The Oilers are once again staring at a familiar kind of roster question: who is this year’s late-blooming forward who can turn into a real NHL player?
Jason Chimera needed three full minor league seasons and more than 230 AHL games before he finally carved out a place for himself. Kevin Lowe believed he would make the team every summer.
Craig MacTavish kept sending him back down. In the end, Chimera refined his game into something MacTavish could actually use.
Kyle Brodziak followed a similar path, taking time before becoming a useful player. That’s the kind of arc being considered now, with Josh Samanski and Colton Dach part of the conversation.
Mike Babcock believes Dach could be the one. The comparison brings back memories for Oilers fans who watched MacTavish behind the bench.
MacTavish, as a player, was the sort of center who rarely cheated for offense and usually made his mark by being in the right place defensively. He had all kinds of linemates over the years, from Esa Tikkanen to Kelly Buchberger, but his own game stayed steady and responsible. That was the style he tended to value.
It showed in the way he built his teams, too. Chimera moved on and Fernando Pisani got a bigger role.
The Oilers were a strong five-on-five team under MacTavish, and the biggest criticism here is that his power plays weren’t exceptional. Still, that was never going to be the main issue when he also didn’t have the fastest forwards to work with.
The worry now is that Babcock may not see Samanski the same way others do. If that happens, another team could identify the young German center’s value and get him in a trade for less than full price.
That kind of thing has happened before. Edmonton lost Jan Hejda and Curtis Glencross during MacTavish’s coaching run, and it was a mistake not to sign Jeff Petry to an extension years ago.
Hockey people often trust their instincts and their eyes more than anything else.
As for the current alignment, using Leon Draisaitl on the wing and Colton Dach at center may not be a terrible idea, but it is a risky one and not one the math would support. That alone is enough to question it.
The cleaner solution, at least on paper, is to run McDavid, Draisaitl, Jason Dickinson and Josh Samanski up the middle. The hope is that enough losses will eventually force a change, because there does not appear to be enough scoring from lines two through four to carry the club to wins. If the Oilers keep winning while sticking with the McDavid-Draisaitl pairing, then a deadline move for a veteran center would be the expectation.
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TSN's Bryan Hayes drew a direct line between the coaching move and the noise surrounding Connor McDavids contract situation, suggesting the timing was about more than a simple hockey decision. He also noted how the public praise surrounding Babcock has already shifted attention away from Kris Knoblauchs run to the Cup Final, which only adds to the sense that Edmontons offseason storylines are stacking up fast. [Read more 🡒]
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For Edmonton, the interest is obvious, because a goaltender of Hellebuycks caliber would change the conversation in a hurry. The Jets are still holding firm on getting the right return, though, and the list of possibilities is wide enough to keep the story moving, with no clear resolution yet on whether Winnipeg keeps him, moves him, or sends him elsewhere. [Read more 🡒]
Ike Howards Early Oilers Role Is Raising An Uncomfortable Question
Ike Howards early run with the Oilers has already become a useful little test case for how Edmonton wants to deploy its young talent. In a recent game, he skated on a line with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Zach Hyman and showed some encouraging signs, contributing with a few notable passes and defensive plays that suggested he can handle real responsibility at the NHL level.
Still, the fit only sharpens the larger question around where Howard ultimately belongs in the lineup. He looks like the sort of winger who could benefit from a longer runway alongside Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl, but Edmonton also has to decide how long it can wait for production to catch up to potential, especially if the early return does not come fast enough for a team trying to stay in the window of contention. [Read more 🡒]