Welcome to the NHL, Owen Michaels.
His first NHL game might not have rivalled that of Auston Matthews, but Michaels made his mark during the Edmonton Oilers' home-and-home set with the Vancouver Canucks. Specifically, he scored one of the Oilers' nine goals during Thursday's win against the Canucks; Michaels also recorded two hits and 26 shifts (which yielded 13 minutes and 23 seconds worth of ice time).
Head coach Mike Babcock had nothing but praise for the ex-Western Michigan player during training camp. While Michaels didn't record any points during the four-game preseason, he was given plenty of opportunities and he ensured that his impact was felt in many different ways. In doing so effectively, he essentially gave Babcock the justification to insert him anywhere in the line-up and in any possible role.
And the praise from Babcock only continued after Thursday's game, with the veteran bench boss saying that he has been "good for the team" after he made the team straight out of camp.
The roster situation to start the season gives Michaels a unique opportunity
Prospects seldom see an opportunity to make a major impact on a Cup contending roster, let alone make one out of camp.
But there are exceptions. For example, Easton Cowan earned his opportunity to star for the Leafs early last year; though the Leafs ultimately failed to make the playoffs for the first time in a decade, Cowan nonetheless recorded 29 points in 66 games to help the team remain competitive during several stretches of time.
Cowan's emergence into the lineup came as a result of an injury, specifically to now-ex-Leafs forward Steven Lorentz, and the same trend can be seen to some extent for Michaels' case. Specifically, Zach Hyman, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Jason Dickinson, Mattias Janmark, and Matt Savoie are all out of the lineup at the moment.
Josh Samanski was previously called up to fill one of the missing roster slots, but it seems like Michaels will feature in the lineup for, at the very least, the first half of October. Even though Nugent-Hopkins' injured reserve stint will end no earlier than next Thursday (the minimum injured reserve stint in the NHL is equal to seven days) and Hyman will return by mid-October, Dickinson and Janmark's status' are less clear. On top of that, Savoie could very well miss the entire month of October.
The above injuries are unfortunate, this much has to be recognized. But they might yield an opportunity for Michaels to prove that he is worthy of being given a long-term stint with the organization.
Another factor that works for him is that two of their next four games are against an Anaheim Ducks team that is looking for answers on the defensive side of the ice and a Los Angeles Kings side that just gave up eight goals to the Colorado Avalanche.
What that doesn't necessarily guarantee a goalscoring streak for Michaels, it is nonetheless a promising next step in his journey towards a confident start to his career and ensuring long-term success in the NHL. One could reasonably argue that a lack of scoring didn't hinder nor help Michaels' case to be named to the opening night roster; rather, it was his overall work ethic that saw him onto Babcock's first Oilers lineup.
That said, it is still something that could play a role in the early days of his NHL career. Specifically, it could very well keep him in the lineup over someone like Colton Dach or AHL-based hopefuls like Connor Clattenburg.
If Michaels puts together another point-scoring performance or two by the end of Edmonton's third week of action, then he will have made a case so compelling that Babcock cannot reassign him to the Bakersfield Condors for the next while. In doing so, Michaels would have completely proven that he is the kind of forward that thrives in Babcock's style of play: a hard-worker, someone who can play defense and offense, someone who skates, and someone who can consistently get in front of the net and score.
This might be Michaels' only opportunity to achieve that standard, but it's fair to assume he'll rise to the challenge.
Add us as a preferred source on Google