Edmonton Oilers Demote Magnus Paajarvi to Oklahoma City
by Benjamin Massey on Dec 16, 2011 1:00 PM MST
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PrintWhen you send a famous, flashy first-round forward to the farm, it's going to be big news. So naturally the Edmonton Oilers made a splash when Magnus Paajarvi was demoted to the Oklahoma City Barons.
Well, what do you expect when an offense-first forward has gone twenty-five games without generating a scintilla of offense? You can say all you like that Paajarvi is more effective than Ben Eager in every statistic except "shows run/60 minutes", or that even setting aside the goons there are plenty of Oilers who have done less to earn NHL ice time than Paajarvi. These things are all true.
However, Paajarvi's ineffectiveness is doing more than denying the Oilers goals. It's denying Paajarvi ice time as Tom Renney, continuing to believe somehow that he's coaching a playoff-quality team, shuffles Paajarvi deeper and deeper into the deck with every passing game. He's a sophomore but young Magnus is just that; what he needs to learn the game is ice time and a chance to bury pucks, not bench time and a chance to be buried by Lennart Petrell.
So best of luck in Oklahoma City, Magnus. Hopefully we'll see you with a potato sack full of points, a big smile, and an eye for cheap goals that makes Ryan Jones look sloppy.
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shows run/60 minutes
I think someone need to track this.
Everyone knows rock attained perfection in 1974. It's a scientific fact.
Writer for The Copper & Blue and a frequenter of the time waster that is Twitter.
by ryanbatty on Dec 16, 2011 1:35 PM MST reply actions 1 recs
Not like I blame Tambellini because Renney keeps playing ineffective forwards, on a team that has been one the worst performing on the league lately. I’m sick of the Oilers now, they make false promises that the rebuild is over and we are ready to compete now. If that’s the case, and we miss the playoffs by a mile (which we will) time for people to start getting fired, because they have not lived up to expectations that they created. Of course these expectations were not realistic as any futures betting market would show, but since they were made, and not lived up to, time for heads to roll.
The author already stated the sentiment how Paajarvi shows up statistically better than those who remain on the team, so won’t go into that further. Hopefully the Oilers continue losing now, so this ineptitude caan result in job losses.
So best of luck in Oklahoma City, Magnus. Hopefully we’ll see you with a potato sack full of points, a big smile, and an eye for cheap goals that makes Ryan Jones look sloppy.
This, all of it.
A nice Christmas present for the fans in OKC! And hopefully it has the desired effect on the young man himself.
May Paajarvi benefit from Coach Nelson’s teachings.
by TakeoutArtist on Dec 16, 2011 3:28 PM MST reply actions 1 recs
That’s the only bright side about this whole thing.
Editor of The Copper & Blue, and leader of The Cult Of Hartikainen.
I know some fans are going to dislike this decision, but I think it’s a reasonable one. Paajarvi is a good player, but he’s had a slow start to the year. He’s been legitimately outplayed for his position by all of the current top nine. He’s better than Eager, Lander, Petrell or Hordichuk, but there’s no point in putting him in a fourth-line role. I’d rather see him getting high levels of ice time in OKC and being called back up when the inevitable injury occurs.
Loyal fan of the Edmonton Oilers. Don't you judge me.
In what world does playing in a lower class league help out someone? Sure he’ll get ice time, and special teams time, but that could have been done in Edmonton. I guess it is a better alternative than not playing at all, but more optimally would be given this time in the NHL on one of the worst teams in the NHL, who can obviously make the ice time avaialble.
After all, if scoring points in the AHL brings NHL success, Alex Giroux would be an NHL regular with 500 games played.
As you say, he’ll get more ice time and special teams time, and those lead to improved skills, confidence, and results.
Sometimes, AHL success doesn’t translate to NHL success. Sometimes, it does. And one thing’s for sure: if Paajarvi stays here in Edmonton, he’s so far down the depth chart at this point that he’ll spend all his time in the pressbox or on the fourth line, which is going to lead to the same minimal offense he’s posted to this point.
Yeah, he could play fourth-line minutes here in Edmonton, with poor linemates and against random goons, but the minutes he’ll get in OKC will be a lot more useful in the long run.
Loyal fan of the Edmonton Oilers. Don't you judge me.
by Ben Johnston on Dec 17, 2011 12:14 AM MST up reply actions
This is only partially true. Giroux likely could be an NHL regular, but doesn’t have a high ceiling, and likely will not out perform a genuine top 6. However, I think that there is some benefit to playing below your level.
I could play hockey against good hockey players, but if I am too far over my head, I don’t learn anything. Playing people who are poorer than I, or at my current level will be more beneficial.
Right now, with his confidence level, its hard to argue that he has been performing at the level of which he is capable. Whether that has been bounces, or luck, the results are not there right now. Building confidence is likely the more important part of this assignment. And getting reps.
Paajarvi has shown, last year, that he can play top 6 in this league, but he won’t get any better at it from the press box. There are many good players in the AHL that are not in the show for one reason or another. Once he has regained his form, I think he should be rewarded and brought back up.
Besides… these are the Oilers. Someone will be injured again soon. Call ups will be necessary.
I can agree with some of the points you made, however I guess I just personally disagree with some of the sentiment.
I am confused where Paajarvi’s confidence has come into question. He puts lots of shots on net, plays well positionally, just because there is some variance in that he is not scoring, a correlation is assumed through confidence and goal scoring. Many of his advanced metrics such as Corsi seem to indicate that his game is not suffering, especially playing with lower quality teammates.
I just get frustrated when hearing that last year, he has the talent and ability to play a top 6 role, and all of a sudden he has lost this ability and needs to be sent down to the AHL. So you must be arguing that he overperformed last year, and was playing over his head. In this case, you should believe that he is being sent down because he doesn’t have the talent to play in the NHL. Getting sent down to be called back up indicates that you do believe he has the ability to play on the Oilers. If that is that case, he should have been given ice time to allow his talent to get through bad variance, and show in the NHL.
Just curious as to how Gagner gets thrown PP time through this year, even as he struggled, and he rebounds, performing more along his historical average. Paajarvi gets thrown less ice time, demoted to play with lessor teammates, and given no powerplay time, and his solution seems to be to send him down to the AHL.
It seems as though the Oilers didn’t give Paajarvi the situation to succeed, I do not applaud them in their solution for sending him down to the AHL, as the distribution of his ice time was one manufactured by coaching staff, and not an indication of the player’s long term effectiveness.
You are correct in your statements that he has the talent to play top 6 in the NHL and was not given the chance to succeed. But the fact of the matter is, with what ice time he was given he wasnt playing well enough to force the coach to move him to a better line and someone else down. If the team plans to win games they need to use the guys who are playing the best hockey.
About confidence, sure we cant know for sure exactly how high or low it is, but sometimes a guy just needs a shakeup or something like this for a wakeup call to get back on the ball. Its not as if a couple months in OKC is going to hurt, short- or long term.
Insert Witty Comment Here
I don’t disagree that him being sent down will necessarily hurt, as better to be playing, then sitting in press box, or playing 8 minutes/night on the 4th line.
I’m just arguing that this is an okay course of action, and not the best or optimal one. Just my opinion, and not saying there aren’t historical cases of being sent down turning out to be beneficial. I just come from the school of thought in that once a talent level is established, coaches should manage ice time to maximize assets they have. My point is that Renney has managed this situation poorly, and Tambellini has an easier decision to go through with demotion because of poor ice time distribution by Renney.
If it wasn’t possible to learn a skill at a “lower” level of competition none of us would ever learn anything.
The other advantage is that this lets the Oilers know what they have. If Paajarvi can’t score at a point a game in the AHL he isn’t going to score in the NHL. Which will mean that the Oilers then need to start grooming him to contribute in other ways.
by Captain Obvious II on Dec 17, 2011 1:38 PM MST up reply actions
I think Renney is actually an effective coach when he leverages the strenghts of this players (or masks their weaknesses), and attempts to match lines and exploit imbalances. Renney has been quoted as saying that he purposely puts young players in challenging situations to enhance their learning and keep them focused on continually improving their skills.
Eberle, Hall, Hopkins, etc. won’t be nearly the quality of player in a couple of years if they just get offered up soft minutes. Lose now, win later. That’s the plan so try to enjoy it.
by John Chambers on Dec 17, 2011 7:49 AM MST up reply actions
//Renney has been quoted as saying that he purposely puts young players in challenging situations to enhance their learning and keep them focused on continually improving their skills.//
Have you seen any of this with Paajarvi? Nope.
Hall and Nugent-Hopkins are basically prodigies. Renney deserves very little credit for them. Eberle was also pretty much a player out of the box, having stayed the extra two years in junior, with the end of season time in the AHL, the two world juniors, and the menls world championship squad.
Paajarvi was Renney’s test. And its a massive #FAIL, on Renney’s part. Has a role been defined for Paajarvi where he can use what skills he has and to challenge him? NO.
In the ice time Paajarvi has been given last year and this, he may not be thriving, but he is certainly not failing. He looks like a player who has not been given a role except you get the left over even strength ice time not used by anybody else. There are clearly several forwards performing worse than he is. Renney isn’t helping Paajarvi see and become the player that he can be.
If Paajarvi were being sent down because the Oilers had better players, I would be fine with that. But Paajarvi is being send down because the coach is befuddled.
Paajarvi was Renney’s test. And its a massive #FAIL, on Renney’s part. Has a role been defined for Paajarvi where he can use what skills he has and to challenge him? NO.
I believe Omark and Lander can be included as well. Maybe even Peckham. Renney is not doing any of them favors.
Editor of The Copper & Blue, and leader of The Cult Of Hartikainen.
Totally agree. Omark is almost as good as gone and there is no reason for Lander to be in the NHL. Both of these moves are right on Renney. We should be finding out what kind of player Lander is. Otherwise next year when Lander is expected to do more he’ll be walking down the Paajarvi path with none of us knowing what kind of player he can be.
Basically every player should play some in the AHL. If you diagnose the player there then you know ahead of time how much rope they deserve in the NHL.
This is a team that is in the midst of squandering their talent and a lot of it is on Renney.
by Captain Obvious II on Dec 17, 2011 1:41 PM MST up reply actions
So Paajarvi & Omark’s talent is being squandered cuz they were sent down, and Lander’s talent is being squandered cuz he’s being kept up?
Not sure I follow the logic. Either the Barons are a developmental squad, or they aren’t.
Oilers fan through thick, thin and anorexic. Writer for The Cult of Hockey.
by Bruce McCurdy on Dec 17, 2011 5:26 PM MST up reply actions
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