Prospects: Josh Bailey and Gilbert Brule

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Introduction, Brule, and Bailey

Today the Edmonton Oilers sent Gilbert Brule down to the Springfield Falcons of the AHL. To anyone who has been following the Oilers, it is likely not a shock that the young player was sent down but it was an interesting development to me, at least, a person who was at one point extremely optimistic and excited when the Columbus Blue Jackets drafted him. He was due for another year in the WHL after being a very dominant player for the Vancouver Giants as he was not eligible to be sent to the AHL by the Blue Jackets. Fearing that his development would be stunted by being sent down to the WHL again the Blue Jackets kept him with the big club in hopes that he could learn and develop with them.

Sadly he got hurt before having a shot at demonstrating what he was capable of doing and was sent to play with the Giants when he did eventually recover from his injury.

The next season (2006-07) Brule stayed with the Blue Jackets in a limited role, not impressing anyone and scoring a grand 19 points in 78 games. This is hardly impact that one would have hoped for from a player who could dominate in the WHL and once had his match ups versus Sidney Crosby glorified as the meeting of two future stars. Last season Brule did eventually spend time in the AHL playing for the Syracuse Crunch before being shipped off to Edmonton this summer for Raffi Torres.

His being sent to the minors seems to just be a highlight on how far the former 6th overall pick has fallen from grace. Naturally, a lot of people want to speculate on why he hasn't been able to succeed in the NHL. Some suggest that he just was never going to succeed in the NHL because his style of play was not fitting of his size and the shift over from being physical against boys versus being physical against much stronger men would just not work. Others put the blame on the Blue Jackets for rushing his development rather than sending him back to the WHL for another year, and immediately to the AHL as soon as he was eligible. Others still believe that he will still be a great player in the NHL and that his development is just a slow one.

I had a lot of faith that Gilbert Brule would be a star in the NHL and after watching him develop these last couple years I have to admit that I no longer have any faith that he will be able to make an impact. I think that he will still find a way to form his game so that he can maintain a roster spot in the NHL, but a far cry from the franchise player label I felt his talent was going to take him to.

That said, it is important to remember that Brule is still only 21 years old. The fact that he has nearly 2 years experience in the NHL may, in the end, be great for his development. For many players it takes them a number of years to find their comfort zone in the NHL.

The New York Islanders, on the other hand, today released their 23-man roster which included recent 9th overall pick Joshua Bailey. Bailey is expected to be in the lineup for the Islanders on Friday likely holding up a spot on the 2nd line alongside Kyle Okposo and Sean Bergenheim. Despite the fact that 7 of the 8 players picked higher than Bailey in the recent NHL draft are expected to start the season with their respect NHL clubs I think you have to question the reasoning behind this move.

The New York Islanders traded down twice in the recent draft with the intention all along of selecting Bailey. Some time has passed, camps have started, and a lot of the players taken higher are looking fantastic, and a lot of those players were guys that the Islanders could have had but chose to move down while keeping their eye on Bailey. Nikitia Filatov is looking like he will be ready to start the season, an array of defencemen including the likes of Pietrangelo as well as Phoenix Coyotes forward Mikkel Boedker. All of these guys have looked great in the camps and pre-season for their teams. Bailey, on the other hand, has played in only 2 pre-season games due to an injury and has not looked better than mediocre and at times looked plainly over matched.

Why the team might have kept him:
1) They genuinely feel that he's ready.
2) They want to justify moving down twice to select him.
3) They don't think they got a good enough look at him in pre-season.
4) They lack intelligence.
5) They don't feel that the OHL will provide him the development pieces that he needs.

Why they shouldn't keep him:
1) He could go back to the OHL and Captain a great squad potentially to a championship.
2) The Islanders suck with or without him.
3) It may hurt his development to rush him into the NHL.

The third one is the interesting one. Is this really something that will hurt the development of players? Are those that suggest this is what killed Brule correct? Did Pittsburgh do Marc-Andre Fleury a disservice by getting him starts so early and ruining his confidence?

Alternatively, did the rush to the NHL help Sidney Crosby develop into the elite player he is today? Would Sam Gagner be regarded nearly as well if he wasn't given his chance to succeed last season? Did that practice help Fleury learn how to develop his confidence?

From my side I think the best thing for Bailey has to be to send him back to the OHL where he can not only be a leader, but he can potentially lead his team to a championship. That experience has to be good for the kid. I can't imagine that spending a year on a pitiful NHL team is really going to help him much more than being the captain of a winner. I'm not expert though, so who am I to say what is right and what is wrong? It seems more like a crap shoot to me.

I have to admit that I am skeptical about the concern regarding young players getting to start the season with their NHL clubs. I think the 9 game trials are a great chance for NHL teams to see how these young guys respond to the NHL style of play. Some players feed off of the challenge, and I imagine others need more time and a gradual development into the NHL just as this true with developing any kind of skill set. I do hope that if Bailey isn't showing the kind of progress that Gagner did early on for Edmonton last year that the Islanders will send him back to the OHL.

Garth Snow and friends at the Islanders are for sure hoping the Joshua Bailey can make them look like geniuses. For so long now it seems they have tried to screw up their team at every possible turn, and as a poolster myself I am hoping that they aren't wrong on Bailey.