Jeff Petry - #6 in the Oilers Top 25 Under 25

Jeff Petry: check that last number again there Mildred!

The draft/prospect system is kind of like a weighted lottery system wherein a player in that lottery (a team) can improve their chances to win the lottery by two methods: having more tickets or purchasing better tickets. That said it is still a lottery. Winning tickets are rare.

What makes the process so damn frustrating is that the draft/prospects system is also like unto betting at the tracks wherein a player at the cage can choose to what extent they are willing to hedge their bet in order to produce a winning ticket – betting your ticket to show may reduce the possible payout but at least you won.

So there are the two games at play – the first being to get lots of tickets and try to make as many of those as possible quality tickets AND the second being to determine the expected payout desired of each ticket.

It ain’t an easy game to play. Teams lose more often than not. Not just because they are often left holding a slip that doesn’t pay, but also because the ones that do pay often don’t pay enough.

Jeff Petry may be that rare horse that wins it all.  And the Oilers defense needs that kind of a win in the worst way right now.

Previous Rank: 12

Petry's professional boxcar stats aren't all that great (courtesy Hockeydb):

But his advanced stats reveal him to be a player that has taken advantage of the learning opportunities available to him.  Paired with Smid and Vandermeer, Petry was often favoured with good zone starts and protected minutes (given what happened with Chorney this is a good thing imo), and he repaid that kindness by posting impressive differentials and working his way onto the 2^nd pairing on the penalty kill.

For me.  I just love his game.  It's a calm game that he plays.  Heady even.  The kind of game that reminds me of a lot of Charlie Huddy and Randy Gregg.  Unlike a prospect like David Musil who is average at almost everything and has no dominant skill to compensate, Petry is projecting to be a bit above average on a lot of things (skating, passing, positioning, smarts to name a few).  Moreover, if a Musil or Teubert or Plante ever take a step big enough to put it all together they ‘could' be an effective #4 type guy but if Petry takes the same size of step and puts it all together... wow.

It's called gushing and, I admit it, I am.  But for me, well, Petry made Smid look like an effective babysitter and that is a heck of a thing given that Smid is usually the one who needs babysitting (Gilbert pulled off the same trick btw - only better).  Most of the rating team is now convinced that Petry is a winning ticket and that is why we all have him rated comfortably in the top-10.  The trick now is to find out just what we've won.

I think we've won big with Petry.  His floor is second pair.  One of the reasons I wanted Larsson drafted is that I saw Larsson and Petry forming a dominant duo on the blue as early as the 2012/13 season.  Ah well. Ryan Murray 2012?