This is Jim Vandeermeer (#23 in CHI uniform). He has played 374 NHL regular season games and he brings toughness, grit and effort to every game. He can play defense, although footspeed exposes him at times when those fleet wingers do their outside flybys. Mr. Vandermeer is overpriced for what he brings (he sawed off 5th place opposition last season with lower than average teammates, about what Cory Cross did at the turn of the century); he is also signed for one more season before becoming a free agent.
I like the deal. Although Edmonton could have used this money on a free agent (Oilers traditionally overpay for their free agents) it is likely they would have needed to commit longer term to any similar UFA. Vandermeer sits in that 5-6 area on the Oilers depth chart. Like this:
- Whitney-Gilbert
- Smid-Souray or replacement
- Vandermeer-Peckham
- Chorney
The Oilers would do well to add another defender to this list (aside from the new Souray). Placing another player in the mix gives the team better depth with the big club and ensures at least two of the kids start on the farm this fall. This is a small step, but it is also creative. Steve Tambellini is making small moves, acquiring short term contracts and protecting the future.
I'm fine with that last addition being Strudwick (if he's as good in the dressing room as he's reputed to be - using that as a criterion to help select your seventh defenseman is reasonable) or Johnson, and then having him platoon with Peckham.
ReplyDeleteThere should be no place on the opening night roster for Chorney.
What are your thoughts on Aaron Johnson LT? The club has been silent about him as far as I can tell this off-season. I'm not sure what I think of him at this point - probably a decent bottom-pairing option and easier to sign than other FA's?
ReplyDeleteA little surprised; Vandermeer has a bit of a suitcase history. Getting rid of POS is wonderful to behold, but, kind of hoping that Mr. Dithers can do better in the additional DMan department. . .
ReplyDeleteI think this is the Aaron Johnson move. Strudwick would be more likely to return, although Stauffer keeps mentioning Comrie coming back so that would be my guess in terms of the UFA who comes back.
ReplyDeleteI'm fine with this move as it was kind of a "hold your nose" type of deal.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes,2 more D please...1 of which needs to be a real NHL D man.
Another solid move. Moving what would be dead money for an NHL (if borderline) defenseman whom you can walk away from at the end of the year.
ReplyDeleteIf ST manages to shore up the depth tomorrow without breaking the bank, I'll have to admit that he's doing a solid job as of late—which is kind of the equivalent of publicly admitting you liked the movie "Tremors".
I'd say this is a good move in that it also takes care of Piece O' Shit & his salary.
ReplyDeleteLT, what about the scuttlebut that Souray wouldn't mind returning? Would you go for that or has he burned his bridges?
The argument against buying out O'Sullivan was always that it would take away capspace in 2011-2012, when we might want to compete. With this trade, we got rid of O'Sullivan without that downside, and have another veteran defenseman to boot. Frankly, I don't care of Vandermeer gets killed at evens, as long as he's preventing one of our kids from getting killed at evens instead. I see no downside to this deal at all.
ReplyDeleteLT: Instead of Chorney, can we please say FA? I think we all agree he's completely over-matched right now and badly needs a year in OKC to find his game.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, I'd even take Arsene (although I think someone said we burned that bridge).
A decent move
ReplyDeleteToo much $$$ for one year, But ONLY for one year.
OT
Gregor & Brownlee had Spec on.
Spec asks "How do they get a credit for buying out Nillson? I don't get that."
Gregor meanders a bit about how its the salary not the Cap Hit.
Its clear he doesn't have a clue.
Which is fine, he's an MSM guy and they don't.
And it Is hard to explain.
But Spec also says "I asked an Agent an he didn't know."
I'm thinking,
if I'm an NHLer, I find out which agent Spec talked too.
If its mine, I get a new one.
Tremors was awesome!
ReplyDeleteAfter many years of whale hunts and other such stupidity - we are finally seeing a series of decent small moves that as a whole create about 80% of a GMs impact. Still need 3rd line wingers and 2 dmen - but we are getting there - and there are tradable assets (Souray, Cogliano). Any sensible GM brings back Pisani even if it's only as the 13th forward - and I'll assume Comrie is coming back. Start MPS and Eberle in the AHL - someone will get hurt soon enough and then bring them up.
ReplyDeletePenner Horcoff Hemsky
Hall Gagner Brule
xx Fraser xx
Jones Comrie Stortini
Pisani
Gilbert Whitney
xx Smid
Vandy xx
Peckham
Bulin / DD
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletebook¡e: Tremors was a fun film for sure.
ReplyDeleteMy point is that it's hard to publicly admit that you enjoyed a Kevin Bacon vehicle about blind monsters that pop out of the ground and eat the less attractive characters.
Mind you, that still easier than admitting ST has been doing a decent job as of late.
a trade that nets us an actual NHL defenseman?
ReplyDeleteyes please.
a bit pricey for a 5D but the term is so short that it shouldn't be a concern.
this doesn't change the complexion of the blueline radically though and the defense still needs a lot more work.
better than a straight up buyout of POS though.
i'm now really, really curious to see what we can get out of a Souray trade.
I like this move a lot. Tambellini is doing something we haven't seen done well since Lowe had his masterpiece season in 05-06: make small moves that improve the team.
ReplyDeleteHopefully it signals the team moving toward the philosophy of building a winner piece-by-piece with smart asset management, rather than perpetually chasing the big fish.
I heard somewhere that the team was considering re-signed Aaron Johnson. He'd seem like the logical fit for the bottom pairing to complement Vandermeer.
Signing Johnson would give us a defense corps that's only solid-to-mediocre, but at least we could not rush the young defenders into the inevitable 2010-2011 bloodbath.
Vandermeer really only costs the Oilers $1.6 million and for one year, which is good value for money for a veteran #5 defenseman. The other $700K of his actual $2.3 million dollar salary was already spent, a sunken cost. They also recover O'Sullivan's cap room next year.
ReplyDeleteI'd be happy with a Hejda move and a Souray trade for an established D. As for Souray staying, why would the Oilers stop now?
ReplyDeleteThe whole idea is to create a new environment. What happens if Souray sours on the new direction in January? No sir. If a guy doesn't want to be here, trade his ass. rfn.
I still want Johnson back as the 7th just because Vandermeer is the new ruffian who can play so that replaces what Strudwick did but I'd still like a useful guy for a 7th D.
ReplyDeleteNow what we need is to turn 44 and 13 into a real dman who'll still be here and affordable once we make the playoffs again.
We'd spend valuable cap room on bringing back Pisani and Strudwick why? Let's improve the roster with players who can improve not regress.
ReplyDeleteIf we're stuck with bringing back Comrie, that's enough.
tambo is sure doing a helluva job in my eyes...I never thought he could unload vishnovskys & staois contracts & he did,he had a good draft,& somehow with the 3 pending buyouts he managed to almost break even while adding a tough depth defenceman(slightly overpaid but at least it nullifies the pos buyout).Moreau being claimed is a blessing(I always liked chopper but it's time)because I don't think we are on the hook for anything now that Columbus picked him up.fill in the ahl roster,add a depth forward & d-man,solve the extra goalie & souray issue & we are in good shape.I don't mind cogliano but I don't think he can fit on bottom six so he may have to move on.if he could win faceoffs he could be like Todd marchant but he doesn't win draws so what should we do with him? We shall see
ReplyDeleteAsiaoil: I think Comrie to 3LW and Fraser to 4C would work better. Gives us more options when a C gets hurt as well, assuming Tambo builds on this by signing a decent 3C
ReplyDeletejan hedja would be great! Before last year he was +42 the previous 2 years with Columbus & what would he cost.he's a solid stay at home dman but can contribute a little on offence.LT is right,we should move souray...I'm glad I'm not the only one who likes jan hejda...LOL! Everyone I know laughed at me & thought I was nuts when I'd say I thought letting hejda go was a bad move...although I only know 1 person who agrees with me that jacques is a guy we need to keep....it wasn't LT though....great write ups & I'm glad I joined this site....many good opinions & some very out to lunch ones too...of course we all have our favorites & no ones opinion is wrong because they are just that....opinions
ReplyDeleteAnyone know what's going on with Souray saying he wouldn't mind being back in Edmonton?
ReplyDeleteDennis:
ReplyDeleteKeep in mind they'll probably keep Peckham instead of exposing him to waivers, so the chart maybe looks something like:
Whitney
Gilbert
Souray
Smid
Vandermeer
Peckham
levving room for one D, assuming Souray stays or is dealt for one D, maybe a guy like Brewer.
"Anyone know what's going on with Souray saying he wouldn't mind being back in Edmonton?"
ReplyDeleteDoctor Claw is having second thoughts?
time heals all wounds, i guess.
I'm on the fence with what to do with souray.part of me says get out of town,you were selfish,were unproffesional in the media at the end of the year making accusations vs management but another part of me wants to give him a mulligan because he's a good hockey player & elk point boy,who brings everything to the table.he got 20 goal,45 point offensive skill with that booming shot,he's tough & clears the net(no more fights allowed),plays very physical.he's had 2 injury marred seasons out of 3,was the victim of a unacceptable(I like iginla & know it wasn't intentional)hit that ruined his season,got some grief from press & management,& it doesn't help the oilers were the worst team in the league.I know souray would love to take everything he said back.he's human & made a bad judgement call.myself I actually think he might play even that much harder to try & win over the fans & organization again.he thought the oilers as a hole gave up on him & he let his emotions get the best of him.50 points from the backend is something that's not easy to find.
ReplyDeleteVandermeer has had an interesting history. He went undrafted but has since been traded straight up for Ben Eager, then a 3rd rounder, and then Prust.
ReplyDeleteWit any luck Tambi will be able to deal him at the deadline for something similar.
@Ducey
ReplyDeleteAgreed, and that's kinda the important thing here, tough veteran depth dmen on expiring contracts are actually worth something at the deadline.
I like the addition of Vandermeer. If we're looking for protection for the smaller guys, he's a good fit. Not that he's overly tough, but he's the kind of guy that will grab absolutely anyone when needed. Whether it be a Pouliot or a Macintyre, he's game when called upon to stand up for teammates.
ReplyDeleteVandermeer had the least amount of ice time of the D men in PHX and didn't dress for a SINGLE playoff game. That's how highly they thought of him. Seems to me we traded a stinky pail of diahorrea for a slightly firmer equally stinky pail of poo.
ReplyDeleteI like this deal a lot. Exchange of salary dumps. We got the guy with the lower cap hit by > 20%, who happens to be the exact player type that we need. (Whether he's the actual player is another question.)
ReplyDeleteThe guy we lost, while talented on a superficial level, brought nothing to the team that wasn't already there. In fact we needed to clear a few of those types on out of here, and Tambellini has done so by sending the most expensive guy on his way.
I agree with whoever said that we should calculate Vandermeer's cap hit minus POS' buyout. A 30-year-old dude with experience and edge for $1.5 or whatever doesn't seem unreasonable.
Finally, we've got one third-pairing defender. Now it's time to find another one, or two.
Asiaoil said...
ReplyDeleteAfter many years of whale hunts and other such stupidity - we are finally seeing a series of decent small moves that as a whole create about 80% of a GMs impact.
I disagree with this statement. These have been decent moves, but they're all solidly on the periphery. These are moves that can allow a GM the flexibility to make the moves that really are about 80% of the job. Just because the Oilers are regaining some of that flexibility doesn't mean they will use it wisely. We can hope though.
I think the excrement metaphor for P O'Sullivan is beyond the pale. He didn't work out. Leave it be.
ReplyDeleteMr. Gilgan, I share your sentiment. A lot of the language has been getting quite crass.
ReplyDeleteThey probably should have just kept Staios around for the extra 4k. I guess we got a 3rd rounder for next year out of it all.
ReplyDeleteI don't think the move makes the team any better today.
One of the reasons given by Vandy in his interview was that Phoenix had a player that the needed to get in a required number of games and that was why he sat alot.
ReplyDeleteI don't know the ins and outs (obviously)
We will see how well he performs on the ice.
We did just swap an excess forward for a needed defense man.
It seems like a clever deal for both clubs.
oop. Should say 400k.
ReplyDelete