West Notes: Oilers, Stancl, Fischer, Colangelo
Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch provided injury updates to several reporters, including TSN’s Ryan Rishaug (Twitter link). While centers Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid were ruled out for the week recently, Knoblauch clarified that Draisaitl will be the first one to come back, likely after this week ends or soon after; that suggests McDavid could miss a bit more time beyond that. Meanwhile, newcomer Trent Frederic could still be multiple weeks away from skating with the team, calling into question if he’ll be able to get into game action before the end of the regular season. Edmonton recently slipped into third place in the Pacific Division and they’ll have to find a way to at least stay close to getting that spot back while waiting for their two top players to return.
More from out West:
- The Blues’ AHL affiliate in Springfield announced a pair of additions. First, St. Louis reassigned winger Jakub Stancl from WHL Kelowna to the Thunderbirds. The 20-year-old signed his entry-level contract last year but spent the season with the Rockets where he potted 23 goals and 34 assists in 58 games. This was his only year in major junior after playing professionally in Sweden last season. His entry-level deal will officially begin in 2025-26 after sliding this season. The Thunderbirds also added defenseman Lukas Fischer on an ATO for the remainder of the year. The 18-year-old was a second-round pick last year, going 56th overall and spent this season with OHL Sarnia where he had 15 goals and 22 assists in 51 games. If he sees game action with Springfield, it will be his first taste of professional action.
- The Ducks will have winger Sam Colangelo back in the lineup tonight against Boston, relays Eric Stephens of The Athletic (Twitter link). He had been out for the last two weeks with an upper-body injury. Colangelo is in his first full professional season and has split time between Anaheim and AHL San Diego. He has six goals and an assist in 20 games with the Ducks while being quite productive with the Gulls, tallying 19 goals and 16 helpers in 38 outings on the farm.
Blues Sign Jakub Stancl To Entry-Level Deal
The Blues have been busy in recent days signing some of their prospects, inking Aleksanteri Kaskimaki and Juraj Pekarcik to contracts. They added to that list today, announcing that they’ve signed forward Jakub Stancl to a three-year, entry-level deal. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The 19-year-old was a fourth-round pick last June, going 106th overall following a good season in Sweden’s junior system. This year, Stancl played in 28 games with Vaxjo’s under-20 team, notching seven goals and seven assists. He also got into seven SHL contests, scoring once. Stancl was more impactful offensively at the World Juniors, however. He recorded four goals and two assists in seven games for Czechia.
St. Louis will have some options with Stancl next season. Since he wasn’t drafted out of the CHL, they can assign him to AHL Springfield if they want to get him acclimated to play in North America. They could opt to send him to major junior where WHL Kelowna holds his rights. Alternatively, they can elect to send him back overseas and keep him in Vaxjo’s system for another year. As long as he doesn’t play in ten NHL games in 2024-25, his contract will actually slide and will still have three years left on it heading into the 2025-26 campaign.