Edmonton Oilers Youth Movement:How Are Hall Et Al Working Out In Oil Country?
The Edmonton Oilers have not made it to the playoffs since they lost in the Stanley Cup Final to Carolina in 2006.
This regular season futility was finally capped last year by being the worst team in hockey. They finished 12 points behind the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The attempt to plug in over-priced, past their prime veterans, has run its course. Fans noticed a couple years ago it was time to do a complete rebuild in Edmonton. Management seems to have finally realized the Cup run was a Pronger-led blip and new young talent is needed. The policy of trading high draft picks that lead to Zach Parise going to the Devils in 2003 and Tyler Myers being picked by the Buffalo Sabres in 2008 seems to have been canceled.
Steve Tambellini has taken the slogan "Time for an Oil-Change" to heart. The Oilers are in pure rebuild mode. He has given no indication he's ready to return any of his new bright young stars to junior or the AHL. It is debatable that there is much left to learn for a Taylor Hall or a Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson in junior.
This is a quick look at how the youngsters have done so far in this NHL season.
Taylor Hall LW-18 Years Old
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Taylor Hall was drafted first overall by the Edmonton Oilers last year. He's won the Memorial Cup with his team the Windsor Spitfires the last two years and been MVP of the tournament both times. He tied for the season lead in scoring in the Ontario Hockey League with second overall pick Tyler Seguin last year. He's won a silver medal at the World Junior hockey championships playing for Canada. There's really nothing left for Hall to do in junior hockey.
The 18-year-old Hall has all the skills to succeed at the NHL level. He's quick and aggressive with the puck. He has a wrist shot he can put through the eye of a needle from center ice. When he sets up and shoots the wrister he looks like Steve Stamkos out there. At times he's been Edmonton's most dangerous looking player on the ice.
That said, Hall has had the slowest start among the big three youngsters trying to make the team this year. In seven games he has one assist and is -4. Taylor at 6' 1",195 lbs sometimes looks slight and lost in the middle of the pro game. He doesn't always seem to know what to do without the puck. The decision-making skills and the risks he takes with the puck reflect his inexperience. With the puck he's been trying a lot of things that worked for him in junior that don't work against faster, stronger, smarter NHL players.
You can't send him back to junior. I do think a lot of Canadians would be thrilled to see him at the World Junior Championships again this Christmas. As long as the team is willing to give him ice time Hall can probably learn the NHL game quicker here than in the AHL. He does have the skills to play this game and if he just gets a few more chances he will start to score.
Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson LW-19 Years Old
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Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson was taken tenth overall by the Oilers in the 2009 NHL entry draft. Magnus has been precocious at every level of hockey. He played on the Swedish under sixteen team at the age of 14 and was the youngest Swede ever to play at the World Junior Championships at the age of 16 years 8 months. Paajarvi had 12 goals and 29 points in 49 games playing in the Swedish Elite League last year.
Magnus has come out of training camp this year looking like a pro. He tied for the team lead in preseason scoring. He's an amazing skater and always seems to end up in the right spot for the puck. He hasn't seemed as strong on the puck as the two canadian rookies but that will come. He's got two goals and four points in seven games so far. He scored a beautiful goal as part of a three goal comeback versus Calgary last night. He drove to the net past the defense and then held off the defenseman with one hand as he flipped the puck over Kiprusoff with the other hand on his stick. He earned third star consideration in Calgary for his effort.
Paajarvi looks like a pro. The Oilers can't afford not to have the talented Magnus in the lineup.
Jordan Eberle RW- 20 Years Old
3 of 5Jordan Eberle is the old man of this group at 20. Before he came to Edmonton Eberle already had a long resume of key goals scored against top opponents in international competition. He scored the goal above with five seconds left to go versus Russia in the semi-final of the 2009 World Junior Hockey Championships. He went on to score the shootout winner and Canada won the gold versus Sweden that year.
At the 2010 world junior final versus the US Eberle scored two goals in the last three minutes to send the gold medal game to overtime. The US eventually won but Jordan was chosen tournament MVP and top forward last year.
This year Eberle has three goals in seven games to tie for the team lead. Two of the goals have been high-light reel quality. The smallest of the three at 5'11", 185 lbs Jordan looks the most self-possessed and confident. He's fearless with the puck and can do anything with it in very tight quarters. He is hugely talented and also seems to have a profound understanding of the game.
20-year-old Jordan Eberle looks like another keeper for the Oilers.
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Edmonton Oiler Cheerleaders 19-24 Years Old?
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The Edmonton Oilers have become the first NHL team in Canada to resort to cheerleaders. New Oiler owner Daryl Katz insists that after last year's horrible last place finish Edmonton fans were clamouring for cheerleaders. Really?? That was the number one issue among Oiler fans? Not improving the team? They wanted cheerleaders.
So the Oilers are now planning on entertaining the sellout crowds in Edmonton with girls dancing on ice? Tricky. A petition started circulating against the idea on Friday and reportedly has 600 signatures so far.
This part of the youth movement doesn't make as much sense as the others do.
The goofy idea may have been put forward to distract fans from what could possibly be another bad rebuilding year in Edmonton. I'm not positive these youngsters will make it to the ice in Edmonton.
Youth Movement In Edmonton
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The Oilers have decided as an organization to try to emulate those great 70's and 80's Oilers teams and put together a lineup of offensively talented youngsters who will develop together. They have collected a ton of talent so far.
They should be better served by letting the youngsters play on the big club this year. Paajarvi and Eberle look like they belong already. Hall is younger and has more to learn. If he's getting ice time with other talented offensive players and getting power play time he will develop quicker playing at this level. He will be learning to play with the players he will hopefully be playing with for years to come.
The Oilers may suffer in the standings because of this. They currently have five points in seven games and are last in the Northwest. Another year of high draft picks will not hurt this rebuilding program.
The core of this team is young. Shawn Horcoff is the grizzled veteran in the room at 32. Ales Hemsky is 27. Dustin Penner is 28. Ryan Whitney is 27. If the new players that have been added in the last couple of years can find their feet this could be a young talent laden team like the Blackhawks were last year.
The Islanders played a lot of youngsters last year and are reaping the benefits now. The Oilers may be well served to accept some pains now to give Hall and company the chance to evolve into the scorers they will become. At the very least it's going to be exciting in Edmonton, hopefully for years to come.
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