The Oilers concluded their 2014 youngstars tournament today with a 5-4 shootout loss to the Winnipeg Jets. The Oilers ended the tournament with a 2-0-1 record, beating Vancouver and Calgary on the first two nights of the tournament. Wins and losses in this tournament don’t matter, but it’s still good to see the Oilers winning hockey games. Their victory over Vancouver was a solid team win, while their win over Calgary was a result of the special teams.
Edmonton arguably played their best game against the Jets, but weak goaltending ended up being the problem for the team. Even though they out-shot Winnipeg by a wide margin, they still couldn’t close the deal.
The most important thing about this tournament however is development, let’s take a look at some of the players that stood out and impressed during this multiple-day trip to Penticton.
Bogdan Yakimov – Center: Yakimov really impressed the Oiler faithful during this three-game tournament. Yakimov provided the team with the valuable combination of both size and skill, something Edmonton has mightily struggled to find. Yakimov found the back of the net a couple of times and showed some solid ability passing the puck as well.
His offensive skills shined in this tournament, but more importantly his two-way play and size were factors. He appears to be a player that has the ability to be a complete center, and looks a bit more far ahead than we expected. Granted, this was against other prospects, but he looked very good. He’ll be highly interesting to watch during training camp and in Oklahoma City this coming fall.
Yakimov certainly looks a potential NHL player, which is a great sign for the Oilers.
Greg Chase – Center: Chase, a seventh round pick in 2013, certainly looks like a potential NHL player at this point. Chase has shown great offensive ability at the WHL level, and showed a little bit of that this tournament. In addition to that, he’s shown the ability to be a total pest and a guy that can play in many situations.
He proved why that was the case in the WHL during this tournament, and was rewarded with a contract. Chase also showed another gear in terms of his speed and his defensive ability, adding to his already solid resume. Chase won’t be ready for another year or two, but he’s certainly tending in the right direction. This tournament only strengthened the argument that he’s going to make it in this game.
Leon Draisaitl – Center: Draisaitl battled cramps on Friday, and missed Saturday’s game, but he looked really good on Monday against the Jets. He used his size and puck possession skills wisely, and showed some great things both offensively and defensively. His passing ability was unreal at times, and he was solid at creating scoring chances.
Two incredibly skilled plays happened late in the second against Winnipeg, when he set up two straight Oiler goals. He showed some good things, and will be the top prospect to watch come main camp.
Darnell Nurse – Defender: Nurse missed Saturday night’s game, but looked very good on both Friday and Monday. Nurse brings size, skill and nastiness to the blue-line, and can shut-down the opponent’s top guns. It would have been nice to see him go against Calgary’s big guns, but his performance was solid nonetheless.
Nurse was a stabilizing force for Edmonton, and has certainly put himself in position to make a run at a roster spot come camp later this week.
Vlad Tkachev – Forward: We expected the players above to be solid and show the best arrows, but this is a player that kind of caught some by surprise. I looked at Tkachev last week, and we found out he was a solid bet all things considered. We knew about the size issues on paper, but we also knew about the skill. It’s safe to say we didn’t know what exactly to expect in terms of on-ice play however.
What did we get?
What we got was a solid player that brought speed, a lot of skill and solid two-way play. Tkachev helped create some real chances for the team, and wasn’t a liability physically or defensively. It’s only a prospect tournament, but it’s still a very solid showing from an undrafted player who is looking for a contract. Tkachev will be one of the most interesting players to watch in main camp too, and could be a guy that catches the eye of the big league staff for employment down the road.
The Overview:
The Oilers looked good as a team for the most part. The players we expected to look good did, and in addition to the guys listed above, players like Mitch Holmberg, Mitch Moroz and even Kale Kessy showed something. That’s a good sign. It’s a very small sample size, only three games and against other prospects, but it’s a solid showing for a unit that looked terrible just one year ago at the same tourney.
The one concern? The goaltending was good not great. Laurent Brossoit looked decent on Friday night against the Canucks, while Ty Rimmer looked pretty good against Calgary on Saturday. Frans Tuohimaa? He really struggled on Monday and was the big reason why Edmonton couldn’t seal the deal over Winnipeg.
The rookies will get one more game, Wednesday night against the University of Alberta. After that, all the players that attended this camp will be attending the main camp on Thursday. Hockey is coming, buckle up friends.
[adsanity id=1808 align=alignnone /]Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
