Eakins’ Influence on Oiler Roster
In his first two seasons with the Edmonton Oilers, Head Coach Dallas Eakins seems to have had a lot of influence when General Manager Craig MacTavish has headed out shopping for players to add to the roster being served up in Oil Country.
As Bill Parcells left the New England Patriots in 1996, he voiced the following concern in reference to player personnel decisions being influenced by Patriots owner Robert Kraft, “They want you to cook the dinner; at least they ought to let you shop for some of the groceries.”
Soon after Eakins was hired in June of 2013, the Oilers inked two of his former players from the Toronto Marlies when Will Acton and Ryan Hamilton jumped out of the free agent pool on July 5th and signed with Edmonton.
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The Marlies reunion continued January 14, 2014 when the Los Angeles Kings traded an expendable backup goalie named Ben Scrivens to the Oilers in exchange for a 2014 third-round pick. Scrivens had played parts of three AHL seasons for Eakins including all 17 playoff games for the Marlies in their run to the 2012 Calder Cup Final.
Keith Aulie played in that very same Calder Cup Final. His Norfolk Admirals took the title from the Marlies, winning the series in five games. Prior to that, he played for Eakins and the Marlies from 2009 to 2012. On July 1, 2014, he signed as a free agent to a one-year contract with the Edmonton Oilers.
Now, I am not opposed to NHL coaches influencing the choices their GM makes. I think the sentiment that Bill Parcells shared makes a lot of sense but that means that the coaches leave the decisions they make at the grocery store up for evaluation, so in the case of Eakins, same goes.
On the whole, I have been impressed with the gamesmanship shown by Acton and Aulie in the limited time they have played in Edmonton, especially since they both were brought in to add depth to the rosters of the Oilers and Oklahoma City Barons. Ryan Hamilton’s body of work with the Oilers isn’t large enough to base an opinion on. Scrivens, on the other hand, has had enough time with the big club to show what can be expected of his game moving forward.
The Good
Will Acton has played 33 Oiler games, registering 3 goals, 2 assists and 26 PIMS. The best indication of what he brings to the table as an NHLer came on a play against Ryan Kesler of the Vancouver Canucks in the Oilers’ second game of the season last year. Vancouver had just scored two quick goals late in the first period to take a 3-1 lead, so Acton did what not enough Oilers have the courage or sense to do. He made Ryan Kesler fight him. One of the best second line centres in the NHL was taken off the ice for five minutes in exchange for a fourth line center. Mission accomplished.
Keith Aulie (22) and Ottawa Senators right wing Chris Neil (25). Mandatory Credit: Steve Alkok-USA TODAY Sports
Keith Aulie plays with the same sort of jam that Acton does. Even though he was underwhelming enough at training camp to be placed on waivers October 5th, he did enough in 8 games in OKC to get recalled after Andrew Ference was suspended for his check to the head of Zack Kassian. That gritty, hard to play against element of his game was on display in last week’s 4-3 overtime loss to the Ottawa Senators when Aulie took on Chris Neil late in the first period with the Oilers down 2-0 and followed that up early in the second with a hit on the Ottawa enforcer which led to a fight with Eric Gryba. Those two incidents, both initiated by Aulie, helped swing momentum in Edmonton’s favor before they scored three goals in the last half of the game to force overtime.
The Bad (and the Ugly)
Nov 6, 2014; Boston, MA, USA; Edmonton Oilers goalie Ben Scrivens (30). Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports
When it comes to Scrivens, Eakins has to own a terrible decision that has provided the Oilers with sub par goal tending too many times since he handed the Spruce Grove native an NHL job last January. I’m not an NHL Goaltending Coach like Freddy Chabot but even I can see that Scrivens is weak mechanically and a train wreck when trying to play the puck. How he is even in the conversation when discussing Edmonton Oilers starting goalies blows my mind. The examples supporting this viewpoint are many. Plays like Derek Dorsett‘s game winning goal in the Oilers’ 3-2 loss to the Canucks back on November 1st define Ben Scrivens. Bad puck handling and bad positioning leading to the puck in the Oilers’ net.
In the end, I like the fact that Craig MacTavish solicits the input of his Head Coach while making player personnel decisions. Let’s hope that the Eakins influence leads to more players that make life difficult for the opposition like Will Acton and Keith Aulie and less that give games away like Ben Scrivens.