Yamamoto deployment

[bbfl1987]

Is there a reason Yamamoto has had almost no PP time this season? As an owner, how patient should I be? What should my long term expectations be for him?

[sweetcelly]

Yes, because they love to put a pylon like Chiasson or Neal in front of the net to try to bank pucks off of. As of late Pulju has been seeing some more powerplay time, thank god. Yam's time has been very minimal on PP1, but I'd expect to see him bounce back, would put him around a 60 point player in a normal year.

[joeb323]

It’s because McDavid, Draisaitl, Nuge, and Barrie are all locks for PP1. Positionally that leaves one opening for a net front presence, and Yamamoto doesn’t fit the mold for that. PP1 is so deadly it generally stays on the ice for the majority of the power play, PP2 doesn’t ever really see much ice time.

Yamamoto has been deployed as a penalty killer which he’s quite good at but doesn’t really help fantasy wise. He should be a lock though to stay on Drais wing for the season and beyond, so he will still be decently productive as a 2nd tier winger.

I’ve watched most of the games and he’s been one of the Oilers most consistent players all season long, but not getting as rewarded for it as much as last year.

[chuckcouples]

McDavid, Draisaitl, RNH are playing 90% of any PP. Then one of Barrie or Nurse plays the point and then Chiasson has been doing shockingly well as net front presence recently. The Oilers have also started using Puljujarvi instead of Chiasson. He's likely the long-term solution there. James Neal had 16 or so PP goals in that spot last season so he is also an option when (if) he returns. Yamamoto's not likely to get PP1 duty this season. I also don't think he deserves it at this point in his career either.