Very Interesting Invite

by Jonathan Willis on Aug 6, 2008 6:29 PM MDT

Courtesy of Dave Borody of The Sarnia Observer comes this very interesting news:

Right now there are five potential overagers for three spots. The five include goalie Andrew Perugini, defenceman Steve Ferry and forwards Justin DiBenedetto, Devin DiDiomete and Jared Gomes.

Obviously Perugini is the key. He has been invited to the Edmonton Oilers camp as a free agent. He has said he will only accept an American Hockey League contract and not go to the East Coast League.

Andrew Perugini just turned 20 last month and has been an OHL starter for the past two seasons. Here are what his numbers look like over his OHL career:

2005-06: 7-4-0, 3.38 GAA, .892 SV%
2006-07: 40-16-1, 2.83 GAA, .917 SV%
2007-08: 28-20-2, 3.10 GAA, .917 SV%

This is a guy who's posted great numbers with good teams (Barrie in 06-07) and middling teams (Sarnia in 07-08) and frankly looks, at least on the surface, as a guy with better upside than Bryan Pitton. He says he won't accept an ECHL deal, but I'd say that he has the resume to beat out Pitton and Glenn Fisher for the right to backup Devan Dubnyk in Springfield.

I hope he performs, and I hope he's signed, because he could be a legitimate prospect.

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Nice catch, Jonathan! You read the Sarnia Observer? Three screens down?? That's what I call thorough coverage.

I love the Oilogosphere.

by Bruce on Aug 7, 2008 5:43 AM MDT reply actions

Whatever happened to the Bjorn Burling option? I thought there was a good chance he was going to migrate West.

It's an interesting situation to put the farm team in. Neither Fisher or Pitton have draft pedigree on their side in this one, so the organization isn't as likely to stick with one of their prospects with middling numbers.

What do you think the catch is going to be here? He'll sign the contract, but if he's not good enough to make the AHL roster, will he go back to junior?

by doritogrande on Aug 7, 2008 9:02 AM MDT reply actions

Perugini would be far better off in the ECHL than taking up an overage spot in the OHL, and I have to believe that he and his agent know that.

I suspect that if the Oilers decide they'd rather have him in Stockton than Springfield, Perugini walks and finds somebody else willing to take a flyer on him.

Personally, I'd rather have Perugini backing up Dubnyk than Pitton or Fisher ten times out of ten. Perugini's at least shown something: Pitton and Fisher have only a alightly greater chance of making the NHL than I do.

by Lord Bob on Aug 7, 2008 12:28 PM MDT reply actions

Whatever happened to the Bjorn Burling option? I thought there was a good chance he was going to migrate West.

It's been reported that he signed an SEL deal.

What do you think the catch is going to be here?

The only catch is that he wants a guaranteed AHL job- but I think it's worth it.

Personally, I'd rather have Perugini backing up Dubnyk than Pitton or Fisher ten times out of ten. Perugini's at least shown something: Pitton and Fisher have only a alightly greater chance of making the NHL than I do.

Goalies are funny; especially how they develop. Still, I think Fisher's a write-off at this point (as do the Oilers- he signed an AHL/ECHL deal). Pitton still has time, although I personally think he's a lesser prospect than the undrafted Perugini.

by Jonathan Willis on Aug 7, 2008 1:02 PM MDT reply actions

I think Perugini was mis-quoted. What he probably meant was that if he can't get a 3 yr NHL entry level deal (like Pitton and all other drafted players receive) that he would be better served playing his last year of junior as opposed to signing a one year ECHL or AHL deal. Players his age still qualify as entry level players for one more year and if they sign a one year minor pro contract they lose the education package they earned from the OHL. I think if he got the 3yr deal he would be more than happy to play wherever the Oilers assigned him and probably would be better served in the ECHL where he would get more playing time than behind Dubnyk in the AHL. If there was room for both him and Pitton in Stockton where they could platoon and develop that would probably be the best case scenerio for both. The AHL spot could then be filled by the older Fisher or some other AHL goalie looking for a spot.

by ohlfan on Aug 11, 2008 6:45 AM MDT reply actions

by Jonathan Willis on Aug 12, 2008 1:30 PM MDT reply actions

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