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Evan Bouchard impresses at camp, Edmontonians collapsing from fangasm


JR Ewing

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Have no fear, though. There's still one grumpy Gus left out there...

 

It's nice that he's looked good in scrimmages, and it will also be a good thing if he plays well in exhibition... It's all good, but I would prefer to see him play at least half a season as a #1 D in the American League before he's a regular on the Oilers 3rd pairing.

 

If I had a nickel for every time a boy looked good in scrimmages and pre-season, but then clearly needed seasoning once the year began, I'd have one a hell of a lot of nickels. This helps him develop and even helps the long term cap implications for the team. This is what my experience in watching hockey and how hockey teams operate when they know what they're doing. For a long time that has meant paying attention outside of Edmonton, but am hopeful that things will be a bit different under Ken Holland.

 

Then again, I've also not made a single cent in the hockey business, so what do I know?

Edited by JR Ewing
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I own him in fantasy so want him to play in the show and also have never made a nickel in the biz, but you might be right: half a season in the AHL is probably just what the doctor ordered, especially after all the blushing, fangastic reports. Keep him humble, keep him eager, make him take the next step, don't offer it to him. Etc

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1 hour ago, Podein25 said:

I own him in fantasy so want him to play in the show and also have never made a nickel in the biz, but you might be right: half a season in the AHL is probably just what the doctor ordered, especially after all the blushing, fangastic reports. Keep him humble, keep him eager, make him take the next step, don't offer it to him. Etc

 

For a very long time, I've been a fan of (in most circumstances) having a player demonstrate that they can play at a certain level before you move them up to the next, though the Oilers have ignored that for a very long time. Bouchard has roundly demonstrated that he can play at a high level in junior, now let him show that in the AHL.

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Bouchard had a VERY good camp, and is probably NHL ready. After last night's game, Ken Holland still did the right thing and sent him down to Bakersfield to give the young man an opportunity to play a lot of minutes of prove his worth as a player. It's almost shocking to see the Edmonton Oilers make this sort of prudent decision with an eye towards long term development.

 

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1 hour ago, yave1964 said:

That is one thing I always respected about Holland, he will never rush a player to the NHL,he would rather season them a bit too long over dropping them in the deep end of the pool before they can swim. 

 

Many times over the years, when talking about hockey with friends (whether that's in person or online) you could quote me as asking "Would Ken Holland do that?". A search of this site shows a number of quotes from me on that, and former forums are inundated with me pondering what Holland would do. He was always perfectly fine with drafting a skinny but talented kid, because he had no intention of playing a boy in a men's league, and gave them time to develop in all of the ways that a player grows. He doesn't have a spotless record, and things slipped towards the end of his time in Detroit, but he's a GM for whom I've long had tremendous respect.

 

As far as not rushing kids to the NHL, it seems so obvious that it's difficult to see why some organizations never seem to learn their lesson from it, but I guess they can be like fans, too, and want to see that hot prospect sooner than later. It's a huge gamble, and if it works out, you look smart and prescient.

 

When it doesn't work out, you get the Oilers of the last decade+. You could almost read their minds on draft day: "We can trade THIS guy off, and now that we've drafted THAT kid, we have our 2C!"

 

Ugh.

 

 

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