I can't find the actual poster from the 70s, but this is pretty cool and gets the point across nicely.
For Kevin Lowe, there's no real reason to be patient and wait for the Oilers to right the ship. Why? They don't have enough NHL players to compete every night, and developing forwards 6 at a time is a bad, bad idea.
Coach MacT is putting Horcoff and Hemsky back together (based on the Oilers site today) and Robby Nilsson is the LW for the line.
That's not all.
MacT is also putting together a "checking line" featuring Stoll, Torres and Zack Stortini.
So, Horcoff's line will apparently be getting softer minutes and Zack Stortini is the new Mike Grier.
Wouldn't it be easier to deal for a legit, veteran RW from the Mike Grier family of checkers?
Let's do it another way. How many games does a hockey player need to play at the NHL level in order to be an "established" NHL player? 82? That's just one season, seems a little light. How about 100? Still not enough? Okay, 150 NHL games. That's pretty much two seasons.
Here are the Edmonton Oilers' forwards on the current active roster and their career NHL games played:
- Geoff Sanderson 1083
- Shawn Horcoff 447
- Marty Reasoner 403
- Ales Hemsky 295
- Raffi Torres 295
- Jarret Stoll 225
- Dustin Penner 121
- Robert Nilsson 69
- Zack Stortini 39
- Kyle Brodziak 35
- Andrew Cogliano 20
- Sam Gagner 19
That's 6 players who have over 150 NHL games as of tonight. One of the guys with lots of experience is long in the tooth (Sanderson) and another is a role player (Reasoner).
So, it's 4. Horcoff-Hemsky, Stoll-Torres.
The arguments against a deal are:
- Moreau's coming back. (Answer: WHEN?)
- Pisani's coming back. (Answer: WHEN?)
- There's nothing out there. (Answer: Didn't we hear that last year?)
- The Oilers have 50 players on the roster. (Answer: SO WHAT?)
- The Oilers are close to the cap. (Answer: SO WHAT?)
The Oilers need a checking RW for the Stoll line when Stortini comes up wanting, and the price (in terms of payment and dollars) isn't going to be $5M. Dealing Pouliot + isn't going to hurt the current roster and bringing in a solid veteran to help with the heavy lifting on the tough opposition line is so obvious it's ridiculous.
Kevin Lowe needs to make a trade. I believe Craig MacTavish is a quality NHL coach, but don't believe he can develop this many young forwards at one time. I don't think anyone can. When does juggling become impossible?
When you have too many balls in the air.
LT: Did you listen to KLowe on Oilers Live. He said no movement until all the players are healthy so he can assess the team.
ReplyDeleteHe did say moves need to be made.
He said Pisani might be the first one back. Do not know if that was a quip or not.
He also says most GM's are calling hoping for a pick your pocket desperation move.
That does not sound promising for moves until start of January.
People most nights you can just read away because someone is going to bring up your point in the comments.
Dennis
Icedragoon
Bruce
Ribs
Rod
are my favorites. You initiate the full range of thought.
Grabia and Steve make me laugh. Im sure they have a wall full of books in there memory bank.
Congratulations LT: Thank you for entertaining, educating, and starting the old memory bank.
rickibear: I actually didn't listen to it, meant to but forgot. Lowe may say that publicly, but he has to be weighing options.
ReplyDeleteThis Stortini love is unfathomable. The Oilers have a half dozen players in Springfield better than this guy and yet now he's getting promoted?
ReplyDeleteSurely he'll get the usual 7-9 min and we'll watch Hemsky and Brodziak double shift in his place... I hope.
He also says most GM's are calling hoping for a pick your pocket desperation move.
Kevin's a fucking broken record.
He should have added "another" in there.
As in "Most GM's are hoping to bend me over for another pick your pocket desperation move."
I was thrilled to see 10 and 83 put back together in the new lines but Kenta's son on the first line? and then who of the other 9 guys is the 2nd line? The problem with making a deal is where do you begin and where do you end?
ReplyDeleteLT,
ReplyDeleteAs a member of the coaching fraternity, I have to feel sorry for MacT in all of this. Sometimes, you have no choice, but to try and piece together a masterpiece from various parts of comedies and tragedies.
Right now the comedies are Penner, Roli, and Nilsson, while the tragedies are Souray, Pisani, and Moreau (although he's looking mighty Month Pythonish lately).
What does MacT do now? Juggle the lines and hope that somehow the Elephant Man, Raging Bull, Mr. Creosote, and Biggus Dickus turn into Cool Hand Luke or Slapshot.
Klowe's stubborn streak really has made him a lame duck GM.
Listening to Lowe now is like listening to Castro: some of the spiel is the same thing and you can never tell what year he's speaking about.
ReplyDeleteAt this point, I don't even know if you want to wish for Lowe making moves. It's not like he has a recent history of making the right ones
Nilsson's a weird cat. He had a decent stretch for 2-3 games there while Horcoff was digging the puck out for him, but he's gone and disappeared again. Magic Man indeed.
ReplyDeletePenner would be twice as effective if he quit trying to beat someone at the blueline and just starts dumping it in. I'm a little tired of watching him get backchecked in the neutral zone all the time.
There has been one effing deal in the NHL this year. Jason Baska-whatever for a draft pick. The market is frozen up. It mostly was last year, and it seems worse this year. To hope for a trade is sort of hopeless, methinks.
ReplyDeletePutting Horcoff and Hemsky back together is the right thing.
Stoll has been sucking the life out of anyone he has been playing with this year. Putting him with Torres and Stortini is a good idea because Stortini and Torres weren't providing offense anyway.
Hopefully, Torres and Stortini will bang, and maybe Stoll can knock in a few rebounds.
This will also free up Penner for a softer minute roll where maybe he can get his offense on track.
godot10 said...
ReplyDeleteThere has been one effing deal in the NHL this year.
There were two today.
If there's one thing Kevin Lowe has been good at saying AND doing it has definitely been standing pat on the trade front. Is now the time for that trend to change? I just don't buy it.
ReplyDeleteThings would be different if Edmonton were healthy or if their injuries were longer term. With hope on the near horizon and harsh truths further away, I don't think the K-Lowe we have watched these past few years is a good bet to change course.
I wonder: Do you think Kevin really believes that adding Moreau and Pisani up front, and Souray and Pitkanen on the back end is going to right the ship? Perhaps he doesn't possess the forsight, to see that this team isn't one Pisani and one Souray away from contending for eighth.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I can't even fathom a possible trade or a string of deals that could resurrect this ghoulish hockey team. Where would one even start?
I guess you could make a list of the players you wouldn't deal.
Mine would include:
Hemsky
Horcoff
Gagner
Cogliano
Man, that's all I can think of.
Taking bloated salaries, contract length, and lack of production into account, can anyone isolate other players on the roster that could attract a meaningful return?
"There has been one effing deal in the NHL this year."
ReplyDelete//There were two today.//
When a real honest-to-goodness NHL player gets traded for a real honest-to-goodness NHL player, wake me up.
The trade market has been mostly frozen up under the new CBA during the season.
slipper - I would put Gilbert on that list too
ReplyDeletestortini on a checking line doesn't sound like a recipe for success by any stretch of the imagination. playing on a line with stoll this season is never in anyone's best interest either. not only has stoll been inneffective this year, he seems to bring his linemates down to his level on a consistent basis.
ReplyDeleteMaybe its Stoll and Torres joining Stortini on the fourth line and not Stortini moving to the second?
ReplyDeletebill...that's a good call and much deserved demotion for stoll and torres.
ReplyDeleteIts a funny line for sure -- but if a line is going to get stuck in the D-zone watching Sedinaslund cycle, who cares which it is really?
ReplyDeletePity the D man assigned (probably Gilbert) who finally dispossesses Henrik, only to pass it to Stortini who flubs the chip.
Hold me LT, I'm scared.
Thanks for having me on that list Rickibear.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, too. This is an excellent spot to check out a lot of different views from smart people in a somewhat coherent manner. Something you can't really find around most places, let alone the internet.
When a real honest-to-goodness NHL player gets traded for a real honest-to-goodness NHL player, wake me up.
ReplyDeleteThe trade market has been mostly frozen up under the new CBA during the season.
Too bad Burke had to be the guy to bring that up. You probably want a spokesperson for enabling trades that doesn't get booed before he says a word.