taking glassbangers template, as it looks nice
this thread is called REALISTIC upside, so here goes
Goalies:
- Laurent Brossoit - AHL starter
Defenders:
- Darnell Nurse - #3 who does a bit of everything, but not tons of offence
- Oscar Klefbom - #4/5 shutdown type, with next to no offence
- Martin Marincin - #4/5
- Dillon Simpson - #6/7/AHL tweener
- Martin Gernat - #6/7/AHL tweener
- David Musil - solid AHL player
Forwards:
- Leon Draisaitl - 2nd/3rd line C, not enough offence to be great 2nd line C, not enough defence to be great 3rd line C
- Bogdan Yakimov - AHL tweener
- Jujhar Khaira - 4th line C
- Greg Chase - very good AHL guy, who maybe gets a cup of coffee
- Mitch Moroz - AHL tweener
That's more pessimistic than realistic IMO especially with Draisaitl and Klefbom. It seems like you picked a worst case scenario with those two and Marincin as well.
I think realistically based on my viewings of these players.
Defensemen
Nurse - #2 - Strong 2 way defenseman who can set a physical tone and shut down the opponent. I'm not sure that his offense will translate though but defensively, he should be very strong.
Klefbom - #2/#3 - Rock solid defensively, good underrated outlet pass and can compete physically with the bigs of the west. Great at winning puck battles. I think he could top out as a solid complimentary #2 if he reaches his potential. Needs to stay healthy though.
Marincin - #3/#4 - Excellent range, very good with stick and some decent offensive instincts but i think his lean frame (which doesn't look like it can take on much mass) will hold him back from being better than a safe, decent 2nd pairing guy. The safest of the group to have a long NHL career.
Simpson - #5/#6 - Probably the most underrated Oiler prospect. The typical "solid at everything but not great at anything" Dman. Very solid positionally, shot blocking machine and he really improved his skating over the last year. I actually think he's close to NHL ready but probably won't have a career in Edmonton due to players being higher than him on the depth chart.
Musil/Gernat/Davidson - AHL/NHL tweeners. I used to have hopes for Musil but he simply doesn't skate well enough, Gernat won't be able to defend at the NHL level, i just haven't seen enough improvements in his game to be confident that he'll be a full time NHLer. Davidson is a prototypical career AHLer, nice story though.
Forwards
Draisaitl - #1 center - He's a beast physically and possesses elite level vision, great at protecting the puck. Needs to work on his defensive awareness and skating but he seems like a determined kid who will work towards rounding out his game. Known as a gym rat and he gets a lot of credit for coming over to North America at such a young age and excelling in a tough league after coming from a subpar developmental league. I'm also impressed that he was able to master the English language so quickly. If you listen to his interviews last year, he could hardly speak any English so that shows something about his determination to improve himself.
I haven't seen much of these other guys outside of Moroz so i'm basing a lot on hearsay, limited viewings and skillset projectability.
Chase - 3rd liner - I like him the best out of the secondary forwards, reminds me of Andrew Shaw a bit. Good skater, good shot and solid defensively. I actually think he has a good shot to be a long time NHLer. Lots of projectable pro skills and of course, the rat factor is always nice.
Yakimov - #4 center - I liked what i saw of him at the WJC but i think he needs to improve his skating if he wants an NHL career. His skating isn't horrible but it seems a little awkward. Honestly, i think there's a better chance that he's a career AHLer than a career NHLer but i guess we'll see.
Khaira - NHL/AHL tweener, maybe more? - Physical beast and very good at protecting the puck but he doesn't create much offense and needs to work on his skating. From my viewings of him, he looks like a bigger Lander. Sound defensively but needs a lot of work to round out his game. It'll be interesting to follow his progress along with Yakimov this season. Projects who could wind up surprising but are raw at the moment.
Moroz - 4th liner - I don't know about him. He's not a coke machine and has a better skillset than say, Kessy for instance, but it's always hard to project these big guys who do well against kids in junior mainly because they're bigger. I'm rooting for him because he seems like a good guy and we can really use his skillset but i just don't know. I want to see what he does in a pro league first before having any confidence that he can amount to more than a career AHLer.
Roy - I have no idea. Looked pretty good last summer but had a rough year battling injuries so i don't really know what to expect from him. It would be nice if one of these skilled guys panned out and gave the Oilers some depth in the system.
So, as expected, the Dmen are well ahead of the forwards in general. The Oilers really need to replenish the farm system with more skilled forwards.