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Edmonton Oilers Issue Injury Updates

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The Western Conference-leading Edmonton Oilers had a number of names back at practice on Monday, but head coach Dave Tippett was quick to qualify these appearances. As the Oilers look to stay hot and cement themselves as the team to beat out west, they want to be at full strength and are heading in the right direction. However, some players are further along than others in their recoveries.

Defensemen Darnell Nurse and Duncan Keith are the closest to returning to the lineup, per Tippett. Keith has been dealing with a nagging upper-body injury that was reaggravated early last week and has sidelined him since. Nurse landed on injured reserve two weeks ago with a broken finger, but appears ready to go. While Tippett stated that Nurse needs to be officially cleared by the team’s medical staff, which could keep him on the shelf through his three-week recovery timeline, Keith is more of a matter of how he is feeling and when he personally believes he is ready to return. Nurse is the Oilers’ leader in average time on ice while Keith is unsurprisingly the team leader in career time on ice, so Edmonton is eager to get both back on the blue line.

Also within a week or so of returning is forward Devin Shore. While not quite ready to return just yet from an undisclosed upper-body injury, Tippett did not rule out that he could return next week. Though Shore has played a limited role for the Oilers so far, the 27-year-old forward is a useful piece for a team constantly looking for depth up front.

They could receive more reinforcements up front at some point from rookie Dylan Holloway as well. However, of all the players back on the ice at practice, Holloway is the furthest from returning. Holloway initially suffered a fractured wrist back in March which required surgery in September, with Holloway receiving a three-month recovery timeline. Tippett expects the 2020 first-round pick to see his recovery through in full, making it unlikely that he plays at all in December. Still, the fact that he is back skating is encouraging for the Oilers, who would very much like to see the talented young forward in NHL action.

Finally, the most high-profile injury in Edmonton this season has belonged to expected starting goaltender Mike Smith. Smith landed on injured reserve in October and it was unclear how long the veteran netminder would remain on the shelf. The situation became more muddied earlier this month when he suffered a setback just as he was expected to return. Well, Smith has been on the ice four days in a row now according to Tippett, including taking live shots for the first time today. With Mikko Koskinen playing well, the Oilers won’t rush the 39-year-old Smith back into action, but it seems like he is poised to return sooner rather than later.

No Surgery Planned For Mike Smith

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  • Some concern was raised today when a report emerged about Mike Smith’s status, but both Jason Gregor and Ryan Rishaug of TSN tweet that as of now, surgery is not the plan for the Edmonton Oilers goaltender. Rishaug adds that the expectation is still that Smith will return at some point in December. Smith hasn’t played since October 19, but Stuart Skinner has more than made up for his absence with a .939 save percentage in five appearances.

Derek Ryan Listed As Day-To-Day

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  • Oilers center Derek Ryan is listed as day-to-day with concussion-like symptoms, relays Daniel Nugent-Bowman of The Athletic (Twitter link). The veteran played just under nine minutes versus Winnipeg on Thursday and has just one goal in 15 games so far this season.  He’s not expected to be available tonight but he may be available to return at some point during their upcoming three-game road trip that starts on Tuesday.

Darnell Nurse Placed On Injured Reserve

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The Edmonton Oilers have made official what Jason Gregor of TSN reported earlier today, Darnell Nurse is headed to injured reserve. Head coach Dave Tippett explained that Nurse suffered a “cracked finger” in overtime and will be out 2-3 weeks. The team has also moved Slater Koekkoek to injured reserve, who will be out 3-4 weeks. To replace them, Philip Broberg and William Lagesson have been recalled from the AHL. In a cap move, Mike Smith is now on long-term injured reserve, getting more tests done and is still week-to-week.

While Koekkoek’s exit from last night’s game was obvious, as he played just over three minutes, Nurse logged more than 31 in the win against the Winnipeg Jets. The team’s obvious No. 1, that’s already the sixth time this season that Nurse has recorded at least 27 minutes of ice time. An all-situations horse for the team, he had 11 points in his first 16 games and was showing that last season’s breakout was not a flash in the pan.

The Oilers rewarded Nurse with a huge eight-year, $74MM contract extension after his outstanding 2020-21 season, which saw him finish seventh in Norris Trophy voting after scoring 16 goals and 36 points in 56 games. Losing him now, right as the team appears to be taking the next step, is an absolute crushing blow to the group. Edmonton has won seven of their last ten games and sit alone in first place in the Pacific Division with a 12-4 record overall.

Now, not only will the team have to find someone to take those minutes, but it can’t even be Koekkoek moving up. Instead, it looks like Broberg, one of the team’s top prospects, may get his first chance at the NHL level. Drafted eighth overall in 2019, the 20-year-old defenseman can skate like the wind and has the size to compete at the NHL level, but some have critiqued his decision-making in the past. Those decisions will be even more important as he moves to the NHL after just 13 games in the minor leagues. Broberg had 10 points in those games with Bakersfield, after spending the last two seasons in the SHL.

After tomorrow night’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks, the Oilers are set to hit the road for three matches next week. They aren’t in a particularly heavy part of the schedule though, with a three-day break after that road trip ends next Saturday, meaning they at least will be able to ease Broberg into the lineup with sufficient practice days. Still, it seems very unlikely that he or any other player on the roster will be able to have the impact that Nurse does, meaning they’ll have to find another way to lock down the defensive side of the puck over the next few weeks.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Salary Cap Deep Dive: Edmonton Oilers

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Navigating the salary cap is one of the more important tasks for any GM.  Teams that can avoid total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful.  Those that don’t see struggles and front office changes.

PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation heading for the 2021-22 season and beyond.  This will focus more on players who are regulars on the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL.  All cap figures are courtesy of CapFriendly.

Edmonton Oilers

Current Cap Hit: $87,327,789 (over the $81.5MM Upper Limit)

Entry-Level Contracts

D Evan Bouchard (two years, $863K)

Potential Bonuses
Bouchard: $850K

Bouchard has seemingly been on the cusp for a while as Edmonton has slow-played his development and that patience looks to be well-rewarded as the 22-year-old is off to a nice start this season and has secured a spot in their top four.  An offensive blueliner, Bouchard will have a shot at putting up some good numbers over the next two seasons which could push his bridge contract into the $2MM territory; their cap situation will likely force them to go with a short-term deal, similar to their other youngsters.  Bouchard is also on pace to hit multiple ‘A’ bonuses (each worth a quarter of that bonus total above) and with them being well into LTIR, anything he reaches will come off the 2022-23 cap.

One Year Remaining, Non-Entry-Level

F Josh Archibald ($1.5MM, UFA)
F Tyler Benson ($750K, RFA)
G Mikko Koskinen ($4.5MM, UFA)
F Brendan Perlini ($750K, RFA)
F Jesse Puljujarvi ($1.175MM, RFA)
D Kris Russell ($1.25MM, UFA)
F Colton Sceviour ($750K, UFA)
G Alex Stalock ($785K, UFA)
F Kyle Turris ($1.65MM, UFA)
F Kailer Yamamoto ($1.175MM, RFA)

Puljujarvi’s second stint with Edmonton has gone a lot better than the first as the 2016 fourth-overall pick has now been able to lock down a spot in their top six and is off to quite the start this season which is always notable in a contract year.  He’ll have arbitration eligibility and if he even comes close to the point per game mark (he’s currently at 1.2), his next deal could be in the $5MM or more range.  If he drops back a bit, tripling his current AAV could be the ceiling on a short-term pact.  Yamamoto was basically stuck signing a one-year deal for cap reasons, giving him the chance to outperform it and hit arbitration with a strong case.  That hasn’t happened just yet as he’s off to a quiet start.  Still, his performance in 2019-20, even in a shortened stint, could loom large with an arbitrator; doubling his current price tag on a one-year deal certainly isn’t out of the question.

Turris looked to be a decent value signing when he joined Edmonton but that didn’t exactly go as planned.  He struggled to stay in the lineup last season, ultimately clearing waivers.  As things stand, he’s a possible PTO candidate next summer.  Archibald’s health situation has put his future for next season in question while Perlini and Sceviour are holding down roster spots that will need to be kept at the minimum.  Benson is just getting his feet wet and has been viewed as one of their better prospects in the past but he’ll need to establish himself as a regular if he wants to get more than the minimum next season.

Russell is finally now at a price tag that’s a better fit for the role he has.  He’s clearly a depth defender at this point of his career and aside from shot blocks, doesn’t bring much to the table in terms of stats.  Another dip is certainly possible and as he’ll be on a 35+ contract next year, it’s likely he’ll be going year to year from here on out.

Koskinen’s contract has not aged well for the Oilers as his inconsistency has limited him to a backup role at a high price tag for someone in that role.  He’s off to a stronger start this season which should keep him on the NHL radar (and, for the time being at least, takes him out of the ‘Worst Value’ category) but unless he really ascends to the number one spot, he could check in closer to half of his current price tag.  Stalock’s not expected to play this season due to a heart condition so at this point, it seems unlikely he’ll have a contract for next year unless he recovers and is able to return.  Even at that, it’d almost certainly be a low-cost one-year pact.

Two Years Remaining

D Duncan Keith ($5.538MM, UFA)
D Oscar Klefbom ($4.167MM, UFA)
D Slater Koekkoek ($925K, UFA)
F Devin Shore ($850K, UFA)
G Mike Smith ($2.2MM, UFA)

Shore did well enough last season to earn a two-year commitment to play a similar depth role for Edmonton.  His spot is another one that they’ll need to keep cheap based on their salary structure and if he remains in and out of the lineup or on the fourth line, Shore won’t be able to command much more of a raise.

Keith was brought over from Chicago in the offseason in a move that raised some eyebrows in terms of whether or not that was the best use of their limited cap space.  He’s playing a more limited role which is more suited to where he is at this stage of his career and is doing okay early on.  Considering he’ll be turning 40 soon after reaching free agency in 2023, it’s fair to wonder if there will be another contract for him let alone how much lower it would be.  Koekkoek opted to stick around after testing free agency and as a low-minute depth defender, it’s hard to imagine his price tag going up much moving forward.  Klefbom is once again out for the season and on LTIR and at this point, it’s reasonable to suspect that will be the case again next year and if that happens, his career is basically over.

Smith was brought back last summer after their other attempts to upgrade between the pipes didn’t pan out.  It worked out quite well for Edmonton in the end as the 39-year-old basically had his best season in almost a decade, earning him a two-year deal which is an outcome few would have expected a year and a half ago.  Even if he’s just a backup over that span, that’s still below market value for a decent second-stringer so the Oilers should get good value from his deal.

Three Years Remaining

D Tyson Barrie ($4.5MM, UFA)
F Warren Foegele ($2.75MM, UFA)
F Zack Kassian ($3.2MM, UFA)

Kassian’s contract was risky from the moment it was signed and the flattened Upper Limit hasn’t helped.  When he’s at his best, he’s a capable top-six power forward and is well worth the money.  When things aren’t going as well, he’s on the fourth line at times and isn’t close to worth it.  The inconsistency makes it hard to move him and the dimension he brings has made the Oilers want to keep him.  That all said, it’s difficult to envision a bigger contract in three years.  Foegele came over in an offseason trade from Carolina and remains in the same type of role he had with the Hurricanes.  Based on the most recent UFA market, there should be some room for a raise on Foegele’s next deal but playing in the top six more consistently would certainly bolster his chances of getting an AAV in the $3MM range.

It’s quite something how Barrie’s value has changed in recent years.  In 2019, he was coming off a career year with Colorado and it looked like an inevitability that he was heading for a significant raise on his then-$5.5MM AAV.  But things didn’t go well following a trade to Toronto and his market dropped, resulting in the one-year deal he had last season.  Even though his production jumped back up (to even better per-game numbers than he had with the Avs), he opted to forego testing the open market again, instead inking this new deal which is still lower than his last one in Colorado.  His defensive limitations are well-known but if Barrie continues to put up the points, the Oilers will get a good return on this deal.

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Matvey Petrov Signs With Edmonton Oilers

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November 11: The terms of Petrov’s contract were released by CapFriendly today. The three-year, entry-level deal carries a cap hit of $843,333 per season. The year-by-year breakdown is as follows:

2021-22: $750,000 base salary, $85,000 signing bonus, $15,000 performance bonus, $75,000 minors salary
2022-23: $750,000 base salary, $85,000 signing bonus, $15,000 performance bonus, $75,000 minors salary
2023-24: $775,000 base salary, $85,000 signing bonus, $75,000 minors salary

November 10: The Edmonton Oilers have signed prospect Matvey Petrov to a three-year, entry-level contract according to his agent Dan Milstein of Gold Star Hockey. The 18-year-old forward is currently playing with the North Bay Battalion of the OHL, where he will remain for the rest of this season.

Petrov, the 180th overall pick in the 2021 draft, has lit up the OHL competition to this point, scoring 10 goals and 18 points in his first 14 games for North Bay. Those ten goals tie Petrov for fifth in the OHL, and he has recorded the eighth-most shots on goal as well. The 6’2″ forward was coming off an impressive MHL performance when he fell to the sixth round, scoring 42 points last season in the Russian junior league. His performance in the OHL so far is promising, though there’s certainly still a lot of work to do before he glimpses NHL action.

Still, signing his entry-level deal already is a solid first step for the young forward. The contract will slide for this year and could again next year, should he return to junior or is assigned overseas. In all likelihood, Petrov’s new deal will keep him under contract through the 2025-26 season, after which he would be scheduled for restricted free agency. His deal also won’t count toward Edmonton’s 50-contract limit, since he’s already assigned to junior.

Mike Smith Suffers Setback; Returns To Edmonton

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The Edmonton Oilers are in the middle of a road trip that carries them through Detroit, Boston, Buffalo, St. Louis, and Winnipeg, but find themselves in first place in the Pacific Division. Their offense has been nearly unstoppable, but their goaltending has also been excellent to start the year. That’s despite Mike Smith dealing with an injury and Mikko Koskinen carrying the load; the latter has a 7-1 record with a .920 save percentage through eight games, easily the best numbers of his career to this point.

Koskinen could have to keep it up for the next while, as Smith has suffered a setback in his injury recovery and returned to Edmonton, according to Jason Gregor of TSN. Oilers head coach Dave Tippett told him that “it is a concern for sure” and that Smith will get more imaging back in Edmonton to evaluate the issue.

For now, it’s Koskinen and Stuart Skinner for the Oilers as they try to navigate this road trip. The team was defeated by the Detroit Red Wings in the first game, with Skinner allowing three goals on 38 shots in just the second start of his young career. It’s hard for fans to trust Koskinen as the de facto starter at this point after he has struggled in that role in the past. The big netminder has a .909 save percentage overall for the Oilers, with a 63-48-9 record.

In the case of Smith, though he has been relatively healthy in recent years, injury was always going to be a concern moving forward. The veteran goaltender is one of the oldest players in the league at 39 (40 in March) and has a lot of miles on his body from a long career in the NHL. His 645 games played puts him 43rd all-time among NHL goaltenders and he has faced more shots than all but 33 netminders–18,815 in fact.

Still, the hope should be that Koskinen can get them through this stretch and Smith can return at some point. If either of those things turn bad, the Oilers may find themselves in the market for another goaltender. Though Skinner is obviously talented, his inexperience is certainly something to consider for a team that has Stanley Cup aspirations.

Devin Shore To Miss 4-6 Weeks With Lower-Body Injury

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Nov 8: According to Mark Spector of Sportsnet, the Oilers have moved Shore to injured reserve and recalled Ryan McLeod from the AHL.

Nov 7: Edmonton Oilers forward Devin Shore will be out four to six weeks with a lower-body injury, per Tom Gazzola of TSN and NHL Network.

Shore had bounced around the Oilers’ bottom-six forward group so far this season but stayed mostly in a fourth-line role. He’d scored a goal and an assist through eight games, averaging just 8:37 per game.

Tyler Benson and Colton Sceviour are the two extra forwards on Edmonton’s active roster. They’ll both likely get opportunities to draw into the lineup in Shore’s absence. Neither have them have registered a point this year in three and two games, respectively.

Shore signed a two-year, $1.7MM extension with the team on June 9, prior to the opening of free agency. The 27-year-old forward has struggled to maintain a regular spot in an NHL lineup over the past three seasons after playing all 82 games in his first two full NHL seasons with the Dallas Stars in 2016-17 and 2017-18.

Given his timeline, Shore is likely to miss between 12 and 19 games.

College Hockey Round-Up: 10/29/21

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While the college hockey season has been underway for a full month, this weekend marks a momentous return to the game for a number of schools. The Ivy Leagues are finally back, getting started on Friday night with their first games in 19 months. Not since before the 2019-20 NCAA Tournament was cancelled due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic have some of these historic programs graced the ice, as the Ivy League schools cancelled all sports last year. The decision left the ECAC, home to all six Ivy League men’s hockey participants, with just half of its teams, cost the Ivy League’s a number of their players and recruits, and left the college ranks without some of its best programs and players. That is all in the past now, as play has resumed for Ivy League elite. No. 15 Harvard and No. 16 Cornell have maintained their preseason top-20 spots despite the late start based purely on high expectations. The Crimson will jump right into conference play against Dartmouth on Friday, while the Big Red host Alaska. Princeton, who has also received some votes in the national rankings, opens on the road against Army, while Brown and Yale get started against one another. It’s good to have all of those teams back.

Recent Results

After falling just short of a National Championship last year and seeing three other teams in the top spot this season other than them, the now-No. 1 St. Cloud Huskie finally got tired of playing second fiddle. After No. 2 Michigan impressed two weeks ago but came back to earth last weekend and dropped the top ranking, St. Cloud was happy to take over. The team sits at 6-2-0 on the year, but one of those losses was a controversial overtime decision against No. 7 Minnesota two weekends ago, just one night after they handily beat the Gophers. St. Cloud then dominated the Wisconsin Badgers last week. The Huskies have proven themselves, but now comes the new challenge of holding on to the throne as opposed to chasing it.

The Wolverines still remain the biggest threat and few are regretting making them the off-season title favorite. In the in-season Ice Breaker tournament in Duluth, Michigan took down both the host, No. 4 Minnesota Duluth, and No. 3 Minnesota State, then the top team in the rankings, and did so in convincing fashion. They faced some cross-state kryptonite last weekend in No. 12 Western Michigan, suffering a loss in game one and needing OT to take game two. However, the star-studded Wolverines have shown they can skate with anyone and are still a top contender.

The Bulldogs shook off their loss to Michigan, picking up a win against an outmatched No. 8 Providence College (who also lost to Minnesota State) in the Ice Breaker and then sweeping rival Minnesota last weekend. Give the Gophers credit for their strength of schedule though, facing Duluth and St. Cloud in their past four games. Providence also got some strength of schedule credit in the latest voting and didn’t hurt their case with wins over No. 11 Denver and New Hampshire last weekend.

Amidst all the in-fighting between the other top-ten teams, No. 5 Quinnipiac and No. 6 North Dakota have flown under the radar and lander quietly into prime positions. The Bobcats and Fighting Hawks squared off with each other last weekend and by splitting the series somehow each got a boost in the rankings. North Dakota also split their prior series with No. 17 Bemidji, but a 4-2-0 record against some top competition is enough to get them to No. 6.

Speaking of quiet contenders, who had No. 10 Nebraksa-Omaha as sharing the best winning percentage in the NCAA with Michigan at this point in the season? The 5-1-0 Mavericks were off last weekend and may have only beaten Alaska the weekend before, but they’ll take a top-ten spot by whatever means they can get it.

The season really starts to take off this weekend, not only for the Ivy Leagues making their debuts but for a number of top teams like Quinnipiac, Western Michigan, the defending champs No. 12 UMass, No. 18 Michigan Tech, and a number of other teams who have four or fewer games played so far this season and still haven’t shown exactly what they can be.

The Other Savoie

The 2021-22 season was supposed to be all about Matthew Savoie. The star center for the WHL’s Winnipeg Ice is a consensus top-five pick in the 2022 NHL Draft and could easily go as high as second overall in July. His 16 points in 11 games thus far is tied for third-best in the WHL.

Yet, not to be outdone is older brother. Carter Savoie is off to a torrid start to his NCAA season and, though far too early to be worth much weight, might just be the current Hobey Baker favorite. The Denver winger, a fourth-round pick of the Edmonton Oilers in 2020, has taken a major step forward in his sophomore year. Savoie recorded 20 points in 24 games as a freshman, getting off to a very solid start to his college career. Through six games this season though, Savoie already has 12 points, more than half of last year’s total and one assist shy of his 24-game mark from last season. Savoie’s six goals are the same has his younger brother, but in nearly half as many games. Savoie currently leads the NCAA in points per game and is tied for fourth in plus/minus. He sits tied for third in overall scoring, but only trails those with two more games played than he has and is remarkably the only player in the country with 12+ points from a ranked team or who is a plus player.

Right now, Savoie looks like the most dangerous scorer in college hockey. He could end up being an x-factor come tournament time for the current No. 11 team in the country too. Denver should cherish it while it lasts though; at this rate, Savoie will score his way right to Edmonton next season. A team that can always use affordable secondary scoring, Savoie is on pace for a season that will make him a contender for an Oilers roster spot next year. Will all of this be enough for the older brother to steal the spotlight from his younger brother? Wait and see.

Recruiting Recap

While National Signing Day is right around the corner on November 10, most players make verbal commitments long before signing an NLI and most of those commitments stick. There has been a flurry of such news of late, some of which will become official in a couple and some that is for further down the road, but all of which is worth monitoring.

While the biggest recruiting news of the recent stretch was USNTDP standout and likely top-16 pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, Rutger McGroarty, committing to Michigan. However, he was far from the only draft prospect to do so of late. The following are recent commits that are all not only eligible for the 2022 Draft, but are likely to hear their names called at some point: Alex Bump (Vermont), George Fegaras (Cornell), Quinn Finley (Wisconsin), Gibson Homer (Arizona State), and Dylan Silverstein (Boston College). The latter is the most notable addition; Silverstein is currently a teammate of McGroarty’s on the USNTDP, the starting goalie for the elite development club. He now heads to a program that has been producing top young NHL goalies with regularity. Silverstein is not expected to be one of the top two or three netminders selected in July, but after his time at BC he could be a polished, pro-ready prospect in goal.

Western Michigan skipped the draft hype and grabbed a player who has already been drafted. Defenseman Samuel Sjolund, a fourth-round pick of the Dallas Stars this year, has committed to join the Broncos. The two-way blue liner is an import from Sweden who is just beginning his first season in the USHL, but already has three points and a +3 rating in eight games with the Dubuque Fighting Saints, where he’s playing alongside several other NHL prospects and NCAA commits. Western Michigan is not known for collecting NHL talent, with just two drafted players on the roster right now, but has been a growing program in recent years and made a statement last weekend against their powerhouse neighbors in Ann Arbor. Sjolund is joining a program that is ready to make some noise at a championship level before too long.

 

Prospect Notes: Samorukov, Sjoberg, Gazizov

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A top young pro is now available to the Edmonton blue line. The Oilers have announced that defenseman Dmitri Samorukov has been medically cleared and removed from the Season-Opening Injured Reserve. After breaking his jaw in development camp in September, Samorukov is actually ready for action a week ahead of his estimated recovery timeline. When he returns to action this week, it will be with the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors, but that may not last. Once Samorukov is back up to game speed, the rookie defender seems primed to finally crack the Edmonton roster at some point this season. Samorukov, 22, was a third-round pick of the Oilers in 2017 out of the OHL and he continued to boost his prospect stock in the years following with continual improvement at the junior level. He turned pro in 2019-20 and recorded ten points in 47 AHL games. Last year, he spent the season on loan in the KHL and produced eight points and a +24 rating in 48 games. Everything has been leading to an NHL opportunity for the talented two-way defender, who will no longer be waiver-exempt beginning next season. Although the Oilers do have improved blue line depth this season with the additions of Duncan Keith and Cody Ceci, Kris Russell and Slater Koekkoek are playing very limited roles early this season and could easily be supplanted in the starting lineup. While William Lagesson likely leads the AHL depth chart and Philip Broberg is the top prospect in Bakersfield, the former has had his shot in recent years and the latter is just 20 and can be afforded a slow development path. The time is now for a healthy Samorukov to get his chance.

  • It’s been a bittersweet start to the year for the Dallas Stars in regards to prospect Albert Sjoberg. A 2021 seventh-round pick, Sjoberg should be as irrelevant to his NHL rights holder as a prospect can be as a last-round pick in the most recent draft. There are few expectations for seventh-rounder to make the NHL period, nevertheless show promise in their first year after being selected. However, Sjoberg is bucking the trend. No. 207 recorded only one point in 17 games in the Allsvenkan last season, looking out of place in Sweden’s second tier pro league. The same can’t be said for this season; Sjoberg earned a recall from the U-20 level after notching seven goals and ten points in his first eight games and now has five points in eight games back in the Allsvenskan. This progress has to excite Dallas, but it has also inspired Sjoberg’s current club, Sodertalje SK, to make his pro status official. The team has announced a two-year contract for the budding scorer, which will keep him away from any move to North America through the 2022-23 season. The Stars will be happy to watch him continue to develop overseas but will then clamoring to bring him over if he keeps improving at this rate.
  • The London Knights are off to a 6-0-0 start, the last remaining undefeated team in the OHL. Well, the rich are about to get richer. The team has announced that Russian sniper Ruslan Gazizov has signed with the team and will join them immediately. Gazizov was the No. 12 overall pick in the CHL Import Draft this year and his draft pedigree is far from complete. Gazizov is a potential first-round pick in the 2022 Draft and his stock could soar if he makes a clean adjustment to the North American game. The young scorer has put up big numbers in the Russian junior ranks and recently dominated the Hlinka Gretzky Cup and that could easily continue with the Knights.

 

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