ROOKIE CAMP: A sizeable presence on defence

EDMONTON, AB - The Redwoods won't be the only towering tree trunks in California this season.
The Bakersfield Condors, and the Edmonton Oilers organization as a whole, stand to benefit from a breadth of size, range, and mobility within the club's developing defensive prospects that are beginning to knock on the door of the National Hockey League.
"Some tall trees on the back end," Condors Head Coach Jay Woodcroft said. "It's a uniquely-built back end."
Of the nine attendees patrolling the blueline at this week's Oilers Rookie Camp, eight clock in above the 6-foot-2 height line, with both defencemen Markus Niemelainen and Michael Kesselring standing at 6-foot-5.
Defenceman Yanni Kaldis, a camp invite and the lone prospect below the six-foot mark, suited up for 28 games and registered seven assists as part of Bakersfield's run to the Pacific Division championship last season.
"You mentioned their sizes, and that's something you can't teach as a coach," Woodcroft continued. "You can't teach someone to be 6-foot-4 or 6-foot-5. They either have it or they don't, and our job as a coaching staff and an organization is to try and maximize what each person brings to the table."

This assortment of big and mobile blueliners at Rookie Camp is a testament to an organizational trend in previous years to draft tall defencemen capable of playing physical, carrying the puck up ice with speed, and making good use of their reach to break up rushes and breakouts.
Max Wanner, a seventh-round pick from the Moose Jaw Warriors at the 2021 Draft, is the latest prospect to fit that bill for Oilers management at 6-foot-3 and 185 pounds.
"That has changed a little bit in the last couple of years," Assistant General Manager Keith Gretzky
said to Bob Stauffer and 630CHED's Oilers Now
earlier this week. "Most of them are over 6-foot-3 and they're mobile. You think you can get by a guy and all of a sudden Niemo's (Markus Niemelainen) stick is flying out of left field because he's so big. They have size and it does help to defend."
Kesselring's deployment as a shutdown option with the Condors is a firm example of what the club has combed through the NHL Draft looking for in previous years, and it's a role the former Northeastern Huskies rearguard is keen to improve on this Rookie Camp following a formative season in '20-21.

"That's how I want to play my game," Kesselring said. "Two-way, still getting up in the rush, focusing on being defence-first, and using my reach to defend. I think the biggest thing for me is just to get stronger and more physical, but also when you use your strength to be able to make a breakout pass or hit the middle. So I think that's one of the big things for me to keep improving on."
At the forefront of Kesselring and his fellow rookie defencemen's development has been the influence of Condors Assistant Coach Dave Manson, whose 1,103 games of NHL experience, 102 career goals, and affinity for the physical side of the game as a former first-round draft pick in 1985 has been invaluable.
"He emphasized with me when I first got there mostly on corner battles, being strong, and then skating," Kesselring said. "I think when I was in Bakersfield just being in the practices, they're faster-paced than college. The games are obviously a lot quicker, so my pivoting got a lot better. Going back for pucks got a lot better, and that was kind of my focus this summer improving on that skillset."
The arrival of Philip Broberg on North American soil, and his potential addition to the Condors lineup, presents both Woodcroft and Manson a new dynamic to the template that might've been missing in Bakersfield this past campaign.
"It's funny, because Dave has a saying that 'it's hard to teach go'," Woodcroft said. "I think one of Philip's assets is that he has that go to his game. So it's a unique skill. I can tell you that in Bakersfield last year, we didn't have somebody that had that, so it will be an interesting element to our d-core this year if Philip ends up with us, but I would be hesitant to assume that.
I think he's going to give a good account of himself here in Training Camp. Should he end up in Bakersfield, we want to accentuate a player's positives. For a lot of young players, it's about teaching them when to pick spots and when to really go for it."

Dmitri Samorukov kept in regular contact with Manson while playing overseas in his home country of Russia in the KHL with CSKA Moscow and believes he's taken a big developmental leap towards establishing himself as an NHL regular.
"I think a lot of people feel good about the opportunities they're going to have not only here at Rookie Camp, but heading into Main Camp next week," Woodcroft said. "But I just think the collection of young talent on the back end is an exciting aspect of our organization."
Regardless of how the rest of Rookie Camp and next week's Main Camp shake out, the Bakersfield bench boss is looking forward to the potential talent that could be awarded to him for the upcoming AHL season.
"I'm excited about the potential players that might end up in Bakersfield, for sure," he said.