FanHouse SamGagner

Kings 5, Capitals 4: Exciting game in Washington as the Caps and Kings combined to light up the scoreboard with nine goals and 80 shots in Los Angeles' 5-4 win. The Kings had a number of two-goal leads throughout the night, including a 5-3 advantage late in the third period. With just over a minute to play in regulation, Brooks Laich scored his 13th goal of the season, closing the deficit to just one.

Jonathan Quick managed to hold on for the Kings in net, as Washington fired 22 shots on goal in the third period, and 45 for the game. Alex Ovechkin scored his 37th goal of the season -- and 200th of his career -- for the Capitals.

It's great to see quality NHL action return to Chicago after years of disappointing hockey, and man, what a team the windy city has. With their 4-1 win in Minnesota on Sunday, the Blackhawks picked up their ninth straight victory, improving their record to 20-6-7, good enough for the fifth best record in the league.

Chicago received a four-point performance from Dustin Byfuglien, who scored a pair of goals in the first period and also added a pair of assists later in the game, as the Blackhawks dominated Minnesota. Cristobal Huet faced only 19 shots, turning away 18 of them to pick up his fifth consecutive win in goal. During his personal winning streak, Huet has allowed only four goals, posting a .967 save percentage.

Cal Clutterbuck scored Minnesota's only goal, while Martin Havlat and Kris Versteeg added tallies for the Blackhawks.

While Chicago has been reeling off win after win, the Wild have been going the opposite direction winning just two of their past 10 games.

After setting an NHL record for the best start through 30 games, the San Jose Sharks ran into a brick wall on Wednesday by the name of Steve Mason. The Columbus rookie netminder stopped 47 shots in a 2-1 overtime win for the Blue Jackets.

For the Sharks, the loss snaps a three-game winning streak, though, they still haven't lost a game in regulation since November 9, so they've gained at least a point in 15 straight games. The Blue Jackets have now won three of their past four, all of which have come with Mason in net, who seems to be cementing himself as the team's No. 1 goaltender. The 47-save performance against San Jose improves his save percentage on the season to an impressive .929, while his record goes to 9-5-1.

The game remained scoreless through the first two periods, until San Jose's Devin Setoguchi scored at the 3:41 mark of the third period. Later in the frame, Mike Peca picked up his second of the season, tying the game, ultimately sending it to overtime.

The Blue Jackets registered only one shot in the extra period, though, they made it count as R.J. Umberger scored his ninth goal of the season to give Columbus the win.

Welcome to the NHL FanHouse 2008-09 season preview. While other sites are previewing "30 teams in 30 days," we decided to take advantage of the extra time off before the start of the season to bring you all 30 previews over the next three weeks. We're counting down in reverse order of finish from last season in each conference every weekday from now until October 3. Look for an Eastern Conference preview every morning and a Western Conference preview every afternoon. Click here to read them all.

Who's In: Erik Cole, F (Trade-CAR); Lubomir Visnovsky, D (Trade-LA); Ryan Potulny, F (Trade-PHI), Gilbert Brule, F (Trade-CBJ)

Who's Out: Jarret Stoll, F (Trade-LA); Marty Reasoner, F (FA-ATL); Joni Pitkanen, D (Trade-CAR); Matt Greene, D (Trade-LA); Curtis Glencross, F (FA-CGY); Raffi Torres, F (Trade-CBJ)

What's Changed: Edmonton finished last year on a 18-10-1 run, so the idea in the offseason was to improve this team. The Oilers made their run on the backs of an assortment of young players, and hopes are high in the Land of Oil for this team. Edmonton brought in Cole from Carolina, giving their top line the punch and experience it needed. Cole will likely work with "veteran" Shawn Horcoff (just turned 30) and the greatly-talented Ales Hemsky on the top line.

The other significant move the Oilers made involved replacing offensive-minded defenseman Pitkanen, who was dealt for Cole. Edmonton packaged Stoll and Greene in a deal for Visnovsky, who was minus-18 last year but on a painfully bad Los Angeles team. He'll make sure that the defensive corps doesn't miss Pitkanen too much.

Outside of those two moves, not much has changed in Edmonton, except that the kids are a year older. Andrew Cogliano (45 points in 2007), Hemsky (71), Sam Gagner (49), Robert Nilsson (41), Kyle Brodziak (31), Tom Gilbert (33), and Dustin Penner (47) all were a big part of the team's late-season resurgence, and Penner - at age 26 - is the oldest of this group. Saying that their best days are ahead of them is an understatement.

While the Edmonton Oilers have a butt-ugly looking roster, and are about defensively inept as Todd Bertuzzi on one of his lazy days, they are still within striking distance of a playoff spot. With 25 points in 27 games, the Oilers are just three points behind 8th place Nashville, San Jose, Columbus, and Anaheim, as the Western Conference has a huge logjam for that final, precious playoff spot. As much as I deride the Northern Albertan club, you can generally count on the Oilers to go down fighting. I'm quite shocked that they aren't lurking deep in the Western Conference basement.

The fact that the Oilers have even a sniff of the playoffs is thanks to two major factors.

1. The Oilers rock the shootout. The Oilers aren't simply loading up on cheapie OT-loss points, since the Edmonton boys are a league best 6-1 in the post-OT skills competition.

Ales Hemsky leads the league with four shootout goals (in seven attempts), while young Sam Gagner is three-for-six, himself. The Oilers are scoring at a 50% clip, well above the league average of 34.29%.

2. The goaltending of Mathieu Garon. Old man Dwayne Roloson, and his wonky knee, has struggled to maintain his #1 status this season. In comes Garon to save the day for the Oilers, and put up the kind of numbers that were expected of him many years ago, when Garon was a top prospect.

Garon: 12GP 6-4-0 2.37GAA 91.4SV%
Roloson: 18GP 6-10-1 2.97GAA 90.3SV%

We must also note that Garon has let in just one goal in 10 shootout attempts against, helping pump up that impressive shootout record.

Shootout mastery is a skill that can't be counted on, but perhaps Garon's fine goaltending can be. If the Oilers can hold the fort until some of their injured stars come back (Sheldon Souray, big time), they might still be in the thick of things come February and March. I don't expect the Oilers to be that good, but we know they are always capable of surprising us pundits.

Every few weeks, FanHouse will feature a look at this season's rookie class, spotlighting surprising diamonds on the rough, struggling blue chippers, and everyone else in between.

After about a half dozen games, we're approaching the point where teams with junior-eligible players have to decide to keep the player for the entire season, or send him back down. Sam Gagner (pictured) of Edmonton, as discussed previously, is the biggest such name. Teams must weight the benefit of developing and having the player on their roster against the possibility that said player will become an unrestricted free agent at the age of 25 or 26.

Now that we're well underway, we've also had a pretty decent look at this season's rookie class, and can see a few trends.

1. Rebuilding teams are doing well. The Phoenix Coyotes, Edmonton Oilers, and Chicago Blackhawks each two of their rookies in the top 10 in the rookie scoring race.

2. Andrew Cogliano = The early leader. While Sam Gagner grabs all of the headlines, Cogliano has been the one churning out the offence for the struggling Oilers. With five points in six games, the 20-year old 2005 first rounder looks to have arrived in style. He's also the only rookie to have a short-handed goal, pointing to his flexibility to adapt to many roles and kill penalties.

Over at his home blog, James Mirtle has been keeping tabs on players which have survived the last of their team's training camp cuts, and will begin the season on their respective pro rosters.

Along with the well-hyped Calder candidates (such as Nicklas Backstrom, Patrick Kane, and Jack Johnson) are quite a few other skilled prospects which teams hope will develop into a solid full-time players for their squad.

A few to watch out for:

1. Jonathan Bernier, G, Los Angeles Kings - The Kings had some serious issues on goal. Rather than go with old hand Dan Cloutier, the Kings decided to keep the 19-year Bernier (their first rounder from '06) and start him in their season opener against the LA Kings. So far, so good, as Bernier won his debut match.

2. Milan Lucic, W, Boston Bruins - The Memorial Cup MVP (pictured) didn't have a point in the preseason, but the Bruins loved his physical style and brute strength. Lucic has come a long way in the past year, and will make at least a very good 4th line enforcer. He has a lot of upside, and is expected to be returned to the WHL. Keep an eye on him, as he'll be kicking ass and taking names in the NHL in the near future. Whether he'll be another Todd Bertuzzi (minus all of the attitude issues) or another Brad May (minus the cheap shots) remains to be seen.

3. Andrej Sekera, D, Buffalo Sabres - A third round pick from '04, Sekera is an underrated delight who is adept at both ends of the rink. He's not a likely Calder candidate, but should provide the Sabres with solid 2-way play for many years to come. Is he ready this year? I would opine that he needs another season of AHL seasoning, but the Sabres might not have the luxury of time.

With the Edmonton Oilers in search of offensive help, empty-headed GM Kevin Lowe has shown that he'll do anything he can to get his smelly hands on somebody who can score a few goals.

Massively overpay for a restricted free agent? Check (Dustin Penner).

Trade for a has-been winger who is more predictable than a network sitcom? Check (Geoff Sanderson).

Invite washed-up, lazy winger with a history of disinterest? Check (Anson Carter).

Well, we might add "sign your first round draft pick to a deal and stick him on the first line" to the list above. With the Oilers showing serious interest in keeping Sam Gagner, the sixth overall pick in this past summer's draft, we just might see the 18-year old in the NHL when the season starts.

The Oilers and Gagner's camp are opening discussions, trying to get an entry-level deal sorted out.

The base money is pretty stock given where he was drafted (the rookie maximum is $850,000). The only haggling point would be choosing an NHL bonus schedule - one is worth an additional $875,000, the other $2 million more, if he hits all the targets.

"I don't really worry about the contract side of things," said Gagner. "If I worry about that it'll be just another unneeded thing on my mind. I just try and focus on playing hockey and enjoy myself while I'm out there. Hopefully it'll work out for the best."

Now, when an 18-year old makes the NHL, they are usually there for a short audition (Gilbert Brule), they are there due to the short-sightedness of management (Manny Malhotra), or they truly belong in the bigs (Sidney Crosby).

Bringing in such a young man is generally a big risk, and ends up costing the team more in errors and blown coverage than in actual net offense/defense. Sure, the guy might score 15 goals, but if he goes -25, what good is it to the team to have a player in way over his head?

In the current CBA, a player can become an unrestricted free agent at the age of 27, OR after seven accrued seasons of service. Thus, an 18-year old playing full-time from the start could be free and clear by the age of 25! Yes, that is the age when most players are just primed to explode and put out their best production. Watch your years of development and training go out the window when he signs with another team, right?

So, before the Oilers do something even more foolish, they must ask themselves if it is really worth it to potentially lose one of their more skilled prospects by the time he is 25. If Gagner is not going to help the Oilers SIGNIFICANTLY this season, then he should be right back in juniors, developing his game until he's truly ready to give the Oilers a positive impact on the ice. It's not as if the Oilers will make the playoffs, anyway.

This is one in a series of profiles of the International Scouting Service's 2007 Top 15 NHL Draft Prospects, and relies heavily on the 2007 NHL Entry Draft Media Guide. Check back often leading up to the June 22 Entry Draft for more profiles and draft coverage and analysis.

Name: Sam Gagner
Team/League: London/OHL
Vitals: 5'11", 191 pounds, forward, shoots right
Born: August 10, 1989 in London, Ontario

The low-down: Great passer and playmaker... defensively responsible... decent skater, but needs some work... a bit undersized... youngest member of the Canadian gold medal-winning 2007 World Juniors team... 35 goals, 83 assists in 53 games for the Dale Hunter-coached London Knights of the OHL this past season... his dad Dave played 15 years in the NHL and twice scored 40 goals in a season... patterns his game after Peter Forsberg... favorites include the Goo Goo Dolls, Will Ferrell and Family Guy.

Matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a match: The Columbus Blue Jackets have never had the right set-up man for superstar Rick Nash, but will likely have the chance to draft perhaps the best playmaker in the draft in Gagner. They should jump at the opportunity.

For much more on Gagner, check out this Hockey's Future profile, this CBC.ca profile, this NHL.com Q&A, this Toronto Star article, and this very impressive coast-to-coast goal:

(Photo credit: Getty Images)