Noah’s Spark

As we sit here pondering what to do instead of yearning for playoff hockey the Edmonton Oilers are still losing but a different kind of losing. They are losing by winning. They are losing the McEichel sweepstakes. They’ve been overtaken in the McEichel standings by the team where ex-Oilers go to fade away, the Arizona Coyotes. So the likelihood of Connor McDavid or Jack Eichel ending up an Oiler is fading fast. But could the seas part to reveal the best draft eligible defenceman since Drew Doughty?

I do remember before the trade deadline when all of the hullabaloo was about who would replace Jeff Petry when he was traded. Who would play all those minutes? I think short term the answer was pretty clear (Klefbom/Schultz… Nikitin) but the long term replacement was and still might be unclear.

I imagine a good portion of the fans said Darnell Nurse, and there’s an excellent possibility that we’ll see the NHL’s next Chris Pronger in action next season but is he up to playing 25 minutes a night? I think a lot of bloggers and analysts would say Edmonton should go out and sign an unrestricted free agent like Andrej Sekera or Cody Franson. But what if it was Noah Hanifin?

Hanifin, it’s been said, would’ve given Aaron Ekblad a run for his money last year as first overall pick. Ekblad is a bit more well-rounded and physical but he’s unable to match the passing and skating of Hanifin. I mean, if MacTavish can’t come home with McDavid or Eichel, Hanifin sounds pretty good to me.

Could he step in as soon as next season? Something that makes me wonder if Hanfin could step right in is the fact that he started NCAA hockey as a 17 year old and didn’t look out of place. This tells me he’s a quick study and not afraid to get stuck in and learn on the job.

At the moment he has 23 points in 36 games for Boston University. That might look a bit underwhelming but if you take a look at his history, he’s never been a huge point producer. Then again, take a look at Nicklas Lidstrom’s stats as a junior. Also underwhelming but nobody would pass up an opportunity at putting Lidstrom in their lineup.

Ironically it was Lidstrom and Ray Bourque who Hanifin modeled his game after as a youth. Not bad choices eh? Nowadays the BC blueliner is often compared to Duncan Keith, Drew Doughty or Cam Fowler.

You’d like to think that there is no way that the Oilers can mess up a pick this obvious, right? Well… This is the Oilers we are talking about. There’s always the possibility that they could turn Hanifin from an expected elite franchise defender into Cam Barker by not sheltering him correctly or partnering him with another player that doesn’t compliment his attributes. The Oilers lack a Willie Mitchell, a Brian Campbell, or obviously a Shea Weber. The kind of veteran that can clean up the sort of mess rookie dmen tend to make.

But with that said, Noah Nanifin has a very quiet and almost unnoticeable style of play. He’s very good at getting the forwards to make the mistakes due to his high defensive IQ. I mentioned Lidstrom earlier but there isn’t a much better style comparison. It’s all about the angles and positioning and Hanifin is spot on nearly 100% of the time. Very rarely is he caught out of position. I guess there’s the possibility that he won’t need a playing mentor. The team does have Craig Ramsay on the coaching staff and from what I’ve been told, the Oilers blueliners love having him as a coach. Ramsay is like the defenceman whisperer.

If Noah Hanifin is indeed picked by the Oilers I hope he spends another year or two playing for Boston College. Unless he’s absolutely dominating there’s no point in having Klefbom, Schultz, Marincin, Nurse, Ference, Nikitin, and Fayne on the opening day roster. But good lord, look at that group! Imagine a mature version of that core! Good things come to those who wait folks and boy-oh-boy I like the way things are looking.