Is Broberg a bust, could Rodrigue get a shot in goal and other Oilers takes
Mar 11, 2023; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Edmonton Oilers defenseman Philip Broberg (86) skates during the warmup against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports
A look at how Philip Broberg’s and Jack Campbell’s futures may be tied to their GM, an underrated goalie option for the Oilers and more.
A couple of weeks ago due to injuries to Dylan Holloway and Mattias Janmark, the Oilers called up three players from Bakersfield, utilising the cap savings currently available to them from Jack Campbell going down to Bakersfield. Called up were blueliner Philip Broberg and bottom-six forwards Adam Erne and Raphael Lavoie.
Broberg was struggling just like everyone else, but he still has a two-way contract so he could come up without issue after playing the slower game in the AHL. His career for a first-round pick at this point is under the “failure to launch” category.
Broberg has had three stints in the NHL so far and each time has failed to grab a roster spot and stay up in the big league for good. Some, like sportswriter Jim Matheson, have the gall to accuse the coaching staff of not using him properly.
To anyone who agrees with Matheson on this, I have this to ask you: When is the player to blame for his own failures? At what point will we stop looking at third parties?
So far Broberg is a bust as a draft pick, and his contract is up after this season. Then again, so is Ken Holland’s and it remains to be seen whether he will return as Oilers GM after this season. Holland could be fired in the near future, he could choose to retire, or the Oilers may play out the season, let him walk, and start out fresh with a new GM next season.
Bob Nicholson, the man who hired Holland, has stepped down to an advisory role with the club and is therefore not a Jeff Jackson hire. As such, I think Jackson has to at least consider not bringing Holland back on a new contract.
So, it’s hard to say what will happen with Broberg, as the GM who drafted him may not be here much longer, or even after the season.
As for Lavoie, this was his first call-up to the big leagues, so now he has an idea of the difference between the AHL and the NHL. He played six games mostly in the bottom six and produced no offence, which is not all that uncommon for guys on their first call-up. He’s since been sent down to Bakersfield now that Janmark is healthy enough to play again.
Rodrigue could play himself into some NHL game time
It’s early days but heady days indeed for the Oilers between the pipes. One more wrinkle just worked its way into the equation in the form of the team’s best prospect goalie, Olivier Rodrigue. Since being drafted in the sixth round in 2018, he has seen his career take an upward trajectory this season.
Rodrigue’s first two seasons were spent being below average in the AHL as a backup. Then he was promoted to Bakersfield 1A last season and went from being below average to downright average, as he finished with a .912 save percentage and a 2.77 GAA, both miles ahead of his previous two seasons. Well, it’s only been three starts for Rodrigue so far this season but he’s made the most of them, with a lofty .942 save percentage and stingy 2.00 GAA.
If he keeps performing like that, especially if the Oilers don’t make the playoffs this year (which sadly may happen at this point) expect to see Rodrigue get at least one start in the NHL prior to the end of the season, just to see what they have with the guy.
Now for the other Condors goalie…
No, I’m not talking about Calvin Pickard, who’s playing caddy for Stuart Skinner in Edmonton right now, but the recently demoted Campbell.
Well, it seems that Campbell has brought back his summer goalie coach much earlier than anticipated, as ex-NHL goalie Manny Legace has been been around for a few days to try and fix whatever is wrong with him.
Of course, Campbell’s still working with the organization’s goalie coaches as well. This is just his own personal coach that he had a rapport with back in the summer.
Campbell’s spot in the organization is going to be the biggest question mark going forward – especially if he’s not working under the security blanket of Holland as his GM. Campbell was arguably the player struggling the most on a roster full of players struggling to start the season. His next month or two will be vital to determining his future in the organization going forward.
Say what you want about him, but at least he’s pulling out all the stops to try and correct the problem.
Just old rather than the Ovechkin of old?
Alex Ovechkin might not be able to break Wayne Gretzky’s career goal-scoring record, at least according to this. If you scroll down to the bottom to the “This n’ that” section, you’ll see that the Capitals, who are one of the top two oldest teams in the league, are on a downward trajectory as a franchise.
Ovechkin’s favourite linemates Evgeny Kuznetzov and Niklas Backstrom) appear to be injured for the foreseeable future (possibly forever in the latter’s case) and he isn’t scoring at his usual rate. At 38, he might be starting to finally slow down.
Kuznetzov is still listed by Daily Faceoff as officially in the Capitals lineup. However, with illness, especially something easily transmittable like the flu or COVID, you don’t want to take any chances, especially with the Caps still winning on the season.
They’re a bit of an enigma, facing a lot of downward pressures yet still finding ways to win, except against the Oilers, am I right?
Ovechkin only has five goals so far this season, but 827 in his career and thus 67 to go, to tie Gretzky’s record of 894. The Capitals have him signed for two more seasons, so if he puts up 22+ goals this season plus the next two then he’s laughing and will have broken Gretzky’s record.
We’ll see if Ovechkin still has enough gas left in the tank to do it. Of course, if he catches lightning in a bottle and scores 50 again…..then that time shrinks significantly.
Hamblin on his way to being an NHL regular
In the short term at least, James Hamblin has been able to provide the Oilers with something that even last season’s team didn’t have – a regular fourth-line centre.
Called up for the second time in his career at the beginning of November, Hamblin has been the team’s fourth-line centre ever since. He’s proven that at least for now he can handle the tougher NHL competition (as opposed to the AHL), even if it is only on the fourth line. His boxcars are not that impressive, 2-0-2 in 10 games, but what’s really important is he’s tied for the second-best +/- on the team with a +1.
On a team struggling as badly defensively as the Oilers have been for most of the season save for the game against the Caps, Hamblin has been a breath of fresh air to the bottom six. The goal he scored against Tampa Bay came with a nice story, as he pointed upward to the sky as his mother passed away from cancer back in September 2017, so that was a tribute to her.
The Oilers need all the help they can get right now in this department, even if it’s only on the fourth line.
Of course, the line between an NHL bottom-six forward and the AHL is a lot thinner than the line between an NHL top-six forward and the AHL, so Hamblin may not have established himself permanently yet and can’t breathe too easy at the time of writing. But if he keeps going like he is, he’ll have done what last year’s team could never do – stabilize the Oilers’ centre depth.
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If Hamblin does end up staying for good, it’ll be Connor McDavid on the first line, Leon Draisaitl on the second, Ryan Mcleod anchoring the third and Hamblin anchoring the fourth. It’s been a long time since the Oilers had the same four guys at all four centre spots for long stretches.
Hamblin’s timing couldn’t be better either, since his contract is up after this season, as he’s an RFA. If he can keep playing well and show the ability to chip in some secondary offence on the fourth line, then he’s likely looking at a modest raise and an upgrade from a two-way contract to a bona fide one-way contract.
If he keeps playing like he is, then when Holloway is healthy enough to come back, it’ll be Erne or Sam Gagner going down to Bakersfield, not Hamblin.
Did I mention he’s also a local Edmonton boy? Also not even drafted, signed as a free agent and look where he is today? What a great story.
Next. 3 Takeaways as the Oilers overpower Ducks 8-2. dark
And finally …
Remember when I asked if Evander Kane was permanently fading or just temporarily? As one of the players playing injured at the beginning of the season, it looks like we have our answer now as he is 10-9-19 in 20 games. He could stand to be better defensively, but then outside of the Heritage Classic and the Washington game, so could pretty much everyone else on the roster.