20 – The Kids

I don’t usually like gloating a whole heck of a lot but when it comes to hockey and I end up being right (which I usually am )  I tend to rub it in ones face from time to time.  Granted these days my hockey discussion involves a lot of cursing because my team, the Oilers, are at times an embarrassment on the ice (hey it happens to the best of them) and I like any other good fan find myself questioning decisions made by management and the coaching staff…after all everyone knows fans are the experts and would do a much better job then those who have been in the business for 10+ years right?  Ok, that was just a touch of sarcasm.

It’s easy for everyone to criticize decisions after they turn bad, perhaps the easiest being which goalie should start when or who should or shouldn’t be given increased ice time.  In the Oilers case there are fans sitting on both sides of the fence when it comes to our apparent “high potential” kids a.k.a rookies, more specifically the likes of Andrew Cogliano, Robert Nilsson, Tom Gilbert, and of course Sam Gagner.  Some will say that you can’t rush top prospects and throwing them to the wolves will in more cases then not ruin there career and confidence while others figure giving your star rookies top line minutes will mold them into a superstar faster.

Both comments are right, you can’t rush and expect much but you can still give them valuable playing time especially when your team is in the midst of a rebuild which is exactly the Oilers situation.  Now I know the season isn’t technically over and Edmonton still has a chance to squeeze into the playoff picture but the chances the Oilers only lose 12-14 games the rest of the season are about as likely as winning the 50-50 at Rexall Place.  It probably won’t happen and if it does its more then a festivus miracle.

Shawn Horcoff, Ales Hemsky, and Dustin Penner have provided top notch offensive support but if these team is to have any future success it will need to find scoring support, after all it seems whenever someone on the top line doesn’t chip in it ends up being a long night offensively.

Enter the kid line, Nilsson and Gagner on wing and Cogliano at center.  It’s a scary thought putting three rookies on the ice together (five if you consider our rookie defensemen) but in my honest opinion these three should be playing together (Proof) .

Well lets start with the obvious, after Hemsky and Horcoff they are the future of this franchise and our success in the next 4-5 years will ultimately depend on how well they mature and become as NHL players.  We could go out and add that big name free agent but this is the new salary cap NHL where drafting and development is more important then spending.

Second from what I’ve seen they all have the best chemistry with one another.  All three have bounced from line to line and the results have been dismal at best before MacT finally put them together the other day in the midst of this southeast division trip.  So far it’s paid off with nine points in the two games they have played together and today in Atlanta I would say they competed well enough to be in consideration as the top line on the ice.

Will this production continue?  That remains to be seen but chances are slim but these last two games alone I’ve seen more out of each player then I have in the last month and a half.  Perhaps they enjoy playing with each other or perhaps it’s confidence in themselves now that the coaching staff is giving them some respect for 5 on 5 hockey.

The question remains though down the road if we’re out of the playoffs if its more important to play tight defensively and win meaningless games or give the opportunity to our future franchise players to get adjusted and gain confidence at the NHL level for the next season.

I for one have already stated my opinion, if the kids get blown up defensively split them up at times but they need to play together on a regular basis because outside of Hemsky, Horcoff, and Penner they are our most gifted offensive players and will be the ones relied on to provide offensive support in the future.

Walks
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