BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — The Oilers graduated four significant rookies from junior to their AHL affiliate in Bakersfield this fall.
Evan Bouchard, a 2018 first-round pick and blue-chip prospect, has delivered on expectations and situated himself well to win an NHL job next season. Ryan McLeod, a second-rounder the same year, will need to evolve offensively but is projectable to the next level.
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Dmitri Samorukov and Kirill Maksimov, taken in the third and fifth rounds, respectively, of the 2017 draft, have had less impressive professional debuts.
That’s neither surprising nor a criticism of those players. Later picks take longer and are expected to need some polishing. Of all the first-time draft-eligible players taken in the final five rounds of 2017, just two — Emil Bemstrom in Columbus and Cale Fleury in Montreal — have appeared in even 10 NHL games, and Fleury is now playing his second professional season thanks to his older birthday.
Samorukov, taken 62 picks earlier than Maksimov, has the advantage of joining a team with a stellar recent record of churning out defencemen. Ethan Bear, Caleb Jones and William Lagesson all graduated to the NHL this season, with Bouchard hot on their heels.
He’s less worried about what those graduations say about the coaching staff than the opportunity they open up for him.
“I’m just trying to play my game, to show that I deserve to be here and deserve to take someone’s job,” Samorukov said. “I’m happy for all the guys that are called, but you know what? … Now I can maybe kill (penalties) again.”
Ice time has been one of the many adjustments for Samorukov. Leaned upon in all situations, on special teams and on the left and right sides of the ice in junior, he has been carefully sheltered as a third-pairing defenceman as a professional. Only recently have the coaches begun to increase his responsibility and step up his minutes, as he’s grown more comfortable with the skill level of the AHL.
“Early in the season he was playing sheltered minutes, like (Bouchard) in the playoffs last year,” coach Jay Woodcroft said. “Some games we went with seven defencemen and 11 forwards, so that naturally reduces all the defencemen’s minutes. Right now, he’s getting more of an opportunity to play bigger minutes. We’re learning about him as he’s learning about the league.”
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That carefully calculated increase in responsibility was temporarily derailed when Samorukov took a puck to the face. He missed a bunch of games and then played with a full face shield. Understandably, the coaching staff eased him back into the defensive rotation.
Samorukov is eager to do more. Asked about whether he prefers playing on his natural left side or over on the right, as he often has at other levels, he was indifferent, as long as he gets to play. Asked whether he plays better with an offensive or defensive partner, he shrugged it off.
“I really like everyone, so if they want to put a more defensive guy, we can be shutdown guys,” Samorukov said. “If they want us to put (up) offence, we can play offence. You know what I mean? Or I can clean (in the defensive zone). I hope. I hope I can clean.”
The organization seems open to either possibility. In a span of one weekend prior to the trade deadline, Samorukov played on the left side with offensive defenceman Joel Persson, then on the right side next to veteran shutdown defender Brandon Manning.
“I think he’s taking it step by step,” Persson said. “He’s taken one or two steps since I’ve come down. With all those young guys they’re trying to push for the future for the Oilers. I remember myself, my first time playing against seniors, it’s different. You have to go day by day.”
It’s the starting point of what promises to be an intriguing two- to three-year development arc in the minors. In many respects, Samorukov’s play in the AHL echoes what scouts saw in junior in his draft year, when his talent was obvious, save for when it was being obscured by brain cramps.
“He can grab your attention, and then he does things. He doesn’t come across as a very smart player at times,” a scout told Recrutes, as quoted in its 2017 draft preview. “He’s got the skill level; he’ll make a great play, and then all of a sudden, he goes brain dead. He needs to be more consistent. Shift to shift, he is inconsistent. He has the skill … hopefully, it all comes together.”
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The Oilers bet that the mobile 6-foot-3 defenceman would grow into his tools, and over three years with Guelph, that’s precisely what he did. He had 20 points in 67 games in his draft year; in his final playoff appearance two seasons later, he put up 28 points in 24 games en route to an OHL title. Now the process begins again, with Edmonton hoping that his development arc echoes what happened at the junior level.
“He’s another one of those guys who hasn’t been on a straight line (developmentally),” Woodcroft said. “There are some peaks and some troughs as well. He’s learning how good the American Hockey League is. The best news for him down the stretch here is that he’s playing a little higher up in the defence corps and he’s getting those opportunities. Now it’s time to show that he is taking a step.”
Like Samorukov, Maksimov has had an uneven adjustment to the pro ranks.
A 21-goal scorer when Edmonton drafted him, he jumped to 34 and then 40 goals in the OHL, prompting excitement about his potential as a future top-six NHL forward. This summer, the Edmonton Journal called him the Oilers’ “ultimate secret weapon” and enthusiastically projected that “Maksimov should become a 30-plus goal scorer in the NHL” if properly developed.
It’s early to be putting firm caps on his offensive play; after all, Maksimov scored just six goals as an OHL rookie and eventually blossomed to 40. That being said, he has just five goals and 13 points in 53 games for the Condors this season.
“He has a good shot but he’s finding out at this level it has to come off his stick quicker,” Woodcroft said. “Goaltenders are just bigger and faster at this level. He’s learning how to put himself into positions to, No. 1 get his shot off, and then No. 2, he has to find a way to capitalize on the opportunities that he is getting. That’s typical whenever a young player moves up a level.”
“I get chances every game. I just have to capitalize a bit, a little bit more,” Maksimov said. “I think just that. But overall, if I get chances and get opportunities … maybe sometimes I have to bear down a little bit (more).”
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Lots of players have gone on to enjoy NHL careers after that kind of offensive debut, but the majority of them end up finding their way in a bottom-six role.
Between 2005 and 2011, 46 AHL forwards within six months of Maksimov’s age finished the season with point-per-game totals between 80 and 120 percent of what Maksimov has put up this season. Twenty-two of those 46 (48 percent) played in the NHL by 27, with eight of them playing two full seasons or more worth of games.
| Player | Season | GP | G | A | P | P/GP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
2007-08
|
64
|
10
|
5
|
15
|
0.28
|
|
|
2008-09
|
74
|
11
|
7
|
18
|
0.31
|
|
|
2005-06
|
52
|
5
|
3
|
8
|
0.23
|
|
|
2007-08
|
41
|
4
|
5
|
9
|
0.27
|
|
|
2006-07
|
58
|
5
|
8
|
13
|
0.26
|
|
|
2006-07
|
60
|
6
|
5
|
11
|
0.27
|
|
|
2005-06
|
73
|
7
|
7
|
14
|
0.21
|
|
|
2007-08
|
31
|
4
|
0
|
4
|
0.23
|
Fortunately, Maksimov isn’t a one-dimensional prospect. Even with modest scoring, he’s still a 6-foot-3 forward with a long history on the penalty kill at the junior level. Woodcroft has used him on Bakersfield’s penalty kill, too. That adjustment at least is one he’s made relatively smoothly.
“Everything is more detailed,” Maksimov said when asked about the difference between shorthanded play in the AHL and OHL. “Everybody is a professional here. Every small detail is important.”
Woodcroft’s approach to developing Maksimov has been to let him get comfortable in a defensive role before asking him to do more at the attacking end of the rink.
“For him, this year has also not been a straight line,” the coach said. “There have been learning moments. Early in the season when we were figuring out our lineup, his ice time was protected. Now, as we’ve worked our way through our season, I thought he began taking a step in late November, early December.
“We put together a line of him, (Colby) Cave and (Luke) Esposito and I thought just being paired with those two steady, calming, tenacious veteran-type forwards, they were able to complement each other. He found a niche and that’s how he garnered more ice time.”
Cave and Esposito are in their mid-20s. Cave’s now in his fifth professional season and has been both a diligent two-way forward in the AHL and a defensive specialist over 67 NHL games. Esposito, who played college hockey for four years at Harvard and was older when he graduated to the AHL, played important minutes for a very good Bakersfield team last year as a checking-line forward and penalty killer.
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Maksimov seemed to be finding the range in late December, when he put up five points in six games in his best offensive run of the season. As players were recalled entering 2020, he moved up the depth chart. It’s fair to say he struggled to produce: He has 34 shots but just three points in 25 games since Jan. 1.
Nevertheless, Woodcroft is optimistic about his development.
“We’ve seen some growth, but there’s areas where he can improve as well,” he said. “On the whole, if I was to judge him I think he’s taken steps this year. He’s a much more detailed, harder player to play against than he was when he came in in September.”
It’s the start of what’s likely to be a long apprenticeship for both players. Samorukov and Maksimov are on entry-level contracts through summer 2022, and neither will have to clear waivers until summer 2023. Edmonton is still years away from knowing for sure what it has in either player.
(Photo of Samorukov: Derek Cain / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)