‘I THINK WE GOT BETTER’
Oilers centre Letestu likes the Hall deal
As one of the few players who spends his summers in Edmonton, centre Mark Letestu can empathize with the unrest felt by some fans in Oilers Nation over the Taylor Hall trade two months ago, but he really likes the deal for defenceman Adam Larsson.
“I got over it in two days ... guys come and go,” said Letestu, not being flippant, just realistic. “I know there’s a certain attachment fans have with Taylor ... he was the light, part of the players who were going to take us to the playoffs. But for me, I think we got better.”
The entire league knew the Oilers were looking for a right-shooting defencemen and played hardball with GM Peter Chiarelli. There were no gifts being tossed around.
“No doubt, but I think we got what we needed. For years the narrative’s been we had to be tougher on the back end and we accomplished that in the summer," said Letestu.
Letestu played against Larsson when he was with Columbus Blue Jackets and Larsson was in New Jersey.
“He’s steady ... he doesn’t play a flashy game. You don’t see him on the highlights and maybe that’s why there’s so much angst (with fans),” said Letestu. “But he fits what we’re trying to do more and that’s keep the puck out of our net more and it sounds like there’s more offence to him and he’ll probably get that opportunity here. We needed help on the back end and had to pay a high price for that.
“That’s unfortunate, but we’re into building a better team, we’re trying to be more balanced. Sure, we’re going to lose some goals. I don’t think the pressure will go solely on Jesse (Puljujarvi). Connor (McDavid) will be another year older, Nuge (Ryan Nugent-Hopkins) will be healthy, Patty Maroon will have a full year with us and I’m sure Milan (Lucic) will add stuff. The offence will just be more spread out.”
Letestu will contribute, most likely in a fourth-line role, which is where he truly sees himself. He averaged 15:46 of ice time last year (eighth among the team’s forwards) because he won faceoffs (51.3 per cent), played some second-unit power play and killed penalties. He had 12 power-play points, the same as Hall and one more than Jordan Eberle and Nugent-Hopkins, if you’re keeping score.
“I probably played too many minutes, but there were situations that led to that, whether it was injuries or performance (elsewhere). The coach trusted me in a lot of situations, especially on faceoffs where I took a lot of right-side draws,” he said.
“I don’t expect to play much on the power play this year with what we have. I come in with as little expectations as possible, wherever Todd (McLellan) throws me over the boards.
The ability to also play the wing, to move up and down ... that’s always been part of my game, the ability to push other guys above me,” said Letestu, who’s heard the criticism that he’s playing too high up in the lineup.
“That comes with the territory. My performance last year was OK (25 points); it wasn’t great. But if I can settle into a fourth-line role where I’ve been comfortable, I think we have the makings of a good fourth line.” ON THE BENCH: Oilers buyout winger Lauri Korpikoski ($500,000 this season and $1 million in 2017-18) remains unsigned, but will use the World Cup, where he’s on the Finnish team, to try and draw interest from an NHL squad. He’d be a good fourth-line winger for about $800,000 ... Freeagent right-shot defenceman Matt Benning (NCAA) remains in the Oilers’ sights. They have room to sign the sturdy Benning with 47 pro contracts, three under the max. They don’t have a lot of right shooters on their AHL team ... The Oilers’ first pick in Round 3, 6-foot-6 puck-moving Finnish defenceman Markus Niemelainen, who was a consensus secondrounder by most scouting services, decided to stay in junior with Saginaw, Mich., of the Ontario Hockey League rather than return home ... Local forward Mark McNeill, whose name came up in a possible trade from Chicago to the Oilers at the draft but nothing happened, signed a one-year, twoway deal with the Hawks in July. He’s spinning his wheels there. They view Nick Schmaltz, Ryan Hartman, Tyler Motte and Vince Hinostroza higher up their organizational ladder at forward, only giving McNeill one NHL game last season. McNeill needs a different NHL team.