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When Oiler winger Raffi Torres agreed to return to the AHL last week, it opened the door for speculation as to what other Oiler prospects fans could possibly see in Edmonton this year. There have been reports that offensive defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron is in negotiations to follow Torres’ example and sign a minor league contract. However, the biggest news of the week is that 2002 first round draft pick Jesse Niinimaki will join the Road Runners for the rest of the AHL season.

As first mentioned on Halloween by Robin Brownlee in the Edmonton Sun, the Oilers approached Bill Zito, Niinimaki’s agent, about the chances of the Finnish center skating in Edmonton this year.

Due to the influx of NHL players to the top European leagues, several key Oiler prospects have lost ice time or even roster spots on their teams. The CBA issues in North America have affected Dragan Umicevic, Jonas Almtorp, Kalle Olsson and Fredrik Johansson just to name a few in Sweden alone. In Niinimaki’s case it was Ilves Tampere’s acquisition of Atlanta Thrasher center Patrik Stefan that saw his ice time diminish and expedited this move to Edmonton.

Early on Thursday morning the Finnish club issued a statement on its website confirming that Niinimaki had come to terms with Edmonton in order to play in the American League. It is expected that an official announcement from the Oilers will follow by the weekend.

Niinimaki will be in Alberta this weekend and will have to go to Calgary in order to complete his immigration paperwork before he can join the Road Runners on their six-game, 14-day road trip. The 21-year-old should be with the club by the time they face off in Houston on October 14^th and he could step right in and play without having to first practice much with the club.

“He’s in game shape so I think it’s just a matter of (coach) Geoff (Ward) finding where he fits in to play,” said Kevin Prendergast the VP of Hockey Operations of the Oiler organization. “Now that we’ve got the bad news on J.J. Hunter being out of the line up it creates a spot for him, but it’s up to him to come in a show us that he deserves it.”

Hunter was run from behind on the weekend by Syracuse defender Zenith Komarniski and sustained a badly injured shoulder that early reports indicate a possible 2-3 month layoff. Hunter’s misfortune does provide the Road Runners with an opening for Niinimaki although the two pivots play distinctly different games.

While Hunter is proving to be more than the checking forward he has been pegged as, Niinimaki is a dynamic offensive player who is expected to eventually play on one of the top two lines and generate a lot of points. Unfortunately, Mike Bishai and Jarret Stoll currently hold down those two positions and aren’t going to willingly step aside for the new kid in town.

“Jesse’s got to come over here and learn the North American style of game and obviously that is a big change for anybody coming over form Europe being used to the bigger ice surface,” said Prendergast. “(Ward) will find a place for him to play, I’m sure he’ll start on the fourth line and he’ll have to work his way up. The two guys at the top are our top two guys so he’ll have to work hard to unseat them.”

Niinimaki is going to have to work even harder off the ice to get into the condition the Oilers expect of him. While summer reports declared the 6’3 forward to be tilting the scales at close to 200 lbs, those reports were completely false. In truth, Niinimaki is still on the light side of 185 lbs, a full 15 pounds shy of where the club wants him to be before considering the NHL.

“He’s one of those guys that we’ll have to push hard to get him to be the player we think he can be but he has the talent to get there,” Prendergast said. “He’s not as big as we’d like at this time; he’s going to spend a lot of time with Daryl Duke.”

Despite his less than imposing physical presence, Niinimaki has a boatload of talent to showcase for Edmonton fans. He’s described as being a gifted playmaker that uses his vision and soft hands together with his great speed and agility to create offensive scoring opportunities for himself and his linemates. If there is a concern it will be with his ability to survive initially in the very physical atmosphere of North American arenas.

“I don’t know if there’s a physical component to his game yet, being in the Finnish league the way it is, but he’ll learn that very quickly,” admitted Prendergast. “He has that knack to get out of the way but certainly guys are going to take runs at him. It’s like that in the American League, they know you’re a first rounder and they’re going to see what you’re made of. I think he’s got that type of personality that he might get hit once but it isn’t going to happen very often because he’s going to learn very quickly.”

The basic truth is that this is a key prospect in the Oiler system and the club couldn’t sit back and watch the talented center regress due to the NHL’s problems. Coming off a lost year because of a destroyed shoulder, Niinimaki cannot afford anything less than a year where he is getting a lot of ice time and is being challenged on the ice.

Fans have every right to get just as excited about Niinimaki’s arrival as they are about goalie Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers joining the squad this year. Both are near the top of the team’s prospect depth chart, but don’t expect that that will mean a free ride once Niinimaki pulls on a ‘Runners sweater.

“He’s a first rounder and we went out on a limb to take him and we feel he has a lot of upside but as far as getting preferential treatment because he’s a first rounder, that isn’t going to happen.” Prendergast warned. “He’s going to have to unseat the guys playing ahead of him and that’s a coaching decision for Geoff Ward.”

“We’re going to look at him and bring him along at our pace now. He’s got a road ahead of him; this isn’t going to be easy. He’s played at an elite level in Europe so it’s not as though he’s coming down a level but it is a different style of play.”

Edmonton fans will have to wait until Sunday November 21^st to get their first glimpse of Niinimaki in Road Runner silks. That is the first day back for the club and they will host the St. John’s Maple Leafs in what is scheduled as an afternoon tilt at Rexall Place.

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