Glen Sather had a way with a phrase and he was outstanding at getting his point across to the media (and therefore, the public). In the fall of 1983, entering a fateful training camp that would produce the first truly western Stanley Cup champion since the Victoria Cougars in 1925, Sather made a fascinating statement:
- “Sammy Pollock used to say all jobs are open in Montreal but who was he kidding? Nobody was going to take Larry Robinson’s job or Guy Lafleur’s. In our camp I refuse to tell the players that. But I’d love it if somebody took a job away from a returning player. If that happened, that would make our team stronger.”
In truth, the 1983-84 Oilers roster was loaded with brilliant youth at every position. Goalies Andy Moog and Grant Fuhr were young and emerging, as was a defence that boasted Second Team All-Star Paul Coffey and plus-minus leader (it was a big deal back then) Charlie Huddy, Kevin Lowe and Lee Fogolin (who had suffered through a stomach ailment during the previous season), Doctor Randy Gregg and enforcer Don Jackson.
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Even with all of that talent, the big part of the Oilers ’83-’84 was the forward group, led by Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Jari Kurri and Glenn Anderson. The support talent included Ken Linseman, Dave Hunter, Dave Semenko, Jaroslav Pouzar, Pat Hughes and Dave Lumley. Looking back, it was obvious the team was bound for glory, but at the time Sather was trying to motivate a group who had finished short of their goal in the spring of 1983.
With so many outstanding players returning, was there room for one of Sather’s job thieves? Not really. Pat Conacher played 45 games in a support role; Raimo Summanen played five games in the postseason (grabbing five points). The biggest addition during the season came on December 5, when Sather sent Tom Roulston to the Pittsburgh Penguins for rugged centre Kevin McLelland.
The 1983-84 Oilers didn’t need a job thief, although the club would get one in the form of Esa Tikkanen the following season. In the January 13, 1984 edition of The Hockey News, chief scout Barry Fraser was asked to list Edmonton’s top five prospects (in no specific order). He named Raimo Summanen (playing in Finland), Gord Sherven (Canada’s Olympic team), Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds LW Steve Graves, and junior defenders Jeff Beukeboom and Jim Playfair. He did not include Esa Tikkanen as one of the Top Five, but did mention him later in the interview, saying “he’s much the same as Summanen, I would say he’s ahead of where Summanen was at this stage of his career. He’s kind of a hard-nosed kid, too.”
Is there a version of the 1985 Tikkanen on the horizon? Are we about to be surprised by a player not currently associated with NHL employment in 2018-19?
Todd McLellan was head coach in San Jose for seven seasons, arriving in Edmonton three years ago. Over his 10 seasons of coaching in the NHL, nine men played 60 or more games as rookies—seven forwards and two defencemen (Darnell Nurse and Matt Benning). Most of that group—Tomas Plihal, Andrew Desjardins, Matt Nieto, Barclay Goodrow, Iiro Pakarinen, Drake Caggiula—were either players who spent time in the AHL before promotion or older college players graduating to pro hockey.
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Almost all of them were role players who received more ice time as the coach grew to trust their ability to be in the right place and avoid making mistakes. For the most part, McLellan’s rookies don’t play prominent roles. Exceptions: His two finest rookies were Connor McDavid and Logan Couture. McDavid was injured as a rookie and finished short of 60 games, while Couture played 25 games, then the following season (2010-11) played as both a rookie and as a feature player with San Jose.
There are young players we assume will play in the NHL this season and can’t be counted as possible ‘job thieves’ at this year’s training camp. Jesse Puljujarvi has 93 NHL games on his resume and is perhaps more prepared to take on a larger role in 2018-19. Kailer Yamamoto winning a job in training camp would surprise no one and the injury to Andrej Sekera means Ethan Bear and Evan Bouchard are part of the NHL conversation.
Job thieves, fall 2018
College men have made their way into regular NHL work under McLellan, two examples are Tommy Wingels and Drake Caggiula. Wingels arrived out of college at 22, and it took him two seasons before he emerged as a regular NHL player under McLellan. Caggiula was a different circumstance—he came directly to the NHL age 22—but that was mostly due to lack of depth in Edmonton (something that is as severe now as it was when Caggiula arrived).
Cooper Marody turns 22 around Christmas and would fit in with Wingels and Caggiula as a possible “plug and play” option this fall. It’s also possible (like Wingels) he is found wanting and ends up toiling in Bakersfield for the winter. My guess is he has an enormous opportunity to play in the NHL this season (depending on PTO’s). Joe Gambardella left college a year ago, he would be the ultimate outlier but there are things that give him an edge. He is an older prospect, good skater, played well in his AHL debut a year ago, caught fire offensively late (scored seven goals in the first 10 games in March).
Tyler Benson will be a flat out rookie next fall but a quick check of the Edmonton depth chart suggests he might be a candidate for recall earlier than expected. Is he capable of rocking the casbah in preseason?
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William Lagesson’s name seldom gets mentioned as a possible NHL option this season but Andrej Sekera’s injury may force the organization to contemplate some new ideas. Lagesson has good speed and might be able to push his way into the conversation, especially with a strong training camp. Joel Persson should be mentioned, but as Jonathan Willis mentioned in a recent article on him for The Athletic, Persson’s unusual contract (signing now, coming over in 2019) is the player’s wish and for that reason a legit option may not be used this year.
What does it all mean?
Esa Tikkanen’s first NHL goal came in October of 1985, the assist going to Mark Messier. If one of these outlier prospects grabs a job on a line with Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl, we could see a major story rising from the depths of Edmonton’s training camp roster. Ty Rattie may be emerging as just this kind of player, but there’s room for more surprises on a roster that has shocking holes three years into the Peter Chiarelli/Todd McLellan era.
Bet on none of these names, but if we’re honest the stage is set for someone to arrive in camp and run over the more established competition. Get ready.
(Main photo: Cooper Marody. Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports)
