Goaltending Prospects + Garon/Roloson

Oilers prospects update here, here and here.

Suneil Parmar ran some stats on the league vs. Oilers goaltending stats here.

Devan Dubnyk (not shown) is finally starting to round out in the AHL and is showing the same turnaround that DesLauriers did in his debut as Falcons #1 goalie - arguably better, thus far. Having our own farm team really helps.

Will Mathieu Garon extend? If so, I think 2 years will be ideal. One season to gauge his usefulness as a tutor or protector of DesLauriers, and one season to evaluate whether DesLauriers is ready for full time action with Garon, Dubnyk or someone else as backup. If not, further extension or looking for goaltending help from elsewhere at that time will be options. Locking down goaltenders to super long deals is not such a great idea in a league such as our NHL - given the nature of their injuries and their fluctuations in performance.

There is talk among fans that Garon will be peeved over this latest goaltending fiasco and will want out of Edmonton. Who knows? He's still in his prime and he could be a valuable asset for Edmonton. But anything longer than 3 year deal in any subsequent extension could end up being in the range of the "how-will-we-trade-him-now" situation experienced with Roloson due to his fluctuating degrees of usefulness to the team.

I'm starting to think it's not impossible to see the Oilers move forward without either Roloson or Garon and pick up a temporary goalie until DesLauriers or Dubnyk are ready to step in for themselves. Either that or Garon will be resigned but to a shorter term deal than most people feel he will be extended for.

Yes, Roloson is old. And yes, he can't play forever. But his performance has shown that he's still got it and that's not something anyone can deny easily.

The truth is though, neither Roloson or Garon is getting younger and at least one of them will eventually get the heeve-ho this season. And not because they're playing poorly, by any measure. It may be because Tambellini/Lowe are slowpokes at these kinds of matters and the fact that all of the goalies are playing so well that is making this decision even harder.

Speaking of goaltenders, after DesLauriers and Dubnyk have both made their debuts into the NHL (of course DesLauriers has that impressive head start), it could mean that the Oilers will soon draft some competition for Pitton and Perugini on the farms.

I would suggest drafting Jonathan Roy or Mike Lee.

Here's Dean Millard's description of Mike Lee:

Mike Lee-Fargo-USHL
The only goalie from the US version of Junior A, Lee was brilliant for team USA at the World Junior A Challenge in Camrose earlier this month. He was 4-0, with a minuscule 1.75 goals against average and a .933 save percentage. Lee used his 6.01, 185 pound frame well and bailed out his D-man anytime they got in trouble. While Canada West didn't mount a massive attack in the gold medal game, Lee was there at key times to snuff out any momentum. Lee follows the puck through traffic really well and for his efforts was named a tournament all star.

I don't know about you, but that sounds a lot like Dwayne Roloson, that traffic part. And critical of Roloson you may be, but that is one of the things he does do very well.

As for Jonathan Roy, I would argue anybody who was raised in the mold of Patrick himself has more of a good foundation in goaltending than most people do, though it doesn't guarantee that he'll be any good. It would help to get a guy like Patrick Roy involved in the organization though - and say what you will about his role on the Remparts and his reputation as a blockhead.

Genius is genius.

But regardless of the elder Roy's reputation and the younger's own as a ruffian, if it came down to picking between two skilled goalies and one of them fights while the other doesn't - I would take the figher. A competitive fire is hard to develop. Just ask Ron Hextall.

Fire is fire.

BoA - Game 3 Recap and Game 4 Preview

Most people have this idea of dinosaurs being big, lumbering brutes who met their demise as a result of their own size. For some reason, some hockey circles regard big goaltenders as lumbering brutes. Ken Dryden and Olaf Kölzig to the world: "What 'cha talking 'bout Willis?" The fact is, mobility has little to do with size (for the most part) and more to do with conditioning.

As for the dinosaurs, a giant meteorite did them in finally - not their body mass. Jeff DesLauriers (minus the Drouin, mind you) is one the Oilers' dinosaurs, at 6'4 and 192 lbs. Mathieu Garon and Devan Dubnyk are no smurfs either - rounding out the goaltenders at 6'2 and 6'5 respectively. Dwayne Roloson is 6'1. This once, the Oilers may have successfully drafted a bigger player, since the jury is still out on Paukovich, Mikhnov, and who knows what to think of Semenov and Henry.

I was expecting DesLauriers to start one of the games in the BoA because of the fact MacT has been dressing him as backup over Roloson for the last couple of games. I guessed right.

How did he fair?

Jeff Deslauriers

60 minutes,

3.00 GAA

.897 SAV %

Not bad for a first game, eh? And that Bertuzzi goal wouldn't have gone in had DesLauriers been a little more experienced anyway, in my opinion. Once he starts hugging the post more, he will be a pretty hard goalie to beat.

So as the Oilers blogosphere has already mentioned, we may have successfully drafted a goalie for the first time since Moog and Fuhr. Not to mention we have Pitton, Perugini, Fisher and Bjurling in the system as well. Both Pitton and Perugini seem like good battlers: they never give up on a play. Barring a giant flaming meterorite crashing into the earth, wtih Garon, Roloson, and DesLauriers in net, we could be set in the goaltending department for a while.

The game:

Nilsson looked good again and Brodziak was pretty reliable. Visnovsky looked AWESOME on the powerplay. Grebeshkov looked a bit human for the first time this season, but he was still a lot more solid than Staios. Gilbert once again made a lot of good, short passes to elude forecheckers.

Cole looks to be getting into the rhythm now, deflecting one goal and coming close to almost deflecting Visnovsky's goal in.

The game made my Buffalo Chicken Sandwich at Kelsey's taste all that much better.

The preview:

Will be interesting to see what happens with MacIntyre and Smid drawing into the lineup now that Souray (knee) and Gagner (game-time decision) may be sitting out the home half of the home and home series. Personally, I hope MacIntyre grabs Bertuzzi and pulls a Paul Mara on his ass. I also home Stortini runs Iginla or Regehr. Some things deserve retribution.

Prediction: 4-2 Oilers (w/EN goal)

Preseason Game 3, FLA @ EDM : 3-2 Loss (SO)

I missed the game, but a few thoughts:

(1) Liam Reddox has turned out to be exactly the kind of player Craig MacTavish likes. He can play offense, forechecks like a demon, and is all over the ice. He's not shy to get involved in on-ice contact despite not being an overly physical player. This one's a keeper.

(2) As I had predicted, Rob Schremp came out and proved why he's well known to be a shootout specialist. He's not well known the way Sam Gagner is (nor as much of a well rounded player) but I think Schremp is at the point where he has enough assets to make the team. As excited as I am to see Gilbert Brule join the team, I think it's the right time for Schremp to come in on the 4th line, and earn his stripes. If an injury crops up, he will be available for 1-2 line duty.

(3) Jeff DesLauriers is looking like a legitimate NHL goaltender. A few tweaks here and there and we have 3 NHL goalies on the squad. That is a terrible situation. It's great for the goalies (competition) but bad for the team (taking up an extra roster spot). With the way Dwayne Roloson played at the end of last year and so far in training camp, it's difficult but one would have to say that he is most probably the odd-man out.

(4) Theo Peckham is a monster. 'Nuff said.

(5) The era of the Oilers' shootout domination - is it already over? Or is it too soon to proclaim anything? Or is it just that Gagner isn't around? Personally, I think Nilsson and Pisani should get as many looks on the shootout as Hemsky and Horcoff do.

(6) Who is going to end up in Stockton? Perugini, Fisher, Pitton, or Dubnyk? A combination of these?

shouldn't Steve Staios be s-squared as well?

I have an Oilers joke, albeit incredibly lame...well it's more like a random thought than it is a joke...

If Mellon Arena is called the Igloo and is home to the Penguins, shouldn't Rexall Place be called Fort McMurray then?

Get it? Fort McMurray. oil sands. Oilers...haha

Random idea from a comment left by the user Marion. Not bad, maybe we should refer to Rexall as Fort McMurray. But then would we have to rename the Oilers the Oil Sands (or Tar Sands)... maybe we should call it The Refinery?