Top 5 Tuesday: Oiler Euro "Mistakes"

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This could be a pretty long list considering the numerous European players the Edmonton Oilers have drafted over their history only to have them not develop, fail in North America or simply stay home. I decided to go back to the 1999-2006 drafts to cut it down significantly and because those players are still playing at various professional levels.

You'll notice the quotation marks in the title of this blog post, that's because I'm not one that considers all of the following draft day choices to be mistakes. Some of them clearly were, some of them weren't and there might be a player or two that only now are starting to show some of the results Edmonton foresaw when they selected them.

You be the judge.

Prendergast and Player Aquisitions

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There is one final subject I want to discuss concerning Edmonton Assistant GM Kevin Prendergast and his history with the Oilers and that is in the area of trading.

What’s the role that the head scout plays when the NHL team he works for swings a deal? I don’t know if it’s the same with every team, although I assume it’s probably pretty similar, but Prendergast’s job is to give input from the scouting staff on the players either being offered by the other team or on the other assets the team has that the Oilers should be targeting. Pretty straight forward, I’m sure that’s hardly a stunning revelation to anyone.

Scenario 1 – GM: “KP, we need to find a _____ type of player. Who is out there that we might be able to trade for?”

Scenario 2 – GM: “KP, we’re in trade talks with _____ and they are offering _____. Is he a fit for us or do they have someone else we should be targeting?”

Prendergast oversees all hockey operations including the scouting staff which is comprised of two groups – amateur and pro scouts. At my last count, the Oilers have 3 pro scouts; Dave Semenko, Morey Gare and Mike Abbamont that cover the NHL and the AHL. Rob Daum was also in this group for a brief period.

On the amateur side covering all of the Major Junior, Canadian Junior A, USHL, NCAA, U.S. High School and Canadian University leagues, the Oilers employ a greater number of bird dogs. Stu MacGregor now heads up the amateur scouting department and his staff is comprised of Bob Brown, Bill Dandy, Brad Davis, Kent Hawley, Chris McCarthy and two summers ago former NHL tough guy Mike Peluso was added as well. Player Development coach Bob Mancini still watches prospects while he’s doing his job with the Oiler properties. Former Assistant to Kevin Lowe, James McGregor, has evolved from his internal office position to become a part time WHL scout. Long time Oiler scout Lorne Davis passed away this past season.

As was mentioned in the first part of this series, the entire amateur scout staff crisscrosses territories in order to see all prospects playing in all leagues.

Kent Nilsson and Frank Musil are the team’s two European based evaluators and they perform the duties of both pro and amateur scouting on that side of the Atlantic.

I’ve spoken with a few people recently to try and get a handle on the level of Prendergast’s (and the scout staff) involvement in deals over the last number of years and I’ll use the key ones that were brought up to me as my examples.

March 8, 2004 – Tommy Salo + 6th (Justin Mercier) for Tom Gilbert

The Colorado Avalanche were headed to the playoffs with a netminding duo of David Aebisher and Philippe Sauve and were looking to upgrade with a veteran who could produce confidence as a back up. With the Oilers having re-acquired Jussi Markkanen from the Rangers, Salo (an impeding UFA) was readily available. Salo’s play had tailed off considerably that year and most fans felt that if the Oilers could get anything for him it would be a good move.


My understanding is that the Avalanche made several offers that Kevin Lowe discussed with Scott Howson and Prendergast but it was the latter that insisted that the Oilers should hold out until Colorado offered Wisconsin defenceman Tom Gilbert. The Minnesota native was taken at the end of the fourth round in 2002 by the Aves and was just finishing his sophomore season with the Badgers.

While Colorado had initially offered other defencemen (I believe 2002 2nd rounder Johnny Boychuk to be one), Lowe, acting on Prendergast’s recommendation, countered with Gilbert and Colorado approved.

Few would argue that the Oilers won this deal although Justin Mercier, the Miami RedHawks forward Colorado drafted with Edmonton’s 2005 6th round pick, will begin his pro career next year so it’s impossible to say right now.

There is no denying that Gilbert has turned into one of the better players Edmonton has graduated from prospect to NHLer this past decade. For all his defensive flaws and soft play that fans have focused on this year, he has 84 career points in little over two NHL seasons and has appeared in all 82 games the last two years. He plays a major role on the team and is regarded by most as either Edmonton’s most valuable trading chip this summer or a cornerstone worth keeping and building around.

July 3rd, 2006 – Chris Pronger for Joffrey Lupul + Ladislav Smid + 1st (Riley Nash) + 1st (Jordan Eberle) + 2nd (given to NYI)

Let’s not get into the whole debate about whether the Oilers should have forced Pronger’s hand by sitting him out instead of giving in to his wishes and trading him. Can we just focus on the assets that Edmonton got in the deal? (and if I'm a bit off on the final draft names above, someone leave it in the comments, thx!)

First, it doesn’t come to me first hand but I was told back then by someone who would know that there were five serious suitors for Pronger, four other than Anaheim. If my memory serves, three of them were Chicago, San Jose and Los Angeles. I do recall that although the Florida Panthers were a rumored destination at one point, talks with them didn’t last long and in fact none of the teams in the final hunt were from the Eastern Conference – which would have been Edmonton’s preference.

The Oilers wanted a pair of young players who could step in and contribute right away as well as an assortment of draft picks. In Joffrey Lupul they acquired a sniper who had just scored 28 goals in only his second NHL campaign. He was also a hometown product that was already friends with a few of his new teammates that were deemed to be the future core of the team – Jarret Stoll and Raffi Torres. Lupul was a player that Prendergast and the staff had ranked highly during the 2002 draft where he went 7th overall. All indications were that this was a top-notch player who was still on the upswing of reaching his potential, the organization believed he was of the right age for the dressing room and because he grew up in the area, getting acclimatized to Northern Alberta would not be a complication like it had been with Pronger.

The reasons for Lupul’s failure are either plentiful or few, depending on whom you ask. Some will say he couldn’t deal with the stress of playing in the fishbowl environment in his backyard. Others will argue the coach misused and mistreated Lupul (and others that year) to the point that the player basically quit. Still, Lupul’s 16 goals were third highest on a team that was either decimated by injuries or down right bad. He scored 28 goals the year prior to his Edmonton season and then 20 (in 56 games) and 25 for Philly in the two years since.

Defenceman Ladislav Smid was highly regarded during the 2004 NHL Draft and it was not a surprise when he went 9th overall, the second highest blueliner taken that year. Conversations I had with scouts prior to the draft, including Edmonton’s, suggested that next to Cam Barker (CHI), Smid might have the most latent offensive potential because of how well he skated and passed the puck. At the time of the trade, the fact that he was 19-years-old and playing in the AHL against men suggested a quick transition to the NHL and sure enough, he played 77 games in Edmonton the year following the trade.

Smid’s NHL career with the Oilers has run the gamut with fans, media and coach Craig MacTavish. At points over the last three seasons the Czech native has looked awful and then fantastic, inexperienced one week and mature the next. In one of his first exhibition games as an Oiler, in Winnipeg against Phoenix, he hammered Georges Laraque with a big league hit. If there has been one aspect of his game that has been consistent it’s been the physical play, which at times has included a willingness to fight. There aren’t many 23-year-old blueliners in the NHL with 200 games under their belt but Smid is one of them, and his young age might be something some Oiler fans forget when they argue the team should deal him. At this point he is a solid third pairing defenceman but it’s not unreasonable to think with a few more years of experience that by the time he’s 28 he could be 2-3 on the depth chart.

July 2006 – 7th (Nick Eno) for Jan Hejda

Really, what needs to be said about this transaction? Oiler fans wish that they could draft an impact player late in the draft well, they weren’t the team that originally drafted Jan Hejda but it only cost them a 7th round pick and the player is now a top-pairing rearguard in the NHL. The fact that he’s not with the Oilers now is certainly not the fault of Prendergast and his staff, the group that first identified Hejda as a target from the Sabres. Full credit should go to Frank Musil who followed Hejda’s progression in Europe.

Hejda played part of one season in Edmonton and by the end of the year he had Craig MacTavish regretting not playing him early. It was a major mistake for Edmonton to not resign Hejda at the end of the 2007 season. He was quickly snapped up by Scott Howson in Columbus and has since turned into one of the league’s most underrated defensive defencemen and plays on their top pairing.

February 18th, 2007 – Marc-Andre Bergeron + 3rd for Denis Grebeshkov

Here’s a deal that involved a pair of players that Prendergast and the scouting staff identified.

The Oilers scouted and signed undrafted defenceman Marc-Andre Bergeron as a free agent out of the QMJHL and he went on to play 189 games in Edmonton over four seasons. However, his final year in Edmonton was a tumultuous one that had Oiler fans split on whether the diminutive rearguard’s offensive gifts outweighed his defensive flaws.

Edmonton decided to deal him along with a 3rd round pick to Long Island in exchange for Denis Grebeshkov. Grebeshkov had been drafted by the L.A. Kings in the 1st round in 2002 but failed to stick in California, was dealt to the Islanders but didn’t appear to be in their plans eitheras he toiled in Russia. At the time of the Edmonton trade some people (including me) questioned why it was the Oilers who had to add the extra pick when they were parting with a proven NHL player for a borderline first round bust.

However, Prendergast and the scouts had Grebeshkov ranked highly back in 2002 and had been keeping tabs on him ever since. I’ve been told that the Oilers had discussed acquiring the defenceman in the past so when they were told he was available from the Islanders they jumped at the opportunity. Personally I think everyone in Edmonton deserves a ton of credit for the way Grebeshkov has turned out including MacTavish who continued to play him despite a very poor start to the 2007-08 season and he eventually turned it around. But it was Prendergast and his staff that identified him in the first place and now the Russian is looking every bit the 1st round pick that he was.

February 27th, 2007 – Ryan Smyth for 1st (Alex Plante) + Robert Nilsson + Ryan O’Marra

Contract negotiations aside, trading Ryan Smyth was a polarizing move by the Oilers that infuriated a large portion of their fan base. Still to this day there are plenty of people who feel Edmonton didn’t get enough of a return for the player that was once the face of the franchise. (Although I think Islander fans would be quick to admit that giving up 3 first round picks in exchange for 18 regular season and 5 playoff games from Smyth hardly constitutes a “win”).

The first part of the deal was the 1st rounder from the Islanders. Next Edmonton wanted a younger prospect that could develop into an impact player. With their request for Kyle Okposo shot down, Nilsson became an integral part of Edmonton’s demands.

Robert Nilsson was one of Edmonton’s main targets during the 2003 Entry Draft and not because of who his father is. Nilsson had put up impressive numbers in Sweden as a junior player and had 20 points in 53 games as a NHL rookie in 2005-06. Despite the strong rookie year, Nilsson failed to make the team as new head coach Ted Nolan made him an early cut from training camp. Nilsson’s debut Oiler season created a lot of buzz as he teamed with Andrew Cogliano and Sam Gagner to carry the offensive load down the stretch. He ended the year with 41 points.

Edmonton wanted more from the Islanders and 2005 first round pick Ryan O’Marra was the final addition to the deal. Considered the “safe pick” from that draft class, when the Smyth deal was first announced the thought was that O’Marra was the only “sure thing” that Edmonton was getting. The opposite has actually happened with the former 2-time WJC gold medal winner spending all his time as an Oiler property down on the farm including a stint in the ECHL.

Summary

The end results of the trades listed above have been mixed but that’s not the point. The point of this exercise was to show Kevin Prendergast’s role in the deals and in all cases, the Oilers acquired players who, at the time, were either considered to be promising prospects or were wrongly thought of as failed prospects (Hejda, Grebeshkov). When prospects are involved in trades, the scouting staff, or Prendergast at least, is consulted before hand to get his evaluation of the players in question. What they do or fail to do once they become Oiler property had largely been out of his control until 2007-08 and he assumed control of the farm system.

The coaching staff and the scouting staff have often been at odds which I’m sure is the same for most NHL clubs. The organization asks the scouts to supply players that will fill specific roles or have impact in target areas but it’s the coach who ultimately decides how to utilize those players in games, or who not to use at all.

That said, if Smid is played as a forward, Ales Kotalik or Erik Cole on the left-wing or Fernando Pisani takes shifts as a center… that’s not on Prendergast. Likewise if Georges Laraque is used as a 2nd line injury replacement for Radek Dvorak ahead of a 1st round offensive prospect like Jani Rita (during the 2005-06 season). Those are coaching decisions that quite frankly drive scouts crazy.

You can be sure that the offer sheet to Dustin Penner, that cost Edmonton a number of draft picks, wasn’t a plan formulated by the scouts. It’s my opinion that the EIG put pressure on Lowe to do something significant that summer and he responded with the two offer sheets (Vanek and Penner).

Alexei Mikhnov was never given a realistic chance at the NHL level and yet the Oilers threw big money and a number of draft picks away to secure what is basically his North American clone. Mikhnov and Penner are both big left wingers who play small, can score on one shift and look invisible the next, they’ll both drive coaches crazy with their laid back attitude and will invoke ire from the fans for appearing slow footed. After the verbal beating Penner took from the coach and the fans this year, I wonder if Edmonton’s brass wishes they could rewind to 2006-07 and give Mikhnov a do-over. At least they would have saved a ton of payroll and a trio of solid picks.

It’s my humble opinion that too often, Oilers management asked for and received round pegs from the scouts only to see Craig MacTavish try to work them into square holes.

* Two paragraphs removed - see comments section*

Does a different coach give more chances to Ryan Potulny and/or Gilbert Brule or do they move on to different teams, potentially prospering like those on the list above?

It’s been said that the Oilers are too small now. Does that mean that players like Ales Hemsky, Shawn Horcoff, Gagner, Cogliano, Penner, Nilsson and Kyle Brodziak all magically shrank since 2007-08? They’re the same players they were then and yet this year they ALL saw a drop off in their offensive production.

A lot of media outlets predicted the Oilers to not only make the playoffs but challenge for the Division title. Did everyone really overestimate the talent level Edmonton has or was the problem on the bench? I wasn't around the team this past year as much as the previous few so I honestly don’t know for certain. Personally, I would like to see what a new coach and bench staff could do with the players that are in place because, outside of a few needed additions (a faceoff specialist like Stoll and a physical shutdown blueliner like Greene) I do think the talent is good enough.

With the team missing the playoffs for the third consecutive year, of course changes must happen. However, with Craig MacTavish gone and Steve Tambellini clearly in charge , outside of demanding a better result next year in Springfield, for me, enough off-ice personnel shuffling has already been done.

Prendergast Grades

Drafting: +B
Player Development: 2001-07 - A for creating summer prospects camp and development coach hires of Geoff Ward, Kelly Buchberger and Bob Mancini. 2007-09 – -D for the Springfield Falcons disappointment this year.
Player Acquisition: -B

A reminder that Kevin Prendergast will be making his annual 1-hour, in studio appearance on The Pipeline Show this coming Tuesday (April 21st). Edmonton prospect questions for the Oilers Assistant GM can be emailed in to: pipeup@thepipelineshow.com

2009 Update on Europe

It's been a while since I did some checking into the overseas situation so I recently made a couple calls, surfed a bunch of foreign team websites and put my translations skills to work. All in an effort to get an update on Europe... and I don't mean these gals... er, guys.

The Edmonton Oilers own the rights to 8 players who are currently skating in various European leagues. Four are barely a blip on the radar these days but the other half are very much on the minds of the organization’s hierarchy and could be factors in North America as soon as next year.

Linus Omark was a 4th round pick in 2007 as an overage player – the pint-sized forward was passed over in 2006 but had a terrific World Junior tournament and wouldn't get overlooked again. The season after Edmonton grabbed him 97th overall, Omark recorded 11 goals and 32 points in 55 Swedish Elite League games with Luleå. Those were considered very encouraging numbers and made him a player of note for Edmonton’s prospect camp held last June.

The camp took place in Sherwood Park and it was there that I had my first chance to watch Omark practice and to chat with him. I asked him about his North American interest level and in no uncertain terms he told me that it was his desire to play on this side of the Atlantic Ocean for the 2009-2010 season.

I asked him if he would feel that way if it meant playing in the American Hockey League and again he made it clear that his end goal is to play in the NHL even if it meant a season on the farm. Unlike former Oiler property Dragan Umicevic, Omark verbally confirmed that he would be willing to play in North America without a guarantee of a NHL job.

Considering the season he is currently having, it will be interesting to see if Omark feels the same way this summer as he did last June. Omark currently has 15 goals and 41 points in 43 games with Luleå and ranks second in the SEL’s scoring race. The Overtornea product will turn 22-years-old on February 5th but is clearly unaffected by his limited inexperience or his lack of size as he racks up the numbers in arguably the World’s best pro league outside of the NHL.

Oilers Assistant GM Kevin Prendergast, who oversees player development and scouting, will be overseas in February and has Luleå games high on his to-do list. I spoke with Prendergast yesterday from Shawinigan, PQ where he was set to watch the Cataractes in action on Friday.

“I’m actually heading over to Sweden in the first week of February to watch [Omark] play a couple of games and then hopefully he’s going to be on the Swedish National team for the 4-Nations tournament at home there,” he told me, “He’s taken himself from nowhere on the radar screen to being a pretty good hockey player.”

Prendergast admits that Omark’s productivity this year is a pleasant surprise and extremely impressive considering his age but he's also quick to point out that there is one major drawback to the player as well.

“The negative is that he’s 5’9 and we have a lot of small players as it is right now,” he said, “but when you’re able to score at that level… we have to do our darndest to get a deal done to get him over here and have a look at him in September.”

I’m not the only one who asked Omark last June about his North American plans.

“We never really got into [contract negotiations] but when I explained it to him [last June] I said to him ‘you might have to start in the AHL until you get used to the situation over here but that’s not for sure. If you win a job and the coaches like you then you obviously could start with the big team’ and he didn’t balk at that.” Said Prendergast.

With his offensive prowess going through the roof right now, you can bet Omark will be considering lucrative offers for next season but will that preclude a 2-way deal here?

“The AHL contract, once you throw in the signing bonus, it’s a pretty good contract anyways,” argued Prendergast, “He might be in the minors for a month or two months, if at all, we won’t know until he gets here and see how he adapts to the North American style.”

Edmonton has to have Omark under contract this off-season or else they will lose their exclusive rights to the talented Swede. Here’s a sample of Omark’s recent work for Lulea and when you're done that one look for the other clip called "Zorro vs Brynas" to get another glimpse at his offensive creativity:



Edmonton’s other Swedish pick from 2007 isn’t faring near as well as William Quist is quickly falling off the map for the Oilers.

“Yeah very quickly, unfortunately.” Prendergast stated. “He had a great camp a couple years ago but hasn’t taken one step forward since then so I think it’s fair to say that at this point he’s not longer of interest to us.”

Quist basically wrote himself out of the picture by shunning the CHL twice, an avenue that the Oilers really wanted the project prospect to have taken.

“Absolutely and I went over that again with him when I was over there last year and he turned me down again,” said Prendergast, “That was basically the final straw on whether he had any interest in wanting to play.”

Like with Omark, Quist will become a free agent this summer if not signed by Edmonton but there appears to be little to no chance of that happening.

If you’re part of The Pipeline Show’s listening audience or you’ve been by the blog in the past you may recall that we’ve brought up the name of Bjorn Bjurling a few times (like here or here). Last year it was hinted to me that the 9th round pick from 2004 might be playing his way into consideration for the 2008-09 season but that obviously didn’t come to fruition. With the recent trade of Mathieu Garon and the impending UFA status of starter Dwayne Rolson it is at least conceivable that the Oilers will either be hitting the free agent market this summer or gutting it out with a pair of rookies in net next year.

But that got me thinking about Bjurling again so I posed the question to Prendergast to make sure the team still owned his rights.

“We do, yes, and he’s another player I have to go and look at because every time we think he’s done and we put him in a grave he keeps crawling out again!” laughed the team exec. “He’s found ways to put his name on the map over there and I watched him play a couple of games last year for Södertälje and I was impressed with him; he was really good. They brought a high profile guy last year into Sodertalje (Buffalo’s Jhonas Enroth) and Bjurling just took the job away from him.”

Sodertalje is the worst team in the SEL this year but some how Bjurling has been able to keep his stats looking pretty respectable. He's playing 3 of every 4 games and has managed a .916 sv% and a 2.76 GAA despite his club’s poor record.

“The down side is that he’s a little older but at the same time a lot of goalies don’t mature until later anyway,” Prendergast said as he weighed the pros and cons, “He’s one of the guys we’re going to look at while we’re over there and we’ll have a talk with him and see what his thought process is too at the same time.”

It would be anything but unprecedented if Bjurling were to make his North American debut next season. Minnesota’s Niklas Backstrom arrived 3 years ago as a 28-year-old and has enjoyed huge success with the Wild. Bjurling is 29-years-old now and seems to be getting better as he nears 30 as opposed to slowing down.

“It’s obviously a scenario that we’re going to have to look at; he’s done nothing to warrant us not talking to him to see if he wants to come over,” Prendergast confirmed. “We have two blue-chippers in Deslauriers and Dubnyk and whether we resign ‘Roli’ at the end of the year or whatever happens, certainly [Bjurling’s] a guy that might come into play for us.”

If Edmonton fails to resign the almost 40-year-old Dwayne Roloson, or simply chooses not to, the team could potential replace him with someone who has been playing pro hockey for the last decade. At the start of the current season, most fans expected the 2009-2010 combination of Deslauriers and a veteran netminder although everyone assumed that would be 31-year-old Mathieu Garon. Would a Deslauriers/Bjurling tandem be that outrageous to consider?

John Motin was chosen by Edmonton in the 4th round of the 2008 draft in large part because of his strong résumé. He’s played parts of two seasons in the SEL and had made two appearances at the World Junior Championships for Sweden as well. However, Motin was a surprise omission from his country’s U20 entry at the 2009 tournament in Ottawa.

“A very big surprise to all of us to be honest with you because I thought he was in for sure,” admitted Prendergast. “I guess it came down to [Motin] and a player who plays for the coach’s club team and that’s who they took. Johan was pretty upset; he’s playing in the SEL and there was really no reason given to us why they didn’t take him, and now it’s just one of those things where he’ll have to take it as motivation for himself.”

“It doesn’t reflect the way we feel about him because we think he’s a hell of a prospect.”

Motin doesn't have an offensive bone in his body, one point in 40 games this year for Färjestad, and that may have played a role in why he was left off the U20 squad. It’s still somewhat surprising though as it would be almost unthinkable for Canada not to take a player who had 2 WJC tournaments under his belt simply for the leadership he could provide.

Perhaps the snub will be motivation for Motin to come to North America but with another year before their hand is forced, the Oilers might be content leaving him to develop in the SEL until the 2010-11 campaign.

Switching countries, the only Finn in the group is Teemu Hartikainen who was Edmonton’s 6th round pick at the 2008 draft. Hartikainen has overcome a slow start and is currently enjoying an extended streak of 7 games where he’s registered 8 points in that time span. The 18-year-old now has 13 goals and 3 helpers for a total of 16 points in his rookie pro season with KalPa of the Finnish Elite League.

Hartikainen, who wears the typical goalie sweater #35, is a power forward that led Finland’s U20 team in scoring during the 2009 WJC in Ottawa earlier this month. It was a disappointing tournament for the Finns in general but the Oilers were pleased as punch to see Hartikainen leading the pack with 9 points in 6 games. Overall, the Kuopio native placed 8th in tournament scoring yet was somehow forgotten by his coach when he was asked to name his team’s top 3 players. Oddly enough, Hartikainen also didn't get a single Player of the Game award during the event either.

“It was a surprise but he’s got excellent hands and that’s what I liked about him last year,” explained Prendergast, “His skating has to improve but he works like hell and can finish. Some of the goals that he scored at the WJC were goal scorer’s goals; they weren’t fluke goals. He knows what to do when he’s in close, he knows how to use his body to protect the puck really well and he’s big and he’s strong. The only thing he needs to get better at is his skating but he’s got the perfect mentality to be a NHL player.”

Asked about the slow start Hartikainen has overcome, Prendergast said he was getting the same reports including one from a former Oiler great.
“I talked to Jari Kurri about [Hartikainen] when he was here and Jari said the same thing – slow start but with more ice time he’s getting the more he’s producing,” Prendergast said. “[Kurri] says he’s got pretty good hands for a big guy so it all comes down to his skating.”

Other Oiler players have overcome average to below average skating in their youth like Jarret Stoll and Kyle Brodziak so the organization knows that it can be done. To do it though they want to get started ASAP.

“We hope to get him over here this June and get him working with Steve Serdachny,” Prendergast said in reference to the club’s power skating specialist, “I talked to Teemu over the summer and he was all for coming over as early as we wanted him to. I think we have a player there Guy, I really do, but there’s just a ways to go from the skating end.”

That just leaves the three Russians who most fans believe to be as good as done with the organization and nothing I’ve heard recently would counter that opinion. I asked Prendergast directly if any of the three were worthy of consideration anymore.

“Very low consideration,” He began, “We wanted Bumagin to come over last year but he hummed and hawed and then it got a little crazy as far as contract demands so we put him on the back burner. We’ll wait to hear from him, we’re not going to approach the subject again.”

Alexander Bumagin was a 6th round pick in 2006 after a sensational rookie season in the Russia Superleague with Lada Togliatti. However, his play dropped off significantly the following year for what was described to me as “extracurricular reasons”. I never got the specifics but someone else told me that Bumagin "liked to live the life of a rock star" so take from that what you will. This year Bumagin has all of 11 points after 37 games with Atlant in the KHL.

Of course there is always Alexei Mikhnov who had a thimble of coffee in the NHL a couple seasons ago before returning to Yaroslavl Lokomotiv where he still plays. Mikhnov has a tradition of hot starts preceding injury and/or prolonged slumps. This year he has 23 points in 41 games.

“Obviously Mikhnov is… he’s been a player that’s been on the radar since the day that we drafted him,” Prendergast offered, “I’ll hopefully get a chance to see him play in a couple of weeks at the Swedish Games and run it by him again and see what his interests are and then at the end of the day we’ll see where we stand as far as contracts are for the big team.”

Finally, in case you were the one person in the world looking for an update on Mikhail Zhukov (Misha Joukov when in Sweden)… you can forget about him.

“Zhukov is not [a consideration] at this point,” Prendergast confirmed. “I saw him in Kazan last year and he seemed pretty content playing in the Russian league. We don’t have any aspiration in chasing him at this point.”

Some fans have emailed me asking about two former Oiler properties in Freddie Pettersson and Dragan Umicevic. Pettersson was always a guy I personally liked because he came to Canada to play in the WHL with the Calgary Hitmen and he was about as honest a player as you could find. He had a stellar game against the UofA Golden Bears the one fall and impressed Kevin Lowe so much that the former GM approached me about him at a practice one day .

“Keep an eye on #48,” Lowe advised with a wink, “he’s fun to watch.”

Of course I was watching him anyway but it was interesting to see Lowe so openly admiring a prospect like that. In my time around the team, admittedly shorter than most in town (2003), the organization doesn’t really show much excitement over unsung prospects. Patrick Thoresen was another exception the following year.

Anyway, Pettersson left the organization two years after he was drafted. The Oilers were against the 50-contract cap and after an internal debate, Pettersson was deemed expendable as a smaller energy player in a franchise loaded with smaller forwards. He was offered a minor league contract but knowing he could make more money in Sweden he returned home and turned pro.

Pettersson currently has 22 points for Frölunda in the SEL. Although he admitted to having a soft spot for Pettersson and his high tempo, all out style of game, Prendergast conceded that Edmonton was no longer in the Swede's future.

“At this point I would have to say no from an organizational standpoint because of how many players [contracts] we have in the organization right now,” he said. “Freddie’s always been interesting to [the organization] but he’s probably making too much money now for us to put him into the American League.”

Dragan Umicevic, A.K.A "Trogdor" to many in the Oiler-section of cyberspace, has 24 points this year with Södertälje (Bjurling’s team) but his departure from the NHL club seems to have been a little less amicable than Pettersson’s.

“Umicevic’s attitude… I just don’t think he really cares and that’s one of the things that’s always scared me about him,” Prendergast said. “He’s loaded with talent but he doesn’t have that instinct where it was important for him to come over so he shrugged it off every time I talked to him. I would be worried that he’d be one of those guys that would shut it down if he was in the AHL because it wasn’t the NHL.”

If you’re wondering why the Oilers have to sign guys like Omark 2 years after he was drafted and yet the Russians and Bjorn Bjurling are immune to the same rules, I asked Prendergast for the simple explanation.

“Bjurling was drafted in the old system [old CBA] so he’s been on ‘defected status’ but with the new system when Omark was drafted, we only have 2 years to get him signed,” the Assistant GM said.

Outside of Jussi Markkanen, it's been a while since the Oilers drafted a European who made a significant impact for the team at the NHL level. You could go back to 1993 and point out that the team did draft David Vyborny and Miro Satan but even those two blossomed elsewhere. Perhaps one of the four promising players listed above can change all that.

Another Chance For Alexei?

As Guy pointed out in an earlier entry, the Oilers should have atleast one player coming over from Europe next year, in goaltender Bjorn Bjurling.

I'm hoping they have 2.

Alexei Mikhnov is having a pretty good season with Yaroslavl Lokomotiv in the Russian Super League, at blog time he had amassed 14 goals, 18 assists in 44 games, and appears to be getting some first line minutes.

While the numbers tell a nice story, it will be interesting to hear what Oilers VP of hockey operations Kevin Prendergast has to say when he returns from watching the Ukraine born winger in person.

Has his skating improved? Can he play the North American game? Does he even want to?

That last question, I think is the most important.

The Oilers didn't exactly give the potential power forward a great opportunity last year when he played all of 13:43 in two regular season games, before being shipped to the minors.

Heck one analyst who will remain nameless, professed that Mikhnov will never be an NHL regular after watching him for about 10 seconds.

Let's keep in mind this was a stranger in a strange land, trying not only to learn a brand new system, but also the english language. And all he received was 13:43 of ice time????

When the 17th overall pick in the 2000 draft was sent to Wilkes/Barre Scranton, he played okay with 18 points in 27 games, but then asked for and was granted a return to Russia, where's he's played ever since.

And while some, including my co-host, think he needs to convince the Oilers he's capable of playing in the NHL, it's my opinion that they need to convince him to give it another shot.

Keep in mind, the Russians are trying to rival the NHL with a new league, using the backing of Russian energy tycoon Alexander Medvedev and his 304 billion dollar worth.

Would Mikhnov want to come over to Edmonton, where he might sit in the press box, or worse be sent to the AHL again, or stay where he is and play for big bucks?

What may also hurt the 6 foot 5 inch winger's chances of coming over, is the Oilers depth chart. Where do they fit him in next year? Especially if Rob Schremp makes the jump to the big club? Unless trade winds blow, I'm not sure who he beats out of the current line up.

One thing I seriously hope happens, is that if the man that Oilers fans have dubbed "Traktor Boy" does give Edmonton another chance, he gets as much if not more of an opportunity than prospects - turning into suspects Marc Pouliot (12 Points in 63 NHL games) and JF Jacques (0 Points in 53 games).

Of course that's up to head coach Craig MacTavish, who seemed to form a pretty quick opinion of Mikhnov the first time around.

And before I'm accused of being a players apologist, I do think the 25 year old will have to prove himself and shouldn't get a spot handed to him...just a chance at earning that spot.