Edmonton Oilers Training Camp Day One: 9 Things

By Kurt Leavins |

Edmonton Oilers fans should understand that yes, indeed…Stanley Cups CAN be won on the 1st day of Training Camp.

The setting of pace, tempo and expectations are ingredients essential in any team’s preparation. And the sooner you can establish those and establish where the bar is, the sooner your players can get a jump on their opposition. And when you are playing a sport at it’s highest level, those finer points of execution are often the only things separating a win from a loss.

With that said, here are the 9 Things I took from Day One of Edmonton Oilers Training Camp that are (potential) building blocks toward the Stanley Cup Playoffs:

9. I am positive that Connor McDavid will stick with Taylor Hall on a line. But their winger may rotate. When was the last time a line stayed together for an entire season? The days of Gilbert Perreault, Richard Martin and Rene Robert are gone.

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8. Teddy Purcell is a good experiment on that flank. Despite his critics, Purcell has very good hands, has played with elite talent before (Stamkos), and is defensively sound. Remember, Hall and McDavid will have a some chaos in their game.

7. The intensity and pace of the drills emulated regular season action. We all saw the Oilers lag in that area, last season. While talented, they are not good enough to let up and be able to get away with it. There can be no let-up in their game.

6. 4th line win will be a battle, with a bunch of players battling for just one spot. It would appear as if Lauri Korpikoski come is as the favorite to join Matt Hendricks and Mark Letestu. Rob Klinkhammer may end up the 13th forward…or worse.

5. Bogdan Yakimov looked very good on Day 1. I’ll fall over backward if he does not start the year in the AHL, but he almost made the team last Fall, and the big kid looks a fair bit faster THIS autumn. Arrows up.

4. Tyler Pitlick is on the outside looking in. It is highly unlikely that he breaks camp with the team, and will have to clear waivers to be sent to Bakersfield. He’s a 3rd-line guy, and it looks like that dance card is already filled.

3. I have a very strong suspicion that Darnell Nurse is ticketed for the AHL to start the season. There are lots of veteran blue. Expect McLellan to lean on veterans until the kids prove that they can out-perform them. In camp, “a tie will go to the runner”. If Nurse does not clearly out-perform Nikita Nikitin, Andrew Ference, et al, then why wouldn’t Peter Chiarelli exercise Nurse’s AHL option?

2. I have an equally strong suspicion that McLellan and his staff have Leon Draisaitl penciled in to start the season on the 3rd line. He, quite simply, possesses tools that few in the organization do, and will have to play himself OFF the roster. And by pairing him with Anton Lander, another center, you expose Draisaitl way less in a number of situations. And I have sweet vision of Leon Draisaitl feeding those nifty dishes to Nail Yakupov all season long.

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1. Over-all, by my eye? It would appear as if Todd McLellan has started off camp with an Opening Night lineup, and will use the exhibition season to give just a handful of other young men a chance to change his mind for him. For instance, if Draisaitl does NOT stick, that decision will have repercussions on all 4 lines. I think a good camp could also land Yakupov on the Hall-McDavid pairing, etc. And by doing it this way, McLellan has created a strong atmosphere of compete. Finally!

But hey…it’s early, and we could see a whole new set of lines and D-pairings by tomorrow. And that’s part of what makes training camp so fun.

On to Day Two.

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