Edmonton Oilers (NHL 11, Be A GM)

[SENS_AK27]

Nice start to the Dynasty there Psyblast. My friends and I have an ongoing Edmonton Dynasty and we're in 2014-15 season now and those draft picks turn into solid NHLers. Also, keep in mind you own the rights to Olivier Roy, who is also a solid goaltending prospect. In 2014 at 20 years old we just played the preseason and in 3 games he went 3-0 and only allowed 1 goal on 70 shots with 2 back to back shutouts.

[Psyblast]

Oilers sign some youngsters
Both through their system and through free agency, Kudron's vision takes hold

July 1, 2010

EDMONTON, AB - The Oilers are slowly but surely starting to take on a more European feeling.

New general manager Brian Kudron acted quickly, wanting to make Edmonton's offseason as drama-free and clean as possible. And he succeeded, as the Oilers signed both of their draft picks, defensemen Lars Lundin and Jesper Åkerlund, to entry-level deals. They also re-signed forward Colin McDonald, defenseman Brandon Davidson, and goalie Olivier Roy, amongst other minor roster moves.

Once the actual free agency period started, the Oilers made very few waves, as Kudron honed in on two minor targets that interested him. Naturally, they're both Swedes: 24 year old winger Jonathan Granström and 24 year old goaltender Daniel Larsson. Granström has never played in the NHL and wasn't drafted. Larsson was the 3rd round pick of the Detroit Red Wings in 2006, but the emergence of Jimmy Howard as Detroit's #1 goalie and Thomas McCollum as their #1 goalie in the minors made Larsson expendable, and they opted to not resign him. Kudron's time with the Red Wings gives him familiarity with Larsson, and it now gives the Oilers three promising Swedish goalies that they will get to coax along.

Per the new policy instituted by Edmonton's new GM, monetary figures for the new contracts signed by the rookies and free agents were not disclosed.

[Psyblast]

NHL Scouting - Preseason

North American Skaters

Rank	Player	Pos.	Country	Age	Ht.	Wt.	League	Team	Projection
1.	Ryan Nugent-Hopkins	C		17	6'0	160	WHL	Red Deer	1st Round
2.	Matt Puempel	LW		17	6'0	190	OHL	Peterborough	1st Round
3.	Jagger Dirk	D		17	6'0	177	WHL	Kootenay	1st Round
4.	Gabriel Bourret	D		17	5'11	162	QMJHL	Saint John	1st Round
5.	Tyler Wotherspoon	D		17	6'1	190	WHL	Portland	1st Round
6.	Brayden Rose	D		17	5'11	180	OHL	Owen Sound	1st Round
7.	Guillaume Cloutier	D		17	6'2	170	QMJHL	Chicoutimi	1st Round
8.	Gabriel Landeskog	LW		17	6'0	207	OHL	Kitchener	1st Round
9.	David Musil	D		17	6'3	191	WHL	Vancouver	1st Round
10.	Clark Seymour	D		17	6'3	185	OHL	Peterborough	1st Round

North American Goalies

Rank	Player	Country	Age	Ht.	Wt.	League	Team	Projection
1.	Cole Holowenko		17	6'1	182	WHL	Prince Albert	1st Round
2.	Jeffrey Noonan		17	5'11	170	QMJHL	Rouyn-Noranda	1st Round
3.	Matej Machovsky		17	6'2	187	OHL	Guelph	1st Round
4.	David Spiller		18	6'4	203	USA	-	1st Round
5.	Luke Siemens		17	5'11	185	WHL	Everett	1st Round
6.	Dennis Saikkonen		17	6'0	147	OHL	Brampton	1st Round
7.	Bruce Popovic		19	6'4	208	USA	-	1st Round
8.	Gabriel Carignan		17	6'0	180	QMJHL	Gatineau	2nd Round
9.	Drew Owsley		19	5'8	156	WHL	Tri-City	2nd Round
10.	Jordan Binnington		17	6'0	150	OHL	Owen Sound	2nd Round

International Skaters

Rank	Player	Pos.	Country	Age	Ht.	Wt.	League	Team	Projection
1.	Stuart Gove	LW		19	6'3	201	SM-Liiga	Tappara	1st Round
2.	Blake Hedlund	D		17	6'4	210	R.O.W.	-	1st Round
3.	Adam Larsson	D		17	6'3	200	Elitserien	Skellefteå	1st Round
4.	Jonas Brodin	D		17	6'1	169	Elitserien	Färjestads BK	1st Round
5.	Ray Bentley	LW		18	6'4	206	R.O.W.	-	1st Round
6.	Marty Rullier	RW		18	6'5	239	SM-Liiga	Pelicans	1st Round
7.	Ethan Kaleta	LW		18	6'0	187	NLA	Kloten	1st Round
8.	Ruslan Nabokov	D		17	6'4	207	Russia	-	2nd Round
9.	Vyacheslav Glebov	LW		18	5'11	191	Russia	-	2nd Round
10.	Jan Demitra	LW		18	6'0	186	Czech Extraliga	Kladno	2nd Round

International Goalies

Rank	Player	Country	Age	Ht.	Wt.	League	Team	Projection
1.	Niklas Lundström		17	6'2	179	Elitserien	AIK	1st Round
2.	Filip Klesla		18	6'6	212	Czech Extraliga	Litvinov	2nd Round
3.	Jonas Langmann		18	6'2	178	DEL	Iserlohn	4th Round
4.	Marian Skrastins		18	6'2	194	Czech Extraliga	Pardubice	4th Round
5.	Oleg Mogilny		19	6'6	215	Russia	-	4th Round
6.	Dennis Korff		18	5'5	150	DEL	Frankfurt	5th Round
7.	Marc Schmid		18	6'2	174	NLA	Langnau	6th Round
8.	Steve Themm		19	6'0	154	DEL	Kassel	7th Round
9.	Rickard Steijer		18	5'11	165	Elitserien	Timrå IK	Undrafted
10.	Jan-Robin Heinrich		18	6'0	154	DEL	Krefeld	Undrafted

[BlueNGold]

Great start. I like the way you've gone about building the team so far. Things are already looking really interesting.

I'm surprised the Islanders dealt that 1st for the 4 low draft picks though. But they are the Islanders so....

[Psyblast]

Oilers end preseason, set roster
Some of Edmonton's youth will start off in Oklahoma City

October 2, 2010

EDMONTON, AB - Training camp is over. The preseason is finished. And the beginning of Brian Kudron's grand experiment has arrived.

The Oilers' youth movement is in full swing, and they open the 2010/2011 season Thursday at home against their hated rivals, the Calgary Flames. The game will mark the debut of two of Edmonton's star prospects: Jordan Eberle, and the new face of the franchise, phenom Taylor Hall. But that will be the extent of the new faces seen at Rexall Place to start, as many of the young pieces pivotal to Edmonton's future - names like Magnus Pääjärvi, Colten Teubert, Alex Plante, Jeff Petry, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Jacob Markström, Anders Lindbäck, and Daniel Larsson - will begin the season in Oklahoma City with Edmonton's AHL affiliate.

"We're not going to rush anything or anyone," Kudron said in his final address to the media before the start of the season. "I understand the lust of the fans to win immediately and get all the kids in right away. Believe me, I want to win just as badly as our fans do. But there is a process in place, and we're going to follow it. The final destination will be worth the journey there, I promise."

Edmonton Roster

Forwards

#	Player	Pos.	Country	Age	Ht.	Wt.	R/L	Birthplace	Overall
67	Gilbert Brule	C		23	5'11	186	R	Edmonton, AB	82
13	Andrew Cogliano	C		23	5'10	188	L	Toronto, ON	80
14	Jordan Eberle	C		20	6'0	185	R	Regina, SK	79
16	Colin Fraser	C		25	6'1	193	L	Sicamous, BC	79
89	Sam Gagner	C		21	5'11	191	R	London, ON	83
4	Taylor Hall	LW		18	6'0	194	L	Calgary, AB	80
83	Ales Hemsky (A)	RW		27	6'0	184	R	Pardubice, CZE	87
10	Shawn Horcoff (C)	C		32	6'1	208	L	Trail, BC	83
22	Jean-Francois Jacques	LW		25	6'3	231	L	Terrebonne, QC	79
28	Ryan Jones	RW		26	6'0	205	L	Chatham, ON	75
33	Steve MacIntyre	RW		30	6'5	250	L	Brock, SK	74
18	Colin McDonald	RW		26	6'3	205	R	Wethersfield, CT	72
46	Zack Stortini	RW		25	6'4	215	R	Elliot Lake, ON	80

Defensemen

#	Player	Country	Age	Ht.	Wt.	R/L	Birthplace	Overall
41	Taylor Chorney		23	6'0	196	L	Thunder Bay, ON	75
26	Kurtis Foster		28	6'5	226	R	Carp, ON	81
77	Tom Gilbert		27	6'3	206	R	Minneapolis, MN	80
49	Theo Peckham		22	6'2	234	L	Richmond Hill, ON	75
43	Jason Strudwick		35	6'4	225	L	Edmonton, AB	79
2	Jim Vandermeer		30	6'1	214	L	Caroline, AB	80
6	Ryan Whitney (A)		27	6'3	210	L	Boston, MA	83

Goalies

#	Player	Country	Age	Ht.	Wt.	R/L	Birthplace	Overall
38	Jeff Deslauriers		26	6'4	202	R	St-Jean-Richeliue, QC	80
35	Nikolai Khabibulin		37	6'1	206	L	Sverdlovsk, RUS	83

Oklahoma City Roster

Forwards

#	Player	Pos.	Country	Age	Ht.	Wt.	R/L	Birthplace	Overall
41	Jonathan Granström	LW		24	5'10	194	L	Orsa, SWE	69
35	Teemu Hartikainen	LW		20	6'1	215	L	Kuopio, FIN	74
10	Jamie Johnson	C		28	5'11	185	R	London, ON	73
19	Milan Kytnar	C		21	6'1	180	L	Topolcany, CZE	70
37	Matt Marquardt	LW		23	6'3	229	L	North Bay, ON	74
20	Brad Moran	C		31	5'11	185	L	Abbotsford, BC	75
22	Ryan O'Marra	C		23	6'1	193	R	Tokyo, Japan	73
93	Linus Omark	LW		23	5'9	163	L	Overtornea, SWE	77
25	Ben Ondrus (C)	RW		28	6'0	205	R	Sherwood Park, AB	73
91	Magnus Pääjärvi	LW		19	6'3	200	L	Norrkoping, SWE	76
85	Liam Reddox	LW		24	5'11	190	L	East York, ON	72
16	Greg Stewart	LW		24	6'2	197	L	Kitchener, ON	72
29	Chris VandeVelde	C		23	6'2	190	L	Moorhead, MN	69

Defensemen

#	Player	Country	Age	Ht.	Wt.	R/L	Birthplace	Overall
94	Jesper Åkerlund		20	6'4	239	R	Stockholm, SWE	61
55	Jordan Bendfeld		22	6'2	216	R	Leduc, AB	71
23	Oliver Ekman-Larsson		19	6'2	190	L	Karlskrona, SWE	74
21	Bryan Helmer (A)		38	6'1	210	R	Sault Ste. Marie, ON	73
27	Kevin Montgomery		22	6'2	188	L	Rochester, NY	72
9	Johan Motin		20	6'2	202	R	Karlskoga, SWE	72
77	Richard Petiot		28	6'4	210	L	Daysland, AB	70
3	Jeff Petry		22	6'3	196	R	Farmington Hills, MI	74
34	Alex Plante		21	6'4	230	R	Brandon, MB	74
14	Jake Taylor (A)		27	6'4	225	R	Rochester, MN	74
33	Colten Teubert		20	6'4	195	R	White Rock, BC	74

Goalies

#	Player	Country	Age	Ht.	Wt.	R/L	Birthplace	Overall
31	Daniel Larsson		24	6'0	181	L	Boden, SWE	74
39	Anders Lindbäck		22	6'6	203	L	Gävle, SWE	76
30	Jacob Markström		20	6'4	185	L	Gävle, SWE	75

[Psyblast]

October 2010 Recap

Ups and downs for Edmonton early in 2010/2011
Stunning lack of offense has Oilers at .500 after a month; reinforcements on the way?

EDMONTON, AB - Through nine games, the Oilers have been smothering, defensively. They've allowed only 18 goals, good for second best in all of hockey. Nikolai Khabibulin was absolutely amazing in his eight games, posting a 1.74 goals against average and a .942 save percentage.

And yet the Oilers find themselves at a mediocre 4-4-1, thanks to a complete absence of anything resembling an offense. Edmonton has scored only 17 goals in nine games, easily the worst in the NHL. The power play is at a meager 12.5%, 27th in the league. And while it is certainly too early to panic, the decision has been made to dip into the minors for some young talent. Both Magnus Pääjärvi and Teemu Hartikainen have five goals apiece through 12 games with Oklahoma City, and hence both youngsters are getting the call up to the NHL.

"We're very excited," GM Brian Kudron said. "Both Magnus and Teemu are two of our brightest young prospects, especially offensively, and we're very happy to see them having immediate success at the pro level, so we figured we'd give them a taste of the big leagues, and hopefully they can inject some energy into our offense. We don't really have a plan in regard to how long they'll be up with us in Edmonton. If they're productive here, we'll certainly keep them around, but we're not putting some sort of limit on their time here. It's up to them how long they stay."

In other prospect news, both Jordan Eberle and Taylor Hall have made the best out of their first month as NHLers, considering the teamwide lack of offense. Eberle is tied for the team lead in points with five, with Hall registering four of his own. They each have three goals apiece, tied for the team lead with Ales Hemsky and Andrew Cogliano.

Meanwhile, in Oklahoma City, Pääjärvi's seven points tied for the team lead along with Ben Ondrus and fellow Swede Linus Omark. It's been an up and down month for Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who has five points in 12 games, but is also a -4. Alex Plante has shown more promise defensively so far, tied at the top of OKC's roster at +6, and he's matched Ekman-Larsson with five points. In goal, Anders Lindbäck has shown promise, posting a 5-4 record with a 2.68 GAA and .903 save percentage in 10 games. Jacob Markström hasn't been as lucky, giving up eight goals in his two appearences for an ugly 4.00 GAA and .860 save percentage. Daniel Larsson hasn't seen time yet, but the organization says he will enter November as the starter as the front office shuffles the three youngsters in an effort to develop all of them.

Edmonton Oilers October Schedule
DATE	OPPONENT	RESULT
Oct 7	vs Calgary Flames	Won, 3-2
Oct 10	vs Florida Panthers	Won, 3-0
Oct 14	at Minnesota Wild	Lost, 3-2 (SO)
Oct 16	at Calgary Flames	Lost, 5-3
Oct 21	vs Minnesota Wild	Lost, 3-2
Oct 23	vs San Jose Sharks	Won, 2-1
Oct 26	at Calgary Flames	Lost, 2-0
Oct 28	at Columbus Blue Jackets	Lost, 1-0
Oct 29	at Chicago Blackhawks	Won, 2-1

Month Record: 4-4-1
Overall Record: 4-4-1

	GP	G	A	P	PIMS	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG	S%	FO%	Hits
K. Foster	9	1	4	5	0	-1	1	0	0	6.3	0.0	20
J. Eberle	9	3	2	5	2	+3	0	0	0	11.5	71.4	13
T. Gilbert	9	1	4	5	7	+5	1	0	1	7.7	0.0	12
A. Hemsky	9	3	2	5	0	+3	1	0	1	12.0	71.4	15
S. Gagner	9	0	4	4	0	+2	0	0	0	0.0	41.3	14
T. Hall	9	3	1	4	0	+2	0	0	0	12.0	71.4	16
Z. Stortini	9	1	2	3	12	+1	0	0	0	6.3	71.4	26
S. Horcoff	9	0	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	53.2	14
J. Vandermeer	9	1	2	3	30	+4	0	0	0	7.1	0.0	20
R. Whitney	9	0	3	3	4	-2	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	19
A. Cogliano	9	3	0	3	0	0	1	0	1	18.8	66.7	7
J. Strudwick	9	0	1	2	37	-2	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	12
R. Jones	9	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	66.7	15
T. Chorney	9	0	1	1	0	-2	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	12
J. Jacques	9	1	0	1	17	-3	0	0	1	10.0	0.0	13
C. Fraser	9	0	0	0	6	-2	0	0	0	0.0	47.8	10
G. Brule	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	50.0	12
S. MacIntyre	9	0	0	0	8	-3	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	8

	GP	W	L	GA	GAA	SV%	SHO
N. Khabibulin	8	4	4	14	1.75	.942	1
J. Deslauriers	1	0	1	3	3.00	.893	0

[BlueNGold]

Nice first update.

Gonna be interesting to see if Khabibulin keeps that hot start up and if the offense will improve at all.

[Psyblast]

Oilers keeping an eye on Europe
The jewel of the 2011 Draft class may reside in Sweden

November 1, 2010

EDMONTON, AB - It's been less than six months since Brian Kudron took the GM job in Edmonton, and already in that short time, the NHL's worst kept secret has come to reside in his office.

The Oilers' GM wants Adam Larsson. Badly.

It will never be discussed openly of course, but behind closed doors, with the youth movement in place and an eye on the future, all roads lead back to Larsson, the 6'3, 200-pound 17 year old defenseman playing for Skellefteå AIK in the Swedish Elite League. Sources inside the Edmonton front office say that Kudron has dared to invoke Nicklas Lidstrom's name when discussing Larsson, and the first scouting assignment Kudron gave out for the season was an extensive six-week scouting of defensemen in the SEL, with the primary focus being on Larsson.

The scouting report isn't complete yet, but given Kudron's focus on Europe, it certainly will be eventually, and the early returns are glowing. Larsson is one of the most complete defense prospects in recent memory, with Oilers' scouts saying he's more advanced than Victor Hedman was at the same stage. The 6'6 Hedman was drafted 2nd overall out of the SEL by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2009 Draft and drew comparisons to Chris Pronger and Zdeno Chara during his ascension up the draft boards before that draft. While Larsson isn't as big as Hedman, he's certainly not small, and his skill is deadly. If Kudron's vision is to truly mold the Oilers in the form of the Detroit Red Wings, then Larsson absolutely seems to fit the bill as the star defenseman that excels at every part of the game, just as Lidstrom has for the past 20 years in Detroit, carving out a career as one of the greatest defensemen in the history of the game. It seems like a match made in heaven.

And Larsson isn't even the only prize currently starring in the SEL. Also shooting up draft boards across the league is Färjestads BK star Jonas Brodin. He's not quite the prospect Larsson is, as he's smaller (6'1, 169) and his game isn't as refined and advanced, but he still shows the skill and potential of a top-4 defenseman at the NHL level, which makes him a valued prospect, one worthy of the 1st round projection he currently has.

The Oilers' scouts are staying in the area for the next month or so, as their new assignment is to scout the forwards in the SM-Liiga, the top league in Sweden's neighbor, Finland. Two prospects in particular have caught the eye of the Edmonton brass: Finnish winger Tuomo Pirjeta, and Norwegian winger Andrew Wolski.