Edmonton Oilers: Colton Sceviour Surprises In Preseason
The Edmonton Oilers have played 3 games so far this preseason and are 2-1. There has been only 4 players to play all games, Tyler Benson, Colton Sceviour, Ryan McLeod and Evan Bouchard. Of all these players Colton Sceviour is the forward who has impressed me most.
Coming in on a PTO, Sceviour is hoping to keep his NHL career alive here with the Edmonton Oilers and he is playing like it. Sceviour is in the battle for one of the remaining bottom 6 spots. So far he has been making a larger impact than the others.
Right now I believe the top 6 for the Edmonton Oilers is locked in. It is very unlikely for there to be much change in the personnel unless there is an injury or a player is really struggling. The top six is going to look like this:
Hyman-McDavid-Puljujarvi
Nugent-Hopikins-Draisaitl-Yamamoto
As for the bottom 6 there is a more competition for where players will play. There are a few locks like Kassian and Foegele as the third line wingers. As for the rest, their position could change around. The final spots are going to be a battle.
There are a couple players that will be in the lineup. Where they are placed is the question. Ryan McLeod, Devin Shore and Derek Ryan I think are locks for the lineup. The leaves one spot for the Edmonton Oilers opening night roster.
Players that have a chance of getting that spot are, Colton Sceviour, Kyle Turris, Tyler Benson, and Brendan Perlini. Of these four I can see Colton Sceviour coming out on top. He has been the most consistent in the preseason.
Over his three games so for this preseason Sceviour has had a solid stat line for a 4th line player.
3GP-0G-2A-+3-6SOG-6HIT-1BLKS-1GVA-1TKA-41:03TOI-1:19PPTOI-6:13SHTOI
The main reason I think Sceviour is going to get that final spot on the roster is his ability to kill penalties. I think Dave Tippett wants his bottom 6 players to be a more versatile player. While Turris and Benson also have the ability to kill penalties, they aren’t as effective as Sceviour.
My projection of the bottom 6 is one where they aren’t going to give up many goals. It will also have the ability to score you more goals that the bottom six’s we have seen in the past.
Foegele-McLeod-Kassian
Shore-Ryan-Sceviour
If you compare this bottom six to last season’s, you can clearly see that this years is better. This bottom six is going to be fluid throughout the year depending on who is playing well. Having players like Turris, Perlini and Benson waiting to get in the lineup, the leashes will be short for the most of the bottom 6.
Coming in on a PTO and taking a spot on a roster isn’t easy, and Sceviour is going to make it hard for Ken Holland to let him go after the way he has played. There isn’t much cap room to get the deal done, but I don’t see Sceviour expecting much on that front.
The illness to Josh Archibald coupled with his vaccine issues is unfortunate for Josh and I hope first of all that he can get back to being fully healthy, but him not being able to make the lineup has created a hole. I believe this hole may have been filled by Colton Sceviour.