Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff posted a slate of “Four Takeaways” from Sunday’s 5-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, and among his observations is this note regarding defenseman Jordan Oesterle’s play:
Jordan Oesterle Shouldn’t Be Overlooked: Amidst the hullabaloo about the Red Wings’ offeseason addiditons and the ongoing debating about who should make the team, defenseman Jordan Oesterle’s name rarely enters the discussion.
He won’t be playing a starring role for the Red Wings but he can be an effective piece of the puzzle. Oesterle is a solid puck mover. Penciled into the club’s third defensive pairing, it should give the Wings a mobile pucker mover in each pairing. In today’s up-tempo NHL, that’s a vital quality for a team to possess.
In Sunday’s loss, he led all Red Wings defenseman in ice time, skating 20:22 minutes. He collected an assist on their power-play goal. Blashill believes that Oesterle is of the requisite skill level to run a power play.
“He’s a good skater who’s smart and can do a number of different things,” Blashill said. “He can play a little bit on your power play, can kill penalties. He’s been good in five-on-five situations. He jumps up in the play, gets the puck out of the zone. He’s not a real big guy but gives us some skating ability.”
Continued; Oesterle’s been solid, if unspectacular. I’ve been impressed by his no-frills, two-way play.
Good to hear! The Wings especially can not have enough DMen with potential!
Right now they appear to have 4 pretty good DMen, with at least a couple of young DMen will be grooming in GR, soon