This in from the Edmonton Oilers news they have recalled Ike Howard from the Bakersfield Condors: “The Oilers have recalled forward Isaac Howard from the Condors. The first-year pro has scored 22 goals & 25 assists in 45 games with Bakersfield this season.”
The call-up comes as rising power forward Max Jones was injured in the first period of Edmonton’s loss to Los Angeles on Saturday and didn’t return to the game.
IK4
Reports analyst Ryan Holt of the Condors: “Condors get thinner up front. Howard has been a point per game over the last 8 weeks and is top 5 in goals and scoring for rookies despite playing 20+ fewer games than the rest. He’s had a fantastic rookie campaign.”
And Sportsnet’s Jack Michaels: “With Jones leaving Saturday’s game and Hyman’s status for tomorrow uncertain, Howard (6-6-12 in his last 10 AHL games) or Owen Michaels could be options vs. Colorado.”
And Cult of Hockey contributor Ira Cooper: “VERY happy the org is doing the right thing and not just slotting Owen Michaels in to the lineup. Each of Howard, Jarventie, Hutson and Hamblin have earned another NHL game or two and a few days of an NHL pay check – Michaels is only on the roster due to AHL ineligibility.”
Bakersfield scoring
My take
1. Ike Howard, Quinn Hutson, Viljami Marjala, Roby Jarventie and Josh Samanski all crushed it this year in the American Hockey League, each of them meeting or exceeding expectations. It’s a great signal for the Oilers, with Samanski already stepping up to help Edmonton win, and doing so in a key role as a centre.
2. I’ve liked what I’ve seen of Howard, but to stick in Edmonton, he’s going to have to play OK defence, which he’s done to date in his brief stints here, but also get more into the guts of the game, making more hard plays to help create Grade A and five-alarm shots.
Yes, there’s a job here for him if he can score 20 goals a year with limited power play time, essentially what Jack Roslovic has done for the Oilers this year, but to become one of the core players on the Oilers, he’s going to have to play a harder edged, more physical game in front of the net and the corners.
Can he do that? He’s not a tall guy but he’s sturdy, strong and competitive. Matt Savoie is doing it, and he’s smaller than Howard. This should be an achievable goal for Howard.
3. Any lengthy injury to forward Max Jones is a blow to the Oilers. He’s played his way on to this team with solid and smart defence and aggressive, skilled attacking. If he can come back at this same level, it will be tough to keep him out of playoff games.
4. The push from so many young forwards means that the Oilers won’t have to sign expensive free agent forwards in July, something that has blown up in their faces in recent years with failed signings like Andrew Mangiapane, Jeff Skinner and, to a lesser extent, Viktor Arvidsson. This will save Edmonton cap space.
The Oilers may still want to re-sign their own unrestricted free agents, forwards like Roslovic, Jason Dickinson, Kasperi Kapenen, and Jones, but even there, the players won’t have the strongest of leverage over the team.
Edmonton now has five or six strong replacement options bubbling up from its minor pro system. To that number, Edmonton will likely be able to include newcomer centre Owen Michaels and perhaps Russian winger Maxim Berezkin, if he signs here.
80 games
At the Cult of Hockey
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