by Marc Ciampa
www.edmontonoilers.com
A look at some of the newest Oilers prospects:
Robert Nilsson - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL)The most upset party in the deadline trade made by the Oilers last week may have been the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Not only did they lose their leading scorer in Robert Nilsson, they lost him to division rivals the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
Nilsson instantly became the Penguins' leader in assists and points when he was transferred to Wilkes-Barre as a result of the trade and added to those totals with six assists in his first three games.
"It was awesome," said Nilsson to the Times Leader. "It was a lot of fun. There are a lot of great players and we think alike.
"It's fun to be with a winning team. I haven't been on one in awhile now. It's a lot easier to play when the guys are winners."
Nilsson found instant chemistry with another Oilers prospect, Rob Schremp. He set up both of Schremp's goals in his first game with the club.
"He's a highly-skilled player and we all know that because he played for Bridgeport," Schremp remarked. "He's tremendously skilled and finds the open man very well."
Through 53 games, Nilsson now has 39 assists and 51 points.
"Nilsson was pretty good," Penguins head coach Todd Richards said after his debut game. "I think there was a reason why Edmonton wanted him and we saw that tonight. He made a couple of great plays, great passes - especially Schrempie's second goal. That's an NHL play. He zipped it to Schrempie back door, empty net. It was pretty exciting to watch him play."
Ryan O'Marra - Saginaw Spirit (OHL)
Ryan O'Marra is a key cog in one of the Ontario Hockey League's best teams - the Saginaw Spirit.
With a record of 10-1-0 in their last 11 games, the Spirit sit second in the OHL's West Division and are poised to make some noise in the postseason.
O'Marra, a mid-season acquisition from the Erie Otters, has 16 goals and 31 points in 29 games.
Yesterday, O'Marra scored twice and added two assists in an 8-2 Saginaw victory over the Mississauga Ice Dogs.
Earlier in the week, O'Marra put up a "Gordie Howe Hat Trick" with a goal, assist and a fight in helping lead his squad to a 4-1 win over Owen Sound.
O'Marra was a teammate of Oilers prospect Andrew Cogliano and the most recent World Junior Hockey Championships held in Sweden.
Suiting up for all six games, he had two assists and eight PIM with a +1 rating for Canada.
Denis Grebeshkov - Yaroslavl Lokomotiv (RUS)
Denis Grebeshkov was acquired several weeks ago in the trade that saw Marc-Andre Bergeron move to the NY Islanders.
Although he is currently playing in Russia with Yaroslavl Lokomotiv, he is no stranger to the North American style of game.
From 2003-04 through 2005-06, Grebeshkov split parts of three seasons between the NHL and AHL.
His best season was 2004-05 when he put up 49 points in 75 games with the AHL's Manchester Monarchs. Last season, Grebeshkov was dealt from the Kings to the NY Islanders and played 21 games at the NHL level for New York.
This season, he elected to play in Russia instead of starting the season in the AHL. Through 44 games, Grebeshkov has six goals and 13 points.
In a recent interview with a Russian newspaper, Grebeshkov indicated a desire to return to North America and play for the Oilers next season.
Noteworthy
Brock Radunske was recently re-assigned by the Oilers from Grand Rapids (AHL) to Stockton (ECHL). Having scored 38 goals at the ECHL level last season, Radusnke picked up where he left off this past weekend. In two games, he had two goals and an assist... Three of the top four scorers on the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins are Oilers prospects: Robert Nilsson, Kyle Brodziak and Rob Schremp.
----------------------------------------------------
Injury update:
The Edmonton Oilers have placed centre Petr Nedved on the NHL Injured Reserve List and recalled centre Kyle Brodziak from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey League.
This is the second time that Nedved has been placed on the NHL Injured Reserve List as he was previously placed on the IRL on February 23rd and missed five games with a knee sprain suffered at Toronto on February 17th.
Nedved has scored 1-4-5 with 8 PIM in 19 games with the Oilers since being claimed off waivers on January 2nd from the Philadelphia Flyers. In 21 games with Philadelphia, Nedved scored 1-6-7 with 18 PIM.
Brodziak makes his first appearance with the Oilers this season. The 6’2”, 198-pound 22-year-old from St. Paul, Alberta has spent the entire season with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. At the time of his recall, Brodziak, the Oilers 9th choice (7th round), 214th overall, in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, was second on the Penguins scoring list with a career-high 21-25-46 in 49 games. He also ranked second in goals and assists and was third in plus/minus at +11. He scored four powerplay goals and a shorthanded goal while registering 40 penalty minutes with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
Brodziak made his NHL debut with the Oilers in 2005-06, playing 10 games with no points and four penalty minutes.
He has scored 39-70-109 with 130 PIM in 160 career AHL games since beginning his professional career with the Edmonton Road Runners in 2004-05.
No comments:
Post a Comment