Anton Lander

Definitely playing so much better under Nelson. He would still be in the AHL, if Eakins was the coach. Good riddance Eakins is gone.

Well to be fair Lander did not play very well prior to Eakins either.
He had 7 points in 67 NHL games prior to last season.

I suspect that his slow development had more to do with being rushed into the NHL.

Thats what the Oilers do with virtually every prospect...its a large part of why they have been so poor at developing players. I think that approach probably hurt Paajarvi's development to the point of no return which is why I am impressed with what Lander is doing so far.
 
Interesting comparison so far this season.

Lander 18 GP 2G 7A 9Pts -2 8% SP
Roy 19 GP 4G 5A 9Pts -7 18% SP

Both small sample sizes but Lander is more than holding his own so far.

I haven't checked but it would be interesting to see who is playing tougher minutes. I suspect its Lander.
Both guys are third liners. Roy on the way down, Lander on the way up. Lander should be our third line center for as long as we can hold onto him
 
Well to be fair Lander did not play very well prior to Eakins either.
He had 7 points in 67 NHL games prior to last season.

I suspect that his slow development had more to do with being rushed into the NHL.

Thats what the Oilers do with virtually every prospect...its a large part of why they have been so poor at developing players. I think that approach probably hurt Paajarvi's development to the point of no return which is why I am impressed with what Lander is doing so far.


Fair points to agree upon. I'm just glad Lander is starting to look like an NHL player.
 
Well to be fair Lander did not play very well prior to Eakins either.
He had 7 points in 67 NHL games prior to last season.

I suspect that his slow development had more to do with being rushed into the NHL.

Thats what the Oilers do with virtually every prospect...its a large part of why they have been so poor at developing players. I think that approach probably hurt Paajarvi's development to the point of no return which is why I am impressed with what Lander is doing so far.
I think Landers earlier NHL struggles helped him. It showed him what he needed to work on, he did that extremely well in the AHL and now is showing the fruits of his labor. Some guys need to get beat down to improve. Every one is different.
 
lander should be the poster boy for not rushing kids into the nhl when its CLEAR THEY WEREN"T ready

I agree with your sentiment about not rushing players but I would suggest that Paajarvi should be the poster boy.

Lander seems to have risen above his poor handling. Paajarvi may well be done as an NHL player.
 
Both guys are third liners. Roy on the way down, Lander on the way up. Lander should be our third line center for as long as we can hold onto him

Agreed.
Its early but the trending seems to indicate that Roy is expendable...Lander isnt.
 
Agreed.
Its early but the trending seems to indicate that Roy is expendable...Lander isnt.
We need a legit #2 center to replace Roy Imo. At least until Lander or Drai can legit fill the spot.
 
I think Landers earlier NHL struggles helped him. It showed him what he needed to work on, he did that extremely well in the AHL and now is showing the fruits of his labor. Some guys need to get beat down to improve. Every one is different.

I dont see it that way at all. I think Landers NHL experience really delayed his development.

Scoring 8 points in 94 NHL games (prior to this season) does much damage to a players offensive confidence.

Not to mention getting destroyed in the faceoff circle at the NHL level.

Lander should have been in the AHL for the first 2 years of his development IMO. It would have allowed him to adjust to the culture and the NA game by building his confidence over time. The rollercoaster ride he ended up taking wasn't particularly advantages and the Oilers are lucky that Landers resolve was as high as it was or he would have ended up being another Paajarvi.
 
We need a legit #2 center to replace Roy Imo. At least until Lander or Drai can legit fill the spot.

Agreed about the 2nd line Centre. While its good to see Yak benefit from a veteran centre Roy is extremely underwhelming as a 2nd line centre.
I certainly wouldn't keep him over Lander for the 3rd line either.

Lander is quite a ways ahead of Draisaitl...Drai shouldn't be on this team until 2016/17 at the earliest IMO.
 
Agreed about the 2nd line Centre. While its good to see Yak benefit from a veteran centre Roy is extremely underwhelming as a 2nd line centre.
I certainly wouldn't keep him over Lander for the 3rd line either.

Lander is quite a ways ahead of Draisaitl...Drai shouldn't be on this team until 2016/17 at the earliest IMO.
I'd be okay with Drai on the team if he was being a winger for a good veteran center. If not, give him a year in the AHL then here the next
 
Imo we keep Roy, but we can delay that decision. I've heard argument that we should either re-sign him by the deadline or trade him, but imo we should just let him stay and then decide to re-sign him or not at the end of the season. Risking having him walk is okay imo, and we need flexibility going into this offseason considering the options that might become available. If we sign him, it should be during that week before free agency when GMs can talk to impending FAs

For instance, Carl Soderberg is UFA. Soderberg! That's like, instant band aid on the the forward core and I doubt Boston can afford to keep him with the static cap. Even if that were MacT's only acquisition I would say we might just be a dark horse squad next season.

But of course, this is the Lander thread and I say re-sign him. Do it now if he agrees, or do it later. Keep him even if its as 4th line center or winger.
 
lander's attitude is very impressive also

really like his post game comments from tonights game

He's been a captain pretty much every step of his career, including playing against men as a teenager. If he stays an Oiler he will have at least an A on his jersey within two seasons is my guess.
 
Well to be fair Lander did not play very well prior to Eakins either.
He had 7 points in 67 NHL games prior to last season.

I suspect that his slow development had more to do with being rushed into the NHL.

Thats what the Oilers do with virtually every prospect...its a large part of why they have been so poor at developing players. I think that approach probably hurt Paajarvi's development to the point of no return which is why I am impressed with what Lander is doing so far.

How was his slow development due to being rushed into the NHL? He was drafted in 2009 and played two more years in the SEL before coming to North America. THat was 4 years playing pro hockey against men. He played 56 games in the NHL in his first year and did fine for a rookie after having earned his spot out of camp. Perhaps he was not ready for this, and I agree the Oilers did not have a plan for him in the NHL, but there is no evidence that playing in the NHL slowed him down. Since then he has played almost exclusively in the AHL. If anything slowed him down it was a bunch of ill timed injuries. But even then Lander's path to the NHL is not really so different than the vast majority of bottom six players, especially those from outside the first round. For example, at the same age as he is now Hendricks was in the ECHL.

Washington did virtually the same thing with Gordon. Gordon played one more year in the WHL after being drafted and played 41 games in the NHL in his second year out. He was finally an NHL regular at 23. In his first 65 NHL games prior to that Gordon had 1 goal and 6 assist .
 
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I remember when there was an old oft repeated saying that Nelson was overrated because he wasn't developing any players down in the AHL. Watching Lander at the NHL level today, I suspect the problem had less to do with what they were doing in the AHL, and more to do with who was coaching for a year and a half whenever players get called up to the NHL.

Nice to see Lander establishing himself. Only guy left to carry the torch for the now disastrous 2009 draft, and the type of player the Oilers have needed for half a decade(if not more).
 
In other news, on the topic of Anton Lander.

Excerpts from today's news:
Timra IK has been saved from bankruptcy and is now getting some well needed help for the future.

Detroit star Henrik Zetterberg and Edmonton's Anton Lander, who both began their careers in Timra, have agreed to provide economic assistance to help save the club.

Zetterberg and Lander agreed to help out when they met in Edmonton prior to Detroit-Edmonton on January 8.

– It feels great being able to help out, they have had a really tough time lately, says Lander.

Neither Lander nor Zetterberg want to discuss how much money they have agreed to contribute with.

– That is something that we will not discuss, says Lander.

– These two players have stayed in contact with us during this difficult period. Now they have decided to step in to support the club economically, says club director Lars Nolander.

He also does not want to say how money it is. But confirms that it is a cash gift, not an investement, and there no doubt that it has arrived at a critical time.

– I cannot comment on how much money we are talking about but it is a significant contribution. We are still in a precarious situation though, says Nolander.

http://www.st.nu/ishockey/hockeyallsvenskan/zetterberg-och-lander-stottar-timra-ekonomiskt
 
that's impressive, especially as Lander really isn't making much money, in relative terms.
he couldn't have made much in the AHL. $70,00 a year maybe?

A little more than 70$ a year surely... He's on a one way contract nowadays though, I would however guess Zetterberg has a bit more money to give unless Lander is an investment prodigy.
 
How was his slow development due to being rushed into the NHL? He was drafted in 2009 and played two more years in the SEL before coming to North America. THat was 4 years playing pro hockey against men. He played 56 games in the NHL in his first year and did fine for a rookie after having earned his spot out of camp. Perhaps he was not ready for this, and I agree the Oilers did not have a plan for him in the NHL, but there is no evidence that playing in the NHL slowed him down. Since then he has played almost exclusively in the AHL. If anything slowed him down it was a bunch of ill timed injuries. But even then Lander's path to the NHL is not really so different than the vast majority of bottom six players, especially those from outside the first round. For example, at the same age as he is now Hendricks was in the ECHL.

Washington did virtually the same thing with Gordon. Gordon played one more year in the WHL after being drafted and played 41 games in the NHL in his second year out. He was finally an NHL regular at 23. In his first 65 NHL games prior to that Gordon had 1 goal and 6 assist .

Yeah I think it's a little unfair to pin this all on the Oilers.

Confidence is a funny thing. How many very talented hockey players just didn't have the self-belief (or the work ethic) to make it in the bigs?

It almost killed Yakupov. It wasn't helping Draisaitl. And if you're on a successful team with a good organization, you can more easily take it as a learning experience, but not scoring when you're on the worst team in hockey....
 
if Lander keeps up his play through the rest of the year, I'd be comfortable with:

RNH
UFA (upgrade on Roy?)
Lander
Gordon

have Draisaitl on wing or the AHL
if we're lucky enough to get McEichel, put them on the wing with a VET player
 
I think it's important to have guys like him develop into players since the Oilers absolutely need young guys with a bit of leadership.
 
Anton is a class act, I hope that he lives up to his potential here and plays here for many years.
 

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