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Edmonton Oilers Training Camp Day Two: 9 Things

By Kurt Leavins |

Edmonton Oilers fans ask me a lot: “What is the significance of 9 Things”? Not much, really, except that I have found over the years that no more than 9 significant events happen in any one hockey game. And by that I mean events that substantially affected the outcome of a game. Sure, lots more “happens”, but when it comes to real turning points, the law of diminishing returns usually kicks in at 10.

Day Two of Training camp is never as interesting as Day One, because we have 2-3 months of questions stored up over the Summer, and we usually get most of them off our chest on the first day. Having said that, lots of significance on Day Two. In fact…9 Things:

9. A lot of people looked at the Edmonton Oilers goaltending situation and described it as a battle for the back-up position, between Ben Scrivens and Anders Nilson. But Todd McLellan was clear today that whoever plays the best will play the most. I expect Cam Talbot to be the #1, but I predict a new & improved Scrivens will push.

8. At the risk of getting ahead of myself, I’m pleased to hear that McLellan won’t match lines (much) in Mondays split-squad exhibition games. Those don’t count in the standings, so it’s the perfect opportunity to see some of the AHL guys against NHL talent. How close or far away are they from being in Edmonton?

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7. Because people care, I hear (and McLellan also strongly alluded to the fact) that Connor McDavid and Taylor Hall will both play, together, in Edmonton against the Flames split-squad Monday at Rexall. That’ll sell some beer & popcorn for good old Northlands. They’ll get some of my money, for sure.

6. Justin Schultz had a strong scrimmage. That doesn’t earn him the Norris (I know, I know, it just never gets old, does it?!), but when you hear his new coach describe this kid as “stronger, more confident, moved with the play when he should have defended when he should have” that is a positive sign. Cross your fingers. And toes.

5. Matt Hendricks scored a goal Saturday and looked strong for a 2nd consecutive day. I think Hendricks fits well into the game plan that Todd McLellan has outlined, mainly because Hendricks possesses one skill that the organization has traditionally been short of: He goes to the right places, often.

4. So far, both Griffin Reinhart and Darnell Nurse (even Brandon Davidson) have shown better than Nikita Nikitin and Andrew Ference, perhaps even Eric Gryba. My Advice? Don’t get too excited. The performance of the younger guys often wanes as the level of competition improves. It’s much easier to look NHL-ready when at least 50% of the guys you are playing against are AHL-level players.

3. You can tell SO much more from scrimmages than you can from drills. It’s not unlike figure skating, when a skater could be spectacular at figures, then fall flat on their ass when attempting a jump in competition. As a player, I was all-world at skating circles, backward, clockwise. And as you may have noticed, that enviable skill did not land ME in the NHL. Scrimmages tend to separate the men from the boys.

2. I’ve seen a few people (o.k. a LOT of people) complain that Teddy Purcell is too slow to play with Taylor Hall and Connor McDavid. That is a popular fallacy. That formation The Mighty Ducks used was not real, people. You WANT your forward units to spread out North-South, and having your late forward as the defensive conscience of the line is not a bad thing. Besides, poor ol’ Ted sure slowed 97 & 4 down today, huh? lol.

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1. I’m thrilled with the contract extension signed by Oscar Klefbom, and you should be too. And if you arent, I have just two words for you: Jeff Petry. Like you, I am tired of this organization leasing developed players out to other, better NHL teams. No, Klefbom is not a lock to deliver the Edmonton Oilers a value contract at 7-years and 4.1 million a season. But which 22 year old D-man with less than 100 NHL games under his belt is? A handful, perhaps, but no more than that. Besides, the Oscar Klefbom I watched play 60 games last year was legit-Top-4 player. Bravo, Peter Chiarelli. Bravo.

I’ll post again after the sessions Sunday, but I’ll be honest: My Kid & I already have our sites set ahead to 97 and 4, from our seats at Rexall Place, Monday night. Should be fun.

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