Well, that didn’t last long. Valentin Zykov has officially been placed on waivers for the purpose of assignment.
Zykov got picked up by the team at the end of November and was expected to add some depth to our bottom six group. He lead his AHL team in goals last year, has some size, and his contract made this move risk-free for the Oilers. Everything was looking good for us at the beginning of December and I was looking forward to seeing what he can do.
There was only one problem… he didn’t get played. In the last month, Zykov played five games. During his first game with us, he played just over 11 minutes. After that, he never saw anything close to that number. Zykov was used in an extremely limited role on our fourth line, only playing around five-six minutes per night during his next four games with the team. Why wasn’t he used that much? Well, we don’t really know. He must not have been a player that Ken Hitchcock liked, and that’s too bad. During his very limited play, Zykov never really did anything to impress the coaching staff as well, putting up 0 shots and having a -1 rating.
With Zykov on waivers, don't be surprised if the Oilers recall Kailer Yamamoto from AHL Bakersfield. Need to find scoring.
— John Shannon (@JSportsnet) December 28, 2018
Even though this was a risk-free move, it will go down as another attempt at recovery that failed by Peter Chiarelli. With Zykov being waived, I would expect another move coming from the Oilers soon. Maybe Yamamoto is recalled? Maybe Kris Russell is activated off the IR? We shall wait and see.
What did you guys think of the small sample size we saw from Zykov? Was this signing worth it at the end of the day?
Valentin Zykov Career Stats
| Season | Team | Lge | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/- | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016-17 | Charlotte Checkers | AHL | 66 | 16 | 18 | 34 | 57 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 2016-17 | Carolina Hurricanes | NHL | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2017-18 | Charlotte Checkers | AHL | 63 | 33 | 21 | 54 | 45 | -13 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 8 |
| 2017-18 | Carolina Hurricanes | NHL | 10 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2018-19 | Carolina Hurricanes* | NHL | 13 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | -1 | |||||
| 2018-19 | Charlotte Checkers* | AHL | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 16 | -1 | |||||
| 2018-19 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -1 | |||||
| NHL Totals | 30 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 4 |
Another shot in the dark that failed for PC. Will it ever end?
One down five to go!
No it won’t, his #Lose4Hughes is percolating nicely just as he planned. Only 6 points out of dead last in the league.
I think he never really got a chance he never got played. Hard to judge a player when the player plays super limited minutes, and on the fourth line with players that have little chance to make an impact. Personally I hope he clears waivers, lights up the all and then earns a recall. Maybe then the coaches and management might have a bit more trust in this player. All in all hard to see the logic in claiming this player and then use him the way they did.
Did you watch him play. A guy in that position needs to show something really anything anything at all. He did absolutely nothing and probably will never be heard from again.
I actually think that Bakersfield is where the Oilers wanted Zykov for anyways. I am sure they hoped he would light it up in the NHL, but I think they were looking to add scoring on the farm. That is why he didnt get a fair look at the NHL and they only kept him up for one month!
He won’t make it to Bakersfield, Ducks will claim him and turn him into a 20 goal scorer.
I think they realized really quickly why he was on waivers to begin with.
Pontus Baby!
Why did we trade strome for spooner again? At least stroke was noticable! Maybe a problem in the room?
By all accounts Strome was a great guy in the room. I hated that trade when it happened and hate it even more now.
You know I ran into a guy that ran into Strome in Toronto? He said Strome was hammering hamburgers and absolutely piss drunk the night before a game. Now this guy had no idea I was an Oilers fan or that I even knew who Strome was (I’m an Oiler’s fan in Leaf territory) but he was going on about it in vivid detail. Thought it was an interesting tidbit, not sure if it adds up to anything
It’s not like games are the only opportunity the staff get to evaluate players in. They also see him in practice.
It doesn’t matter how good your hands are if you can’t skate at NHL pace. I saw him play two games live and he was slow and not effective.
Worth a shot, but didn’t pan out.Hopefully he can give them some depth in California
Gotta love the player deployment for Edmonton here.
“Hello player X, welcome to the Edmonton Oilers. Located in a city where hockey is the focus of 90% of the population, 90% of the year. A city where fans will turn on you like a dime. And an organization where you’ll be given the least amount of opportunities before your either traded, benched, or sent down to the minors. We won’t deploy you properly, we won’t encourage you properly, and we won’t have any time for mistakes you make. Welcome and enjoy your stay.”
Sounds like any other high-level, competition-based job. Pressure is a given, fairness is not.
Worst part of the Zykov claim is that days later Leivo was traded for peanuts. That’s a guy who could’ve helped
But PC would have traded Nuge for Leivo straight up so that wouldn’t have helped. This team will never win with him as GM.
Maybe Leivo wasn’t available to us. Assuming there wasn’t at least one call from EDM to TOR is naive (in my view). The temporal proximity of the 2 moves might give the illusion that we could have had Leivo.
Toronto’s GM promised to trade Leivo to a team where he had an opportunity to succeed. Vancouver got the call. Edmonton wasn’t a consideration.
You’re literally retarded
It was worth a shot. I’d bet he doesn’t get claimed – if a purported scorer can’t crack a lineup devoid of scorers, doesn’t that speak volumes?
If he clears waivers, maybe Valentin can become a Valentine with some time in Bakersfield to regain his confidence.
If he clears waivers wouldn’t he go to Carolina’s AHL affiliate not Bakersfield?
Best Quote of the Day, (from Terry Jones)…”with one goal this year,
Lucic couldn’t score into the Ocean”
No, Carolina would get first waiver preference if they put a claim in regardless of the standings. They would then have to have him on the NHL Roster or then waive him themselves to get him to their minor league team.