The Edmonton Oilers recalled Anton Slepyshev from Bakersfield yesterday, his six shots in Game One with the Condors enough of a tuneup for the big leagues. Slepyshev arrives in Edmonton with the RW situation still in flux, 2R wide open.
- Todd McLellan: “Anton will likely play his first game tomorrow & we expect him to have a good outing.” Source
When we last checked in with Slepyshev, he was hammering shots from the 2line alongside Leon Draisaitl and Milan Lucic in the playoffs last spring. His mammoth shot is only part of the appeal, as Slepyshev brings real offensive acumen, size and speed to the conversation. Where will he play tomorrow?
TODAY’S LINES
Bob Stauffer tweeted out the lines earlier today (here) and they look like this:
- Patrick Maroon—Connor McDavid—Leon Draisaitl
- Milan Lucic—Ryan Nugent-Hopkins—Anton Slepyshev
- Jussi Jokinen—Ryan Strome—Zack Kassian
- Jujhar Khaira—Mark Letestu—Kailer Yamamoto/Iiro Pakarinen
The top line remains the same, some tweaks for all other lines after the first road game. With Winnipeg here tomorrow night, perhaps we see Yamamoto sit a second time. Drake Caggiula was not part of the lineup, often means an ailment from previous game.
Edmonton needs Slepyshev to shoot the puck on his line. As a rookie last season, he averaged 7.37 shots per 60 at 5×5, same as Patrick Maroon. Among recent rookie right-wingers employed by Edmonton, Slepyshev was in the range with Jordan Eberle (7.75), ahead of Nail Yakupov (5.56) in shots per 60 at 5×5. Matt Tkachuk of the Calgary Flames was 7.42, as a example.
So far in his career, Slepyshev’s comparables are names like Chris Neil and Joel Armia. Few impressive scorers in the group, although Jonathan Cheechoo is a comp for the big Russian winger. The audition at 2R continues, and of the group Edmonton projected as possible solutions, Slepyshev is the only one who didn’t have a full lash at the spot during preseason. That was a result of his injury and he’s here now, job still unclaimed.
Source: Edmonton Oilers, Verified Twitter Account, 10/09/17, 12:40 pm MST
I’d move Kassian up the line up
LT, if things fail to click amongst RW’ers, how long until they make phone calls? And would you see them going after 2RW or 1RW so Draisaitl can move back to C?
I think he won’t wait a long time. Have to give Slepyshev a full try that’s what, a month? Maybe Caggiula too? I don’t think we’ll get to the deadline with it unaddressed.
I want to see LD anchor his own line
Maroon-McD-RNH/Strome
Lucic-LD-RNH/Strome
Seriously, how’s that Eberle trade looking now…..I still say Eberle should have been traded at the deadline, the Oil have a serious RW problem.
Two games…. jury is still out.
What’s the difference, what would Eberle have gotten at the deadline instead? Getting Strome was about what you get for a high paid $6mil cap hit.
We already knew what we had in Eberle and it was not going to put the Oil over the top. Not the right mix with him in the lineup. I for one don’t think we have a right wing problem, the Oilers have at least 2 maybe 3 guys (Sleppy, Drake and Kassian) that could possibly play in that spot. That to me shows depth at RW. That line is going to come down to how well Lucic and Nuge can produce this season, the 2RW is the interchangeable person on this line anyways. TMac can move either of those three into that spot depending on who has it going on at the time.
Don’t get me wrong, I like letestu. He’s a good roll player. But he’s starting to overstep his boundaries. Yes, he had a good year last year and produced extremely well for a 4th liner, but I believe that was an outlier year more than anything. Why is he carrying the puck up the ice on our #1 PP unit when Drai and Mcd are out there? He turned it over 3 times in the neutral zone on one PP. And he isn’t even winning the draws which is really his only roll. Also irritated me that he shot the puck right at some shin pads on an oilers 3 on 1 (if you shoot on a 3 on 1 you better damn score), and then he’s out there in the final minute blowing feeds from Mcd after the terrible night he had. Time to get him off the top PP unit, and use him in a more limited roll. Sometimes less is more.
***note : also disappointed in Strome so far, stone hands and can’t skate. Turnover machine. But I’ll cut him some slack since he’s new here but I sure hope he picks it up. You were a #5 overall pick man! You should be making some plays at least
Overall, the world isn’t ending and I think last game was a good wake up call for a lot of guys. Next game is a new animal, go oil
So one bad game by Letestu and you’re now saying he is garbage? Last year the PP skyrocketed when Letestu was moved there in January. The whole team had an off night, settle down.
And it’s Role…not roll. Go Oilers.
This joke of a prospect has no chance to crack the regular lineup and will be down in the ahl to be dominated by the dominant Utica comets/canucks prospects platoon in no time. There is no future for Edmonton. They are too shallow.
Okay, thank you for your assessment.
You don’t cheer for the Shames do you? It’s been 5 games in a row that the Flames don’t have an answer for the shallow Oilers.
Strong opinion. Not so much about Slep, but the Oilers in general. D cupboard looks very good (Jones,Bear,Simpson, Mantha, Paigin, etc), goaltending cupboard looks good (Wells, Skinner) 3-5 decent F prospects and all of this in the first 2 years of Chiarelli. The Oilers’ future is just fine my man.
I love how angry and jealous this guy is. Makes me smile
More size ,skating,and shot in the lineup. At the beginning of the year he was my pick to take it to the next level.
Pakarinen , Petrell and Hartikinen say “hello”.!
Early into season and still experimenting for best fit on RW . We have Yamamoto , Slepyshev , Pakarinen , Kassian and Draisaitl for now , with Jesse coming up shortly I suspect . They even have Strome if they drop Draisaitl back to center , if they so choose .
LW we still might see some change as well , with Cagguila and Kelly hanging around , depending on how Jokinen and Khaira pan out .
Team looks good on paper, some line juggling and getting LD back on his own line would be good. Kassian deserves a shot on one of the top lines, he is to good and fast for the 3rd or 4th. Yamamoto should be sent down , I hope they give him his 9 games straight in a row or send back the kid should be playing games, though he did look good in the pre season.