Canucks Rookies 2, Oilers Rookies 0
Hockey’s back, baby!
Just 81 days after the Edmonton Oilers played in Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Finals in Sunrise, FL,, a different troop of players represented the Oil drop in Penticton, BC on Friday night. Opposite side of the continent, opposite side of the spectrum in terms of quality of play.
The occasion was the Penticton Young Stars tournament, where a fuzzycheeked group of of Oilers was largely overwhelmed by a more mature collection of Vancouver Canucks. This game was not as close as its 2-0 scoreline might suggest, and the Oil have netminder Nathan Day and his goalposts to thank that it wasn’t a blowout.
Oilers iced a line-up that included just three fulll-time AHLers from a year ago in Jayden Grubbe, Matvey Petrov, and Max Wanner, when all of them were 20-year-old rookie pros. And while there were some familiar numbers out there, they just reinforced that the nothing is forever in the hockey world. That was Ethan de Jong wearing Warren Foegele’s old #37, Nate Corbet sporting Ryan McLeod’s #71, Hyde Davidson with Vinnie Desharnais’ #73. Three reminders that the team that was, is no more.
9 of the 19 Oilers who participated in this one were teenagers, including a quartet of undrafted 18-year-old blueliners who were clearly over their heads at times. Meanwhile, Edmonton’s first line of 18-year-old Sam O’Reilly between fellow 2024 draftee Connor Clattenburg and 20-year-old Matt Savoie saw precious little of the puck, especially when matched up against Vancouver’s first line of Arshdeep Bains (23), Aatu Raty (21), and Jonathan Lekkerimaki (20), who among them have played over 250 AHL games. Not the only area in which the Canucks held an experience advantage, but one of the more prominent.
Here are a few scattered observations of some Oilers of interest.
Forwards
RW Matt Savoie – Despite the team’s declared intention to play Savoie at centre, it was no real surprise to see him lined up at wing on a rookie squad stacked six pivots deep. His standout skill to these eyes was his ability to battle for and control the puck in tight spaces. Terrific play to steal the disk just inside the Vancouver line, turning a would-be breakout into a dangerous situation the other way. Nifty toe drag to improve his angle for a powerplay shot. Won another hard puck battle to clear the d-zone under pressure. Had an excellent chance from the slot late in the second but his quick release just missed the far post.
C Sam O’Reilly #72 – Slick play to recover puck inside own bklueliune, sharp cross-ice pass to defender for easy exit. Strong play on the PK to win possession and clear. Appeared to be at home in puck battles, winning more than his share. Showed a stroing ability to put the puck into good places, even as not much offence was evident on this night.
LW Connor Clattenburg – The banging winger completed the first round and proved to be a decent choice thanks to his incessant physical play. His heavy pressure caused a Vancouver d-man to hear footsteps and cough up the puck, even as Clattenburg carried on to finish the check. Twice landed a pair of crunching checks on the same shift bringing his total to at least 5 hits in the first period alone. He continued to bang bodies for the duration, helpful on this night, but got little done the few times the puck found his stick including a dangerous chance right in front that slid off the end of his blade.
LW Matvey Petrov – Made a terrific backcheck to put out a fire after a teammate was walked in the defensive slot. Let fly an excellent one-timer from a very low angle that was just inside the far post, though snagged by Nikita Tolopilo in the Canucks cage.
C Dalyn Wakely – Attended this camp as a Canucks invite last year, now as an Oilers draft pick. Made a fine driving rush wide of the d-man before cutting sharply to the net front for a stuff attempt, one of Edmonton’s best chances. Another decent shot from the wing with Nichol creating a disturbance in front. Not shy about mixing it up.
RWJames Stefan – Noted for his shot and showed it off on his one real chance, letting fly an excellent outside shot on the PP that was labelled for the top corner before Tolopilo gloved it down. Had some ragged moments in the defensive zone.
LW William Nicholl – The other centre playing on the flank, he had no issue adapting. Did a nice job to fill the shooting lane and block a shot. Made a gorgeous area pass to De Jong for a close-in chance. Great defensive play, diving to break up a ten-bell opportunity.
C Jayden Grubbe – Decent positional game, used his size to battle for space, got little done offensively
C Carl Berglund – Centred what was nominally Edmonton’s fourth line with camp invites Heslop and Boehm, a trio that created more offensive looks than any other including three excellent looks off Berglund’s own stick. Got a couple of dangerous shots from close range but couldn’t beat Tolopilo along the ice either time. Recovered the rebound of one and made a sweet feed to Boehm for a follow-up chance. Got a third excellent look on a partial breakaway early in the third, but again his shot let him down.
LW Jesse Heslop #63 – Perhaps the most impressive of the camp invites, he had some good moments in combination with his linemates Berglund and Made a fine short pass to Berglund in the slot for a dangerous chance. Nifty deflection of a Lajoie pass forced a good stop.
RW Brayden Boehm #46 – Like Heslop, had an industrious game and delivered a couple of good moments on the attack.
Defencemen
RD Max Wanner – The class of defence corps, and it wasn’t close. Stood out for his calm play in the early going, winning puck battles and sending the disc in good directions. On the receiving end of a heavy hit but got the better of it, making the outlet pass safely while the would-be hitter bounced off of him to the ice. Did a terrific job fending off a hard forecheck by Bains. Protected his side of the ice ferociously, landing a few good wallops in the process.
LD Frankie Marrelli #84 – Wanner’s partner on the first pairing has some game, but was an adventure in the defensive zone. Nearly coughed the puck up on the powerplay. Got walked one-on-one for a golden chance that just missed. Overskated a puck in the d-zone that led to what seemed like a 3-on-0 chance that Day somehow thwarted.
LD Nate Corbet #71 – Engaged in a “spirited tilt” with big Vilmer Alriksson with bombs thrown in both directions.
Goalie
G Nathan Day #40 – Kept his team in the game early and late with a number of fine stops, and his pipes helped him out as well on about 4 occasions. Finally beaten on an odd-man rush early in the second, stopping the first shot but unable to contain the rebound. Made a pair of terrific stops in rapid succession off Canucks sniper Arshdeep Bains. Made a fine blocker save off a Danila Klimovich rocket from the top of the circle. The 2-0 goal was similar to the first in that a Canuck forward drove to the net front, forced one stop, but got a second crack at the rebound and put it away. Outstanding save to throw himself across the net to fend off a one-timer. Was left to his own devices in the late going as Vancouver continuously caught the Oilers out on the counterattack. Without doubt the star of the show from Edmonton’s perspective, stopping 28 of 30 shots.
Recently at the Cult of Hockey
STAPLES: Oilers announce roster for Penticton Young Stars tourney
McCURDY: 2024 Oilers prospects — series wrap
Links to prospect profiles
Goalies (6): #8 Olivier Rodrique | #14 Eemil Vinni | #21 Connor Ungar | #27 Nathan Day | #29 Samuel Jonsson | #33 Ty Taylor
D-men (8): #3 Beau Akey | #4 Maximus Wanner | #11 Philip Kemp | #15 Nikita Yevseyev | #18 Luca Munzenberger | #20 Albin Sundin | #25 Noel Hoefenmayer | #26 Bauer Berry
Centres (11): #1 Matt Savoie | #2 Sam O’Reilly | #5 Noah Philp | #10 Jayden Grubbe | #17 Dalyn Wakely | #19 Matt Copponi | #24 William Nichol | #28 Joel Maatta | #30 Tomas Mazura | #31 Carl Berglund | #32 Maxim Denezhkin
Wingers (8): #6 Roby Jarventie | #7 Raphael Lavoie | #9 Maxim Berezhkin | #12 Shane LaChance | #13 Matvey Petrov | #16 James Stefan | #22 Connor Clattenburg | #23 Brady Stonehouse
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