In case you haven’t heard the Edmonton Oilers signed Ty Rattie to a one-year contract. Some might see that as a brilliant move given the glimpse Rattie showed during a 14-game stint at the end of the regular season.
Or it could be a desperate move by Oilers’ GM to keep his place atop the organization’s food chain. Or maybe, just maybe he has found a missing to piece to the Todd McLellan puzzle called find Connor a winger.
Rattie is no spring chicken, but then the 25-year old Alberta native is not over the hill either as he is actually just entering into the prime of his career. His NHL road to patrolling Captain Connor McDavid’s right side started when the Oilers signed him as a free agent in 2017. He was originally being drafted by the St. Louis Blues in the second round of the 2011 draft.
This is opportunity could be a one-shot deal as there will be a winger or two coming up next year, like Kailer Yamamoto who put up 3 points in nine games last year in the Regular season. And he had a very good pre-season playing the right side on a line centered by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. As RNH and McDavid had very good chemistry last year, Yamamoto might be the missing piece.
But I digress.
On the surface Rattie seems to have all the right tools picking up 21 goals and 22 assists for 43 points in 53 games with the Bakersfield Condors the Oilers’ American Hockey League affiliate. Despite the shortened season because of the call-up, he still led the team in goals and eventually finished second in assists.
Before Connor (BC) Rattie played with St. Louis Blues and the Carolina Hurricanes. In Edmonton, he played 14 games along McDavid scoring five goals and four assists for nine points. Granted the sample size is small but stretched over 82 games his numbers parlay into 29 goals and 52 points. The other factor to consider is this is a small sample size and there is a good possibility this winger will get better at working with McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.
As long as Rattie remembers and continues to remember he is a sniper who likes to pass once in a while, he should be okay. The rule here should be simple. When Connor passes the puck to a winger in the slot. There should be no debate. No thought about passing it back to the point. Heck, don’t even think about giving it back to McDavid.
In that position, the Blades of Steel rule of law applies: Don’t think, just shoot. Don’t hesitate, just shoot. Don’t think about passing the puck back to the point, just shoot.
By Verhomme