Young Stars Tourney – Stories to Watch

It’s here, tonight the Oilers rookies take the ice against the Canucks prospects in the first game of the Penticton Young Stars tournament. The Oilers roster can be found here. It’s exciting times because the rookie tournament means that main camp, pre season and the season that matters, are right around the corner.

There are some interesting stories going into this rookie camp and I’m going to list the top news makers I’ll be watching. With a roster made up with a few high end prospect, some promising players trying to move up the depth charts and some players just trying to make a name for themselves in the future, this tourney and the rookie camp to follow is going to be mighty fun to watch.

The Defense

The Oilers made a few moves to shore up the defensive depth at the big club level this offseason, but there are a few players on this roster that have a chance to make a name for themselves.

Darnell Nurse – Nurse was just ok at last year’s tournament, his box scores were rather unimpressive but we did see his ability to skate the puck out of the zone and control the speed of the game with his awareness. At main camp Nurse really impressed me and I was surprised when he was sent back to junior without getting at least a game or two during the regular season.

This year nurse has to come in and show improvement, show that he knows the right times to jump into the play, when he can risk a pinch in the offensive zone and prove he can stay out of the penalty box. He’s a lock again for main camp, and we’ll probably see him get some regular season games. It’s going to be interesting if he performs well and makes it tough for the coaches to send him back this year.

Martin Gernat – Gernat is much like Martin Marincin, he grew a lot as a player last season. If he continues his development curve he should be playing important minutes down on the farm this season. This is a year for Gernat to place himself amongst the top prospects for the Oilers rear guards.

Dillion Simpson – Signed out of the college ranks this year Simpson probably has the most to gain on this list. He may be the player that knocks Gernat down the depth chart. Simpson has been highly touted and written about in spades since his signing. He has probably made the biggest gain up the ranks of defensive prospects and this tournament will hopefully see that momentum continue.

The Goalies

The Oilers haven’t had a top notch goaltending prospect in years. Tyler Bunz and Olivier Roy have both disappointed, Ty Rimmer is still a ways down the depth chart. It’s said that nowadays the goaltending position is very really filled up internally, most teams acquire their starters in trades and free agent acquisitions, and the title for best goalie prospect is up for grabs.

Laurent Brossoit – The Oilers acquired LB in the Smid trade with the Flames, and that alone should put some pressure on this kid. He’s well known around Oil Country for his work two years ago with the Oil Kings, he also played lights out in the ECHL last season. It’s his second year of pro hockey and while we know tenders take longer to develop, a good showing here can cement LB as the Oilers goalie of the future.

Frans Tuohimaa – Drafted by the Oilers in 2011 he finally came over from the Finnish Elite League at the end of last season, playing in one game with the OKC Barons. With this goaltending prospect position as open as it is, Tuohimaa is already 23 and could push Brossoit for the backup role on the farm coming out of camp. Not much is known about him but we should get to know the player pretty well this season.

The Forwards

There are a few interesting forwards at this camp, it shows that Stu MacGregor has been doing a pretty good job filling the Oilers needs at the draft. The team is in dire need of center depth, and unlike goaltending, it’s been shown that centers are a position tough to acquire through trade or free agency. More than any other position the Oil need some of these center men to work out.

Leon Draisaitl – We know Leon is going to play for the Oilers this season, well at least we think we do. Leon needs to really show well here, or the question marks will be many. I’m really looking forward to him matching up against Calgary’s Sam Bennet, these two players are going to be compared with one another for eternity so it seems, we can only hope that Dr. Drai keeps winning these battles.

Bogdan Yakimov – Much has been said about Yakimov, a big center with some skill. He’s coming over to play on North American ice for the first time, it will be interesting to see how fast he adjusts. There is already talk about him making the big club out of camp but it’s not likely, if he shows well the best we can hope for is big, important minutes on the farm and maybe an injury or late season call up often.

Jujhar Khaira – Much like Yakimov, Khaira is a big, heavy center man. This marks his first full pro season and hopes are that Jujhar is going to be an impact player at the AHL level. He needs to use his size to push people around, muck it up in front of the net and put up some offensive numbers to prove his worth to the organization. I’m excited about this guy and can see him turning into the third line center for the Oilers down the road. Hopefully he can do what Anton Lander has failed to.

Mitch Moroz – Another first year pro who looks be a bottom six type forward if and when he ever turns out. Moroz was able to put up good box cars last season with the Memorial Cup Champion Oil Kings, and it will be nice to see if th
ose numbers can continue to come in the AHL. I’m not sold on Moroz, especially when the player was picked early in the second round. Big expectations for this kid, but I think we’ll have to wait a few years.

Greg Chase – Seventh round pick, yep that’s right. It’s my feeling that Chase was the final Oilers pick in the 2013 draft because of GM Craig MacTavish’s connection to Chase’s dad (His dad is the Governor of the Sherwood Park Crusaders of the AJHL, where MacT’s kid played) if it wasn’t for that my guess is that Chase goes undrafted in 2013 and after his offensive outburst would have moved up a few rounds and probably picked by another team. Anyhow, favor or not, this pick looks great and Chase may be just the kind of player the Oilers need. Think Brad Marchand, the kid is a pest and while he’s going to get another year in junior it will be interesting how he shows against the older rookies and in main camp with the real NHL’ers.

There are more players and we’ll have some surprises and some disappointments coming out of this weekend’s tournament and next week’s camp. But regardless of what happens I’m just happy that the Oilers are going to be hitting the ice and that I can watch some games starting tonight (They’ll be streaming on the Oilers Website). Welcome back hockey season.

Thanks for Reading.