Rookie Watch: Pittsburgh Penguins

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Each day until September 15th TPS will take a look at one team from the Eastern conference and one club from the West, spotlighting a rookie or two to watch for this season. This afternoon we explore the freshmen candidates of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

This n' That - Early July '10

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A surprisingly busy start to the NHL off-season has provided plenty of fodder for fans around the league. There have also been other rumblings from the major junior, minor pro and NCAA ranks as well, some of which has gone largely unnoticed by the mainstream media. As always, when it affects the future of hockey, it attracts the attention of The Pipeline Show.

O'Marra, McDonald up, Reddox Down

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The Oilers have recalled centre Ryan O'Marra for a second stint with the big club, and he's brought along his partner in checking Colin McDonald (pictured).

The pair have been the Springfield Falcons shut down line on the farm and have developed some nice chemistry. This will be O'Marra's second call up this year, you can read about his first stint here.

If McDonald gets into game action it will be his first in the NHL, and proof that the Oilers might be salvaging what was once thought to be lost career. The Hartford product was a scorer before attending Providence College where the offence was sucked out of him, never registering more than 13 goals in a single season. His AHL career wasn't much better until Springfield Head Coach Rob Daum asked him to play a checking role, a role in which McDonald thrived in, starting with the final stretch of last season. With a defined job, McDonald's offence is starting to show signs of life. His 5 goals in 21 games, puts him just 7 shy of his career high.

O'Marra and McDonald sit 5th and 6th in Falcons scoring right now. It's unfortunate that injured forward Chris Minard misses out another chance to join the Oilers. Charles Linglet, Colton Fretter and Chad Wiseman are all above or near a point per game pace, but will have to wait for their turn, which by the way the Oilers are getting hurt might not be that long.

The interesting transaction in this announcement is that Liam Reddox has been "loaned" to Springfield. I'm not sure why, maybe it's to circumvent the waiver process or just another way to say 'sent down'???

While this is great news for O'Marra and McDonald, it means the Oilers must start scrambling to find capable players to fill out Rob Daum's roster in Springfield.

O'Marra Earning His Shot

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Tuesday night Dean and I had a conversation with Springfield Falcons head coach Rob Daum and we discussed a bunch of different current events including the development of some Oilers prospects. One such player was Ryan O'Marra who had been called up to the NHL earlier in the day.

The former 1st round pick made his NHL debut on Tuesday night against the Ottawa Senators literally minutes after getting off the plane. I contacted O'Marra earlier in the day and he explained to me that his plane was due to land in the nation's capital about 35 minutes before the opening faceoff and that he was going to miss the pregame skate but hoped to still get the chance to play. He did, getting exactly 6:00 of ice time in his first NHL game.

The decision had raised the eyebrows of some people as the theory that the Oilers were "showcasing" him was brought up on the air and message boards. How you showcase a guy who had started to become labeled as a "bust" is anyone's guess but the simple fact is that, contrary to some belief, O'Marra was the best choice for a recall at the time.

The Oilers NHL roster is decimated by injury and illness. The team lacks players who can win a faceoff at the best of time and even more so while Shawn Horcoff is sidelined. The Oilers are also generally pretty small up front. Ryan O'Marra is a 6'2, 208 lbs forward that is the best Springfield center at taking draws. He's not a scorer, a playmaker or a finesse player - but he's exactly what Edmonton was lacking on Tuesday night.

We spoke with Daum and asked him about the recall. He gave us a lot of insight on how the decision of which player is made and also offered a pretty descriptive scenario of his meeting with O'Marra as he told him the news.

"...it was really exciting to see his enthusiasm and the excitement for [O'Marra] of fulfilling a lifelong dream is something he'll never forget and it's exciting when you can deliver that kind of news." said Daum. "You get different reactions from guys depending on the personality of the player. With Ryan it was... he was overwhelmed with the news."

Hearing a bit of the behind-the-scenes stuff of the time line from the first call from Edmonton, the Oilers' line of questions as they seek a call-up, Daum's recommendation and then the subsequent call back... is quite interesting to hear.

Daum also went on to explain the growth he's seen in O'Marra over the course of the last few years. The former Islander was hardly a blip on the radar at best over the past two seasons and yet here he was on the ice in a NHL uniform in November. Daum cleared up the reasons why.

"The doubters and the sceptics were pretty accurate based on his play last year," he began, "I was only [in Springfield] for the last 29 games but in that time, Ryan O'Marra was not a factor."

Over the course of the summer O'Marra changed up his training, spent some time in Finland and returned to Oiler camp with a new focus and a new attitude.

"...Instead of being negative about his season last year, he used it as a motivator for himself. He came to Edmonton, I know, with a very positive attitude in training camp and had a good camp..."

Daum continued to praise O'Marra for his performance in Springfield which has included an acceptance of a set role - that of a shutdown, defensive center.

We also talked to Daum about another player that some Oiler fans had written off long ago. Colin McDonald, drafted as a scoring machine out of New England, had lost his offensive touch during his 4-year NCAA career and had struggled as a pro to find his place. McDonald told us during training camp in Edmonton that having Rob Daum take over the team last year had a major impact on him because the coach had finally given him a job description. This year the former Friar has picked up where he left off and the coach couldn't speak any higher about him that he did to us on Tueday night.

"[McDonald] has been excellent. I thought he was pretty good for us last year doing the things that he did but he's been even better for us this year," said Daum, "His game has taken a real step forward."

We had an email come in from Minnesota that asked Daum to comment on the progression of Taylor Chorney from last year. The coach pulled no punches when describing the struggles Chorney went through as a rookie and also talked about how he's gone from the AHL to the NHL in such a short time.

From Chorney we moved to another Springfield defenceman in Cody Wild. Many Oiler fans, especially those who often rely heavily on statistical analysis and mathematical breakdowns, have been questioning the organization's apparent misuse of Wild, especially when compared to Taylor Chorney. I posed the question directly to the coach and asked him to compare the two players and Daum opened his explanation by commenting on stats.

"I think statistics can be extremely misleading and if that's what you're basing a player comparison on... it's one tool that you can use but there's a lot more to a player than his stats good or bad."

Daum did oblige the question and went to great lengths to discuss the two defenceman and explained how different the two are compared to the belief of some outsiders.

It was a very informative discussion with the coach that should have some fans rethinking their opinions on some key Oiler prospects. The full with interview with coach Rob Daum is available HERE.

Other guests from Tuesday included NHL Hall of Fame netminder and current owner, GM and head coach of the Quebec Remparts - Patrick Roy. We also spoke with Captain Paul Whalen of the Royal Military College hockey team as we offered a hockey tribute to our Canadian Forces.

You can hear The Pipeline Show live on Tuesday nights from 7-9 PM on the TEAM 1260 in Edmonton or online at www.thepipelineshow.com

You can join our Facebook Group for advance notice of our upcoming guest list and you can also keep track of us via Twitter.

(Photos: Springfield Falcons)

Friday Farm Report

Friday night in the AHL saw 13 games on the schedule including the Springfield Falcons home to the Lowell Devils.

Things started off with a bang when Lowell's Louis Robitaille stuck his knee out on Ryan McMurchy. Jake Taylor jumped in to dance with Robitaille who picked up 15 minutes in the sin bin on the play. The birds were able to capitalize just once on the 5 minute major when Slava Trukhno picked up his first point setting up Colton Fretter down low to make it 1-0.

Special teams were key for Springfield later in the first as well. After taking a returning from a big hit, Colin McDonald capitalized on a horrible giveaway by Mike McKenna and pumped home his 3rd of the season shorthanded into a half empty net.

Things seemed to turn on the Falcons in the 2nd when Stephen Gionta beat Devan Dubnyk with a long wrister from just inside the blueline, definitely a shot the goaltender has to stop.

The unholy notched 2 more in the 3rd from Tyler Eckford and Alexander Vasyunov to take the lead, before Chris Mindard tied it up on the power play with under 4 minutes to play.

This one needed a shoot out where Vladamir Zharkov won it as the Devils 6th shooter for a 4-3 win.

Springfield played without Theo Peckham who was recalled by the Oilers Friday and they take on Worcester Saturday night before a rematch with Lowell on Sunday.

(photo courtesy www.springfieldfalcons.com)

Friday Farm Report: Falcons Fly Past Monarchs

It was a pretty good night for the Oilers organization. The big club handily beat Minnesota 5-2 and Springfield skated past Manchester 4-1. The only blemish was Stockton losing 3-1 to Idaho.

With their win, Springfield snaps a 3 game losing skid, and wound up on the right end of the shot clock. You can see some hilites below.



After Oscar Moller opened the scoring for the baby Kings, Chad Wiseman notched his first as a Falcon. Colton Fretter also with his first, Geoff Paukovich(pictured courtesy Springfieldfalcons.com) and Colin McDonald with their 2nd each continued the scoring for Rob Daum's club who improve to 2-3 on the season.

Devan Dubnyk wasn't under siege for the first time in a few games and stopped 27 of 28 shots he faced. In the contest, Johan Motin notched his first AHL point, picking up an assist on Geoff Paukovich's tally. Theo Peckham (pictured courtesy Springfieldfalcons.com) was also active, picking up a helper, a plus 2 rating and 9 penalty minutes. In just 3 games, Peckham has taken over 2nd spot for PIM's from Kip Brennan with 19. Peckham is also +3 in 3 games. Jake Taylor's 32 minutes leads Springfield and puts him 4th in the AHL.

Since Taylor Chorney has joined the Oilers, he's been overtaken for the team's scoring lead. Charles Linglet, Ryan Potulny and Chris Minard are tied with 6 points each. Chorney has 5 AHL points this season.

Stats sometimes tell different stories. Colin McDonald and Ryan O'Marra have been linemates quite a bit this season and each have 3 points in 5 games, but a combined minus 6.

Liam Reddox sat this one out while serving a suspension he received against Hartford last weekend. I'm not sure what he did, but at one point he was involved in a collision with Hartford goaltender Matt Zaba.

Slava Trukhno didn't have a very good training camp with the Oilers, and things haven't been any better in Springfield. The Russian forward has zero points in 5 games and is -1. This is a contract year for Truhkno who could find himself out of a job even before season's end if he doesn't turn things around. Remember Joseph Hrabl left Springfield during the season last year.

Meanwhile, Cody Wild has yet to play a game for Rob Daum this season, and has been listed as a healthy scratch on most of the game recaps.

Springfield is home to Hartford Saturday, then it's a rematch with the Monarchs in Manchester Sunday.

As for the Stockton Thunder, they opened their season with a loss to Idaho. Bryan Young and Ryley Emmerson, who were both assigned 2 weeks ago played for the Thunder Friday night. Andrew Perugini stopped 41 of the 44 pucks fired his way, including 16 saves in the 3rd period.

The same two teams will hook up 2 more times this weekend in Idaho.

Panthers-Oilers Post Game, Jacques, Stone Shine

While Mike Comrie and Patrick O'Sullivan were the two best players on the ice for Edmonton, a couple of youngsters were pretty good as well in a 4-0 pre season win Friday.

It didn't take J.F. Jacques long to steam roll a Panther, then as he stepped out of the box after serving a slashing penalty, he dropped Christian Backman like a rock in a river with a hard shoulder check. Backman was barely on the ice when Jacques looked around to see who would be on his dance card, and sure enough Adam Keefe came strolling in, dropping the mitts for a second time in the period.

The man nicknamed 'Crazy Train' during his days in the QMJHL did fairly well in the scrap that I would call a draw. In the middle frame with Edmonton up 3-0 etched his name on the scoresheet again, this time by putting away a very nice O'Sullivan pass to the slot, he went high in a hurry, one timing the shot to the top left corner. Jacques played pretty well last year down the stretch after returning from a back injury, he scored once and picked up 9 penalty minutes over a 7 game stretch, but more importantly was involved in the play physically. That's the way he was Friday, dishing out more than the 5 hits he was credited with. I really think Jacques can be a difference maker for the Oilers this year, if he continues to throw his weight around. Slot him in with Dustin Penner or Zach Stortini with Gilbert Brule in the middle and you have a very effective energy line that allows Brule to be an excellent agitator. You can here his post game comments, starting with how he got off to a good start in the game by clicking here.

Ryan Stone was pretty noticeable Friday night as well. Stone made a terrific pass to defenceman Taylor Chorney who jumped into the play during the 2nd period. The former UND Fighting Sioux rearguard finished nicely, zipping it top shelf on Tomas Vokoun. Stone picked up a second assist on Patrick O'Sullivan's 2nd period goal as well. The one time Brandon Wheat King was plus 2 in over 17 minutes of ice time, which included 5:07 on the power play. This is the second straight game where Stone looked comfortable on a line with O'Sullivan and Mike Comrie, and while like in Calgary the opponent wasn't exactly full of NHL calibre players, he's making an impact on the coaching staff. To me Ryan Stone could turn out to be an Ethan Moreau type player. They have similar size, Stone 6'2 199 lbs, Moreau 6'2 220 lbs. Stone's best year in junior was his last with Brandon where he notched 99 points and 127 PIM (he broke the 100 plus PIM mark in all 4 years with the Wheat Kings) while Moreau put up similar numbers with Niagra where best campaign was 98 points and 100 PIM. After the game I spoke to Stone about his play so far, as well as Moreau about Stone playing a similar style as the Oilers captain. You can hear those conversations here.

So what did the head coach think tonight? Pat Quinn talks about Taylor Chorney, J.F. Jacques, Ryan Stone and more here.

As for the Panthers, like Calgary did the other night they didn't dress a ton of NHL calibre players. Vokoun, Brian McCabe, Corey Stillman, Steve Reinprecht, Jordan Leopold, Martin Skoula and Michael Frolik were the notable names. A better line up than Calgary, but not by much. I spoke with Frolik, who as a rookie last year scored 45 points in 79 games for the Cats. You can catch the conversation with the 10th overall selection from 2006 by clicking here.

As I mentioned earlier, I think Ryan Stone has Ethan Moreau potential. Does he have Moreau's speed? No, but that can be improved. While we're comparing prospects to current pros, Colin McDonald might have some Fernando Pisani in him. McDonald is learning how to be an effective checking forward, and like Pisani has a very accurate shot so he can chip in somewhat with some offence. Both Stone and McDonald were drafted in 2003, but because he spent 4 full years at Providence College, McDonald is only entering his 3rd year of pro, while Stone is about to start his 5th ...whether it's in Edmonton or Springfield is debatable right now. McDonald will need atleast another year in the AHL, but if they keep developing, the pair could replace Moreau and Pisani as 2/3 of the Oilers checking line in the near future.

Oilers News, Notes & Thoughts

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Maybe it's the calm before the storm. There hasn't been much news since the organization announced Pat Quinn and Tom Renney as the next era of bench bosses for the Oilers. Fan expectation is running rampant as Oilerville ponders the fate of impending UFA goalie Dwayne Roloson, what will happen at the draft, who will and won't be signed to new contracts for next season and a subset of the market is interested in knowing more about prospects camp in July.

Goalies

Plenty of other folks in the main stream media and the blog world have tackled the Roloson situation and I really don't have anything much new to add to that conversation. My understanding is that while Roloson may have once been asking for a 2-year deal it's possible he's upped his request to 3-years (though he'd "settle" for 2). As others have reported already, it's my belief that the Oilers will not entertain ideas of more than one season for the rapidly aging Roloson.

I get the impression that Edmonton is at the crossroads where they definitely want to know what they have in Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers and that if he plays well early on, he could find himself playing much more than most believe right now. In other words, Roloson's role (or that of another veteran goalie) might be more as a safety net for JDD in case he struggles as opposed to the other way around.

Not to suggest that Deslauriers is going to be handed the starters's job out of camp, that would be ludicrous at this point, but I won't be surprised if early on he receives more starts than most are currently expecting.

Cleaning out the Farmhouse

Several contracts will be coming off the books at the end of June as the Oilers want to distance themselves from the 50-contract limit and many of those cuts will come on the farm. The Springfield Falcons had a horrendous season and the focus from above will be to replace many fringe players with more talented and effective newcomers.

While the team won't make any special announcements for who won't be resigned it's common sense to expect a few prospects not to have their contracts renewed. I don't expect to see Mathieu Roy brought back again. Wingers Stephane Goulet (pictured) and David Rohlfs have probably played their last game as part of the organization as well. I believe that tough guy Hans Benson will not be returning to Springfield and rearguard Sebastien Bisaillon will be looking for a new team as well. The writing was on the wall for goalie Glenn Fisher when he was lent to Las Vegas in the ECHL.

It will be interesting to see what will happen with Edmonton product Tyler Spurgeon. A heart and soul type player, injuries slowed his development and with new managment looking to cut where possible I won't be surprised if Spurgeon is not re-signed. I'd feel bad for Tyler but I honestly don't see him with the Oilers come July.

The two prospects I think Edmonton would like to keep in the mix are Colin McDonald and defenceman Bryan Young. McDonald enjoyed a nice turnaround after the coaching change in Springfield last year and with Rob Daum at the helm I think the belief exists that they can still get the former 2nd round pick to take his game to another level.

As for Young, I know the scouting staff has always believed in the stay at home defenceman and his own-zone first attitude is a positive on a team laden with more offensive minded blueliners. Young might be asked to accept a minor league contract which would keep him in the AHL but out of the NHL. It's a tactic Edmonton has unsuccessfully tried in each of the last two years, first with Freddie Pettersson who promptly bolted for the Swedish Elite League followed by Troy Bodie who also declined, was then signed by Anaheim and actually made his NHL debut with the Ducks last season.

And then there is the case of Josef Hrabal who was injured for much of 2008-09 and then returned to Europe before the end of the season. Very recently Peter Adler via David Staples from the Edmonton Journal had a piece on the Czech defenceman where he spoke about his desire to impress the Oilers at main camp in September. Call it a gut feeling, but I don't think he'll get the chance... I think his stay in the organization has reached an end; he's been lost in the pack and will end up being quietly bought out.

Possible New Falcons

Clearly Kevin Prendergast and the Oilers have to find better AHL veterans if the Falcons are going to have any kind of success. I'm told the team has some players in mind who have a proven track record in the AHL that they are pursuing. I believe the Oilers would like to sign 3, possibly 4 players for Springfield who would play key roles both up front and on the back end.

A couple of possible candidates include a former Edmonton Road Runner named Martin St. Pierre. Well known for using a stick that was about 7 feet long, the 5'9 center played 18 games with the Road Runners during the NHL lockout after an impressive 4-year OHL career in Guelph. St. Pierre has spent the last 4 seasons with Chicago and Boston playing mostly in the AHL but managing to appear in 35 NHL games along the way. He's quick, talented and exactly what the Falcons need to jump start a miserable power play. He's also someone who could fill in with the big club in a pinch if necessary. Getting him might mean a contract that pays pretty well on the AHL side but is probably worth the effort for the results he's shown in the league.

How about someone like Chris Minard who has scored almost 100 goals over his last 175 AHL contests? He was a big part of Wilkes-Barre's offence last year and even suited up with the Pittsburgh Penguins for 20 games. The veteran has 7 years of pro experience under his belt and appears to still be getting better - he could be exactly what the doctor order for the Falcons.

Darren Haydar has been a force in the AHL over the last few seasons. He led the league in scoring by a country mile with 122 points in 2006-07 with Chicago and had 80 points last year with Grand Rapids. Like St. Pierre, Haydar is small but at the AHL level he is a scoring machine.

Downsized Prospect Camp

The annual summer get together between the organization and it's younger properties has been pushed back to July this year. This will enable the team to include the players that they will draft on June 26th. I wonder if it's also so time and money isn't spent on players who are about to leave the organization like the list above. If the camp was held in May or June like in that last few years, that would have been the case and there is no fiscal sense in throwing money out the window.

The list of camp participants will be limited to current prospect in the CHL excluding recently signed Milan Kytnar who is involved in a camp overseas. There are three such players: Jordan Eberle, Philip Cornet and Alex Plante. Also on hand will be the 5 NCAA prospect Edmonton currently has: Riley Nash, Jeff Petry, Matt Glasser, Robby Dee and Chris Vande Velde. The Oilers currently posses 8 draft picks and should that not change, all 8 will be invited to the camp. The two goalies will be Andrew Perugini and Bryan Pitton otherwise the only other pro players who will attend will be Jamie Bates and Jordan Bendfeld, the latter after missing most of the 2008-09 season due to injury.

Normally the Oilers will invite a half dozen or so players to camp to have a closer look but this year that number has been axed to just 3. The lone collegian is former Camrose Kodiak Jesse Todd who just finished his freshman season at Merrimack.

The other two players are both CHLers. Jesse Dudas was injured at Oiler camp last fall and was promised another shot - this is the Oilers holding true to their word. In the same vein, Oil Kings forward Jeff Lee joined the Falcons late in their season when they were desperate for healthy bodies. In exchange, the Oilers assured Lee's agent of a camp invite had he not signed with anyone else by then.

The prospect camp is set for the week beginning July 5th in Sherwood Park.

Speaking of Riley Nash, sources indicate to me that he will indeed return to Cornell for at least his junior year with the Big Red.

"With the 10th Overall Selection..."

It's interesting how much seems to have changed over the last month or so when it comes to players and their stock for the draft. Although there appears to be pretty much a consensus inside the top 8 or 9, the order those top players will actually be chosen seems very much up for debate.

I've heard from NHL people who believe Brandon forward Brayden Schenn will be chosen anywhere from 3rd overall by Colorado to a couple spots later to one of any number of teams including Toronto who might move up. The L.A. Kings might be happy to trade back with the Leafs because according to one source, they apparently like Nazem Kadri but not enough to take him in the #5 spot. The Phoenix Coyotes have been playing host to Russian defenceman Dmitry Kulikov fueling speculation that the Drummondville import might go higher than so far predicted. Swede Oliver Ekman-Larsson is loved by many in mock drafts and can be found well inside the top 10 on many of them but outside by just as many others. One insider predicted that if the Leafs fail to move up to grab either Tavares or Schenn that they may go off the board a bit and choose Peterborough power forward Zack Kassian - much earlier than anyone is thinking right now.

Basically, the names I keep getting suggested to me as the cream of the crop are (not in any specific order): John Tavares, Victor Hedman, Matt Duchene, Evander Kane, Brayden Schenn, Jared Cowen, Magnus Paarjarvi-Svensson and Dmitry Kulikov.

If you're one of the teams picking 9th-12th, the next handful of players to be considered the 'Best Player Available' may include London Knights forward Nazem Kadri and a trio of defencemen consisting of Swedes Oliver Ekman-Larsson and David Rundblad as well as John Moore of the USHL's Chicago Steel.

Kadri broke his jaw early in the season which probably eliminated him from WJC roster contention. After John Tavares joined the Knights, Kadri seemed to make it his personal mission to up his game and not play second fiddle. Scouts I've talked to have suggested that during the OHL series between London and Windsor, Kadri actually outplayed Tavares and won more than a few scouts over in the process.

He didn't get selected for the Swedish entry at the WJC in Ottawa and at the midseason point he was ranked well outside the first round by ISS, however, Oliver Ekman-Larsson's (pictured) stock has been skyrocketing as June 26th gets closer. He's a terrific skater and has solid offensive ability but some I've chatted up have questioned his mental toughness and wonder if he'll last in the NHL.

David Rundblad is ranked 10th overall by The Hockey News but that's higher than everywhere else that I've seen. He's been described to me as a really steady 2-way blueliner who played "in the SEL on one of the best teams and never looked out of place at all". He's a bit bigger and heavier than Ekman-Larsson and isn't getting near as much pre-draft hype but no one has mentioned the same concerns about Rundblad's mental toughness either.

There's a reason why we asked John Moore to do some blogging with us - he's a smart, humble, respectful kid who won us over when we had him on the show. That's the same sort of feeling scouts got when talking to him at the combine or at other times in the season. Not only is he a first class person but his skating is considered world class and the NHL team that takes him knows he's got two solid options of where to play next year - Colorado College or Kitchener. "We've only seen the tip of the ice berg with this kid, because he has no idea how good he actually is."

A wild card to keep in mind could be Brandon forward Scott Glennie who, despite a lackluster combine interview, possesses a few things the Oilers traditionally hold dear; speed, size and hands. Some have suggested that he benefited greatly from playing with Brayden Schenn and Matt Calvert all year but while both were tied up with Hockey Canada, Glennie showed he was able to do it himself.

For the Oilers, a five-name list doesn't really narrow it down all that much but what I do know for certain is that Edmonton's scouting staff will meet again all next week beginning on Tuesday night and I'm sure they'll be debating right up until Friday afternoon.

If I am reading the tea leaves correctly, I doubt that offensive but small players like Golden Gopher Jordan Schroeder and Ryan Ellis of the Windsor Spitfire are in the mix for Edmonton, at least not with the 10th overall pick.

Like I said, things have changed a lot over the last month. On Tuesday Dean and I will be unveiling our revised mock draft and you'll notice several alterations from a month ago when we started the process in its daily form.

(Photos Courtesy: Edmonton Journal, Brandon Wheat Kings,Springfield Falcons, Edmonton Oilers, Edmonton Oil Kings, QMJHL, ECHL)

Top 5 Tuesday:Falcons and others who could be flying the coup next year

Today we take a look at 5 Oilers prospects who could be looking for another organization next season.

5. David Rohlfs
The Oilers drafted Rohlfs in the 5th round of the 2003 draft out of the North American Hockey League. In his draft year he scored 30 goals for 44 points in 53 games. Since then Rohlfs has a total of 51 goals in 6 seasons of hockey, 4 at Michigan State and the last 2 in Stockton, with 2 games in Springfield. .The intriguing aspects of Rohlfs are his versatility as both a forward and defenceman and his size at 6.03 and 215 pounds he should be a load to handle near the net, which you would think would lead to a few goals. Yet he has sniped just 4 times in 37 games with Stockton of the ECHL. Rohlfs joined Guy and I live in studio this past summer and spoke about hoping to spend the whole season in Springfield, you can hear the conversation which also included Geoff Paukovich (who could be on this list next year) here Rohlfs is an RFA next year and it's unlikely the team will make him a qualifying offer.

4.Glenn Fisher
He was signed to a minor league deal only last year and the Oilers will be cutting bait with Fisher at the end of the season. It was perfectly clear when the Oilers acquired Danny Sabourin and sent Fisher to Las Vegas of the ECHL that the Edmonton product wasn't in their plans anymore. Fisher played 4 years at Denver and is unfortnunately destined to be a career minor leaguer.

3. Danny Sabourin
The goaltender acquired along with Ryan Stone for Mathieu Garon has been pretty good for a Falcons team with it's head a few leagues under the sea right now. In his 5 games with Springfield, Sabourin has 2 wins, a 2.33 gaa and a save percentage of .925. But the Oilers had to many goalies before they picked him up and as we saw in Edmonton this year a crowded crease is an unhappy one. The Oilers would also test the waters with soon to be 30 year old Bjorn Bjurling who is having a pretty good year in the SEL.

2. Sebastien Bisaillon
He once scored 35 goals from the blueline and was an emergency call up for the Oilers in 2006-07 when everyone under the sun was injured and they couldn't bring anyone from the farm up to the big club. Bisaillon has a booming shot from the point but he's been joining Lerg to many times in the press box as a healthy scratch. He was sent to Stockton Monday for the 2nd time this season and the defence position is one of strength for the Oilers, especially if Joseph Hrabl returns and or Jeff Petry decides to leave school early next year.

1. Stephane Goulet
This is the player I am most certain won't be offered another contract from the Oilers. He was sat for 8 straight game earlier this year in Springfield and has just a single goal in the 18 games he has suited up in. The Oilers drafted Goulet in the 7th round of the 2004 draft, and he did score 51 goals with Moncton in 05-06, the year the Wildcats lost to Quebec in the Memorial Cup final.

So there are 5 who I think won't be offered a second contract next season. There are a few bubble players like Colin McDonald. However I spoke to someone with the Oilers today who said MacDonald is playing better as of late and settling into a checking role. Bryan Young is another RFA next year, but Young plays a pretty simple, solid game and fills they physical role as well. Mathieu Roy is another blueliner who could be cut lose by the club, simply because he can't seem to stay healthy at the NHL level. But when he's not hurt he plays fairly decent.

Agree or disagree with any of they players listed, feel free to chime in. Or you can pipe up tonight on TPS . This evening we'll welcome UND junior and Oilers prospect Chris Vande Velde, as well as ISS head scout Mike Oke, 2008 first overall selection Steven Stamkos and much more. 7-9 PM MST on The TEAM 1260 in Edmonton, and heard around the world at http://www.cfrn.com/player/player

Falcons Fall In Fiesty Affair

Scoring goals really hasn't worked for the Falcons lately, so it seemed team decided to try and pound their opponent into submission Sunday night. Against Binghamton, 4 separate scraps broke out in a 6:20 span of the first period, but it wasn't enough as for the second straight night the Oiler farmhands let a 3rd period lead slip away and lost 2-1.

Three minutes into this one, Hans Benson laid a big hit and danced with AHL heavyweight Jeremy Yablonski. According to hockeyfights.com the Meadowlake Saskatchewan product has 86 pro fights, and dropped the mitts for the 18th time this season with Benson. I'd have to give a slight decision to Yablonski after seeing the video evidence, but you can judge for yourself.



As you see in the clip, 2 minutes later Guillaume Lefebvre went with Matt Carkner and I thought it was a draw. 3 and a half minutes after that, Colin McDonald and Neil Petruic had possibly the shortest fight I've ever seen, but still earned 5 minutes each. And finally, newly acquired Ryan Stone and Zach Smith threw the skin hammers less than a minute later, and Stone won this one fairly handily. We'll ask him about the scrap Tuesday night when he joins us on TPS.

As for the rest of the game, it was scoreless until 2 minutes into the 3rd when Ryan Potulny beat Martin Gerber on a power play goal set up by Rob Schremp and Cody Wild. It was Potulny's 3rd in 3 games since being assigned by the Oilers, and gives him 22 on the year.

However Ottawa's farmhands stormed back with 2 goals in less than 2 minutes to steal the win and stop Springfield from snapping it's 6 game losing skid. You can hear some post game audio here.

The birds hit the road this week with 4 games in 5 nights, starting in Manchester Wednesday and ending in Toronto Sunday.

Who's Who at Prospect Camp

The Edmonton Oilers have 26 players coming to town to take part in their annual summer prospect orientation camp and included in the mix are a handful of free agent invites and others making their first ever appearance at an Oilers session.

Need a bit of a refresher or an intro to some of the names? Here we go...

Let's begin in net where the two masked men will be Glenn Fisher and Bryan Pitton. Both players recently signed new contracts with Pitton definitely headed to Stockton next year to be the main man for the Thunder and Fisher expected to be the back up to Devan Dubnyk in Springfield as long as he shows he is capable of the promotion.

The 6 blueliners will be an interesting group to watch for sure. Jeff Petry, who I have ranked as the #1 prospect in the organization at HF, will be making his second appearance but first full one. Last year he missed half of it when he went to Colorado to receive the Top USA Junior of the Year award. After a strong freshman campaign at MSU it will intriguing to see if there is a noticeable difference in him on the ice here.

Theo Peckham, ranked #7 by me, will be a player that the media gravitates to for certain after making his NHL debut last year in a 1-game call up. The Toronto native has been described to me as a 'man-child' and it was clear to me at the Fall 2006 camp just how much GM Kevin Lowe admired him.

Providence College's loss is Edmonton gain. Cody Wild, ranked 8th and pictured here in his old Jr. Bruins gear, finished 2007-08 with Springfield in the AHL. He'll be returning to the Falcons this season and should play a huge role as a go-to offence provider from the backend.

2007 1st rounder Alex Plante will make his summer camp debut and after 3 weeks of training in California with Chad Moreau he should be one of the most prepared players on the ice next week. Like Col. Steve Austin (that's a 6 Millon Dollar Man TV show reference for you kids)... Plante has to get "bigger... stronger... faster". I like the dedication he's shown already and have a good feeling going forward that this is a guy who has a heck of a rebound year. I currently have Plante ranked 12th by the way.

Sebastien Bisaillon was having a breakout year last season, at least in AHL terms, until a severe injury knocked him out for most of the second half. I have him ranked 18th and admittedly it's a bit of a leap of faith in that he can recapture his pre-injury form and pick up where he left off from. That might be too much to expect but he's a kid with a great attitude and a ton of determination so I wouldn't bet against him.

The unknown on the backend will be free agent invite John Schwarz who played at Michigan Tech. He's a 6'3, 210lb native of Calgary and comes to camp on the recommendation of Walt Kyle (Northern Michigan) and Jamie Russell the head coach of the Huskies. Schwarz was an alternate captain for 'Tech' and just completed his junior season. It's the first camp invite Schwarz has ever had so he's coming with nerves and excitment in tow. "He's got offensive tools, his skatings a little rough but with a couple years in the minors he might be OK," said one source.

There are 18 forwards in all coming to camp including the player The Pipeline Show has given official 'Prospect to Watch' status. Chris Vande Velde has completed two years at North Dakota and has rapidly climbed the depth chart there and is now sitting 6th on my Top 20 list at HF. He had 32 points in 43 games and was a big reason the Sioux returned to the Frozen Four despite losing Jonathon Toews to the NHL last summer.

The other player all media will be watching for is Riley Nash; he was the third 1st round pick the Oilers made last year. After winning pretty much every award he was eligible to win last season as a freshman at Cornell, Nash will make his debut at an Oiler camp giving fans their first opportunity to see for themselves what the player looks like on the ice. He's slotted into the #4 spot on my list.

It wasn't a banner year for Ryan O'Marra on or off the ice as he struggled to find his place in the organization after bouncing around between the AHL and ECHL. Now healthy and ready to play for the new coaching staff in Springfield, it's expected he'll get a much bigger role with the Falcons than he had last year. O'Marra is currently #10 on the top 20 list.

Like Pitton, Plante and O'Marra, former Denver Pioneer Geoff Paukovich is also coming to camp fresh off his training stint in California. The big forward was deemed out of shape by pro standards last year so it will be interesting to see how he looks after a full season at this level. While most fans seem to have already discounted 'Pauko' the Colorado native is one of the few big forwards the Oilers have in their system right now and that was a weakness they had in Springfield last year.

Colin McDonald will be a second year pro this season and will definitely look to improve on the performance he had as a rookie. With only 1 point to his credit in the last 2 months of the schedule, McDonald was obviously not happy with his offence especially considering he was a guy expected to score in the AHL last year. Like many collegians though he seemed to hit a wall half way through the season.

Robby Dee (or just Rob as the Oiler site seems to suggest) returns for the second straight summer and after a rather uninspiring freshman campaign wth the Maine Black Bears the former 3rd rounder is trying to reload and refocus for the coming year. He had just 3 points with Maine and prompted development coach Bob Mancini to suggest that Dee hasn't figured out his role yet which should be to go to the net and plunk his big 6'1 frame in front and bang in garbage goals. I personally liked what I saw from Dee at this same camp last year but he's well off my Top 20 list.

Michigan State Spatans captain Bryan Lerg will make his first appearance in Edmonton as well next week. After winning the NCAA National Title in 2007 and signing with the Oilers earlier this spring, Lerg will get his first taste of what the organization expects from it's prospects when it comes to training over the summer.

Tough guy Adam Huxley may be small in stature but he's got big respect from anyone who has seen him willing to tangle with anyone. He's spent the last two seasons defendig his mates in Stockton but could be a guy in the mix for an AHL job this coming year. The 6'0 pugilist had his second consecutive 200 PIM season with the Thunder.

Slovakia's Milan Kytnar was a 2007 draftee by Edmonton and so he'll get his first taste of the summer camp as well. Kytnar played in a checking role with the Kelowna Rockets and got a passing grade from the WHL club's coaching staff and 2008 eligible players like Luke Schenn and Brandon MacMillan. The just turned 19-year-old had 22 points last season.

And speaking of Kelowna, Troy Bodie and Tyler Spurgeon are back for another go at summer camp. The pair of former Rockets will be playing for their former WHL tutor as Jeff Truitt is expected to be the head coach in Springfield this season. Bodie is coming off a growth year in the AHL after spending the majority of his rookie season in the ECHL. Spurgeon is hoping to find that he's fully recovered from his severe concussion issues that kept him out of the majority of 2007-08.

Stephane Goulet will also be back in town and after finding some success as last seaosn went on he'll be bringing some confidence with him. This is a player who was described as a major long shot when Edmonton drafted him back in the 7th round of 2004 but so far Bill Dandy's find has at least eanred more opportunity.

The lone Swede attending camp is Linus Omark who won't be back for the regular season but could make the jump to North America in 2009-10. Omark had a solid year in Sweden's Elite League putting up 32 points in 55 games. I recently had a brief conversation with Omark and he's very much looking forward to the camp. I'm told he arrives on June 1st which is also the first day.

That leaves the five free agent forwards, well four really since Les Reaney is already singed to a minor league deal for next year. Reaney played in Stockton last year after 3 decent campaigns with Niagara in the NCAA's ECAC conference. He's big a 6'2 and 220 lbs and in his first two seasons he was more than a point per game player.

"He won the scoring title in the BCHL one year too," said Prendergast, "He's got hands and he's really good on faceoffs and I think if we can get him in half decent shape we could have a good player on our hands."

And that right there would be the knock; Reaney's conditioning has been questioned so getting him here at this camp is really important for him if the 23-year-old wants to take his game to the next level.

Information wasn't as available on Blair Riley who attended Ferris State. The former BCHL player also had decent numbers in that league and had 24 points in his sophomore season with Ferris State which plays in the CCHA, a respected NCAA Conference. He's a good skater but plays in a checking role and might top out as an ECHL player down the road.

Jamie Bates has completed his tenure with Quinnipiac University where he had three terrific offensive years although it's noteworthy to point out his stats declined each year. He went from 41 to 37 to 34 points in that same time. Bob Mancini had noticed Bates early on in the year and after a bit of back and forth with the player's agent an invite to prospect camp was agreed on. A good showing here will likely earn him an invite back to main camp in the fall and a possible minor league deal. He has a 6'3 frame, decent hands and some skill to go with them.
Mike Radja is another NCAA free agent and might be the most offensive of that group coing in for an audition. He had 43 points as a senior at New Hampshire, second best on the team for the Wildcats. According to one source, the 22 year old really had to be patient to get playing time in his early Wildcats career but it paid off in the end.

"In his freshman year he didn't really get to play much," said one source, "But by the end I think he was one of [coach] Umilie's favorite guys. He went from the third line as a freshman, grew and filled out over four years and really developed. He's got good hand skills, can make plays and although he's a pretty good scorer I think he's a better playmaker."

Lastly, and quite possibly most interestingly is newcomer Garet Hunt. At 5'8 and 190 lbs, the former Vancouver Giant is built like a fire hydrant is isn't afraid to dance with anyone. Hunt played 4 full seasons in the WHL, all of them with Vancouver, and obviously was with them when they won the 2007 Memorial Cup. This past year he collected 18 points and a whopping 239 minutes in penalties, many of which came in the fashion of the picture to the right.

"Every time I've seen this kid play, something has happened," said Kevin Prendergast, "He's a pit bull. He's vicious when he's on the ice and we didn't have that in Springfield this year and we got pushed around. He's not a heavyweight but every time he's on the ice he's going to make sure people know that he's out there. He's a real energy player and everybody is going to be on their toes when he's around."

The Oilers are one of only 2 teams that I am aware of that holds their summer rpsopect camp before the NHL Entry Draft (Florida being the other). It's their belief that because most players begin their off seaosn training right around this time, getting them in to see Chad Moreau and Steve Serdachny at the start of that will set them up better for the rest of the summer. It's unfortunate for the players Edmonton will draft on June 20th but the team does bring those players in privately and make sure they know the program as well.

Camp opens Sunday night with the first on-ice session on Monday at Milenium Place in Sherwood Park. For a full schedule click here.