler kids did great.  Much better than I had anticipated.  I'm thinking glass half full when I say the future looks bright for this hockey club.  Not next year, but I'd say in the next 2-4 years, this team is going to change dramatically and for the better. *fingers crossed*

We seen the dominance/emergence of (F) Jordan Eberle and (F) Magnus Pääjärvi-Svensson and that really excited me as an Oiler fan, never mind the other 3 Oiler kids playing in this tournament. 

Before any games are played on Monday, Eberle had registered a point in 16 straight games for Team Canada.  He is also tied for tops on Team Canada with St. Louis Blues prospect (D) Alex Pietrangelo and second in the tournament in points with 11 in total.  In fact, only Derek Stepan has more points in the tournament than Eberle and it's only by one mealy point.  Jordan Eberle has 6 goals and 5 assists for 11 points.  Not bad for a kid who only played 5 games and was slated for the 2nd line on Team Canada. 

"He's (Eberle) not afraid of the big situation," Coach Desjardins said. "He wants the puck. Even the shootout moves and things like that, he makes real strong moves."  Watch out Oiler fans, this kid is going to be a damn good player someday for the Oilers.

Magnus Pääjärvi-Svensson has also had a great tournament.  He's been a force and a leader on the Swedish team and he's a very talented hockey player.  I still find it surprising that the Oilers were able to select him with the 10th pick in 2009.  This kid is a gamer and I feel fortunate as an Oiler fan that we have him in our system.  He had 3 goals and 6 assists for 9 points in 5 games and was a +6.  He was a leader for the Sweden team and I'd expect some of the same here in Edmonton when he does finally reach the NHL.  As an 18 year old, he's very impressive and I'm sure, like Eberle and his #14, the Oilers have #21 reserved for Pääjärvi-Svensson.

Also on Team Sweden, is (F) Anton Lander.  He was the Oilers 40th pick in 2009 draft.  He was interesting to keep an eye on because I didn't know much about him before the tournament started.  The first thing I noticed as that he must have some sort of leadership skills as he wore the "A" on his jersey.  That's a good sign.  He is also pretty good at faceoffs as he went 35W 25L for 58.33% and 13th overall in the tournament.  Not exactly a high percentage, but at least it's a starting point and has room to grow.  If he improves on this, then that might be an intangible that he brings to the Oilers and solidifies a spot for himself on the team.  Lord knows the Oilers need better faceoff people. 

After 5 games Lander has scored 4 goals and had 2 assists for 6 points.  Not bad.  He is also sitting at +3 before the Bronze (I wish it was for Gold) medal game.  Again, not bad. 

So far it's looking good for the Oilers don't you think?

Now onto Team Finland.  The Oilers have two players there and they also looked pretty good throughout this tournament.  (F) Tony Rajala and (F) Teemu Hartikainen play on a weaker team than the other Oiler prospects, do but both still had a good tournament. 

Rajala scored 1 goal and had 2 assists for 3 points after 5 games.  He is currently sitting at -1 after those 5 games.  Only scoring once is a little shocking considering it came on the PP and he fired 22 shots in those 5 games.  Is he another Patrick O'Sullivan?  See... that doesn't excite me either.  The bright side here?  He didn't have a single penalty all tournament. Glass half full.

Teemu Hartikainen was a little better than Rajala by scoring 3 goals (same as MPS) and 1 assist for 4 points after 5 games.  He also fired the puck a lot like Rajala did by blasting a team high 27 shots. In comparison, Eberle took 20 shots so far in the tournament and has 6 goals while MPS took 24 shots and had 3 goals.  If anything impressed me it was that Hartikainen did so well in goal scoring department.  I didn't expect him to be in top 20 and he is at 16th place right now.  He just may mature into a better goal scorer then he is now. I'd say Hartikainen is already on his way.

Overall Goals as of the morning of 1/4/10
1st Jordon Eberle (6 goals)
3rd Taylor Hall (5 goals)
9th Anton Lander (4 goals)
16th Teemu Hartikainen (3 goals)
16th Magnus Pääjärvi-Svensson (3 goals)
HM Tony Rajala (1 goal)

With the emergence of Eberle and Pääjärvi-Svensson and Lander, I think the Oilers are going to be OK down the road.  I suppose if the two kids from Finland pan out, we can consider it a bonus.  If we show patience, this team will be good once again.  Until then though... it's painful to watch.

Ps. Taylor Hall looked great and needs to be an Oiler.  Don't you think?

-Smokin' Ray-

The Day(s) That Was

Well the Oilers did pick up a pretty good player in Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson with the 10th pick overall of last night's 1st round selections. I'm sure we will all be happy by 2010 with this kid. He has the size that people were wanting and he seems confidant in his skills. The fingers are crossed and I hope this works out for the Oilers and MPS.

Who did the Oilers take in the other rounds? These people:

2nd round, 40th overall - Anton Lander, C, Timra (Swe)
3rd round, 71st overall - Troy Hesketh, D, Minnetonka (USHS)
3rd round, 82nd overall - Cameron Abney, RW, Everett (WHL)
4th round, 99th overall - Kyle Bigos, D, Vernon (BCHL)
4th round, 101st overall - Toni Rajala, RW, Ilves Jr (Fin)
5th round, 133rd overall - Olivier Roy, G, Cape Breton

Who are they you ask? No idea. Great reporting here huh? Ahh... I will do some intense research to find out some info.

Until then... keep you fingers crossed that this pans out for the Oilers.