Steve Tambellini took out Khabibulin insurance and perhaps gave the two young goalies something to ponder in signing Martin Gerber today.The contract (two way, $500,000 in the NHL and $200,000 in the AHL) information comes to us via Nick Kypreos who adds the Oilers "have him pegged as a 3/4 goalie in system."
That makes sense, as the club will probably send down one of DD/JDD and Gerber when the cutdowns come. Should they lose Gerber ($200,000 is a nice AHL contract if you're looking for a depth goalie) they will no doubt skate when sending out the more expensive former draft picks (there are very few big league jobs available).
Deslauriers is signed to a contract north of 1M no matter where he plays and is a free agent next summer. Dubnyk has a two year deal for $800,000 no matter where he plays. Gerber would seem to be the most attractive option for a team in need of AHL help, so maybe Tambellini is using the Swiss goalie as bait.
Gerber played in the KHL last season, sporting a .914SP (good for 16th overall) but suffered a broken back in mid-December. His current health is not known, reminding some of the Nikolai Khabibulin signing.
The Oilers could carry three goalies all season long, with the opportunity to send everyone down for a conditioning stint during the season. Anyway, its all very sophisticated. The most interesting item is this: what if Gerber outplays them all in pre-season?
My thinking is Gerber wants one more crack at the bigs and the Goalie market as it is makes that virtually Impossible, so the Oilers say "take a two-way deal, come to camp and steal a job." Gerber's biggest worry is Khabi making it to camp cause
ReplyDeletethe odds of the oil fielding a Khabi/Gerber tamden and
sending JD AND DD through waivers is 0.
best case for gerber is Bulin is in court battle, can't play, they keep him around and send down JDD. then he outplays DD, Bulin goes to jail, and voila he's an NHL starter agin.
ReplyDeleteA couple of thoughts:
ReplyDelete1: Oilers are obviously serious about having a decent to good AHL team. No matter what happens, they should always have at least one "pro" quality goalie on the farm.
2: Does this signify that Khabi may not be healthy enough for training camp (assuming he's not living in a tent in Arizona)? Keeping Gerber up allows the OIlers to have at least one goalie with NHL experience, and the odds of someone taking JDD off waivers are as close to zero as imaginable. (Glutted goalie market, big money and they'd have to keep him on their NHL roster no?)
3: My question is, would the Oilers be willing to have both JDD and DD on the farm at the same time if Khabi is healthy and Gerber plays lights-out? Again, I don't see anyone picking either of the wonder kids off waivers when experienced veterans are still available at a lower cost.
it's a depth signing. my guess is they'll lose either JDD or DD on waivers, depends on whether teams need another goalie or not.
ReplyDeleteLT said: Should they lose Gerber ($200,000 is a nice AHL contract if you're looking for a depth goalie) they will no doubt skate when sending out the more expensive former draft picks (there are very few big league jobs available).
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if I understand this part, but just a reminder that if we try to send Gerber down, and he's claimed on waivers, the team that gets him needs to keep him on their NHL roster, or risk losing Gerber back to us (or the other teams that were later in claim order, I believe). So really the only risk is losing him to a team that is in need of an NHL goalie.
Goalies, being a dime a dozen right now, aren't going to get much attention on waivers, so I think he'd be OK to go down. But even 500k for a guy that can handle a decent amount of action isn't so bad.
Anyways, I'll just reiterate from the other thread (horcoff post) that I'm ecstatic that we solved our AHL goaltending situation. Thumbs up to Tambi (or Daum, per Brownlee who apparently gave him a paint by numbers solution to the AHL issues) for appearing to have fixed up a very important part of our franchise!
Chances of all four goalies being lousy next season, wherever they play: 90%
ReplyDeleteGerber was the starter for Switzerland in the WC's, so his back can't be too bad. He played well there too
ReplyDeletehttp://stats.iihf.com/Hydra/230/IHM2300SUI_83_8_0.pdf
This looks like an actual smart organizational decision. Who knew?
ReplyDeleteI still can't decide though if they should go after some August-valued UFAs or embrace the suckage for one more year.
Nice game by the Jays there. Strong efforts from both pitchers.
Hopefully the Esks won't blow their match-up. Surely being down one Garden Gnome can only make them better?
spOILer said I still can't decide though if they should go after some August-valued UFAs or embrace the suckage for one more year.
ReplyDeleteI think that we could use a 3rd line center (which Tambi has been trying to get... one less guy to choose from though, courtesy of the Wild).
Also if I recall, the Barons could still use another d-man with some experience, but other than that, I'd say both clubs are looking quite a lot better than last year.
Our goaltending at the NHL level is still pretty suspect, however, but depending on Khabi's status / healthy we may actually be OK. (note: OK doesn't mean great...)
It must suck to be Matt Garza today. No earned runs in 8th innings and you still get the W snapped away.
ReplyDeleteRacki, there's no doubt we could use one. Heck, even Stempniaked might come down in price as time goes by.
ReplyDeleteBut the way we are now guarantees the suckage.
And maybe that's the way it should stay. For now.
Eskies already looking like they're going to hand Lemon his first 300 yard game.
Actually they don't even need to throw the ball, they can just run it. Pretty much every which way they want.
ReplyDeleteAlso if I recall, the Barons could still use another d-man with some experience, but other than that, I'd say both clubs are looking quite a lot better than last year.
ReplyDeleteThe depth chart as it is right now stands at, I believe:
Petiot
Belle
Taylor
Chorney
Plante
Petry
Motin
Bendfeld
That's quite enough in my opinion. Any more "veteran" signings and we accomplish two things negative to this roster. 1) We push one of Plante-Petry out of the Top-6 (Motin is already out of there) which does nothing for their long-term development. 2) We run the risk of going over the maximum of 5 "veteran" players in the line-up and would be forced to sit one out per game, which having learned from the years my hometown Moose did it, is not really appreciated around the AHL old-boys club. Petiot and Belle qualify, as do Moran and Giroux. I'm not 100% sure if Gerber would qualify because the rules regarding games played for goalies might be different than the 250-mark for skaters.
An open question to those who are more CBA-oriented than me:
I seem to remember a clause in the waiver situation whereby each team has the ability to "un-waive" a player in a season, something akin to saying to the claiming team "uh, sorry but we were just trying to sneak him through, we don't want to lose him". I'm not sure if this was from the old CBA or the new one. Could we theoretically do somthing like this with our goaltending situation this year? As an example, attempt to waive Deslauriers after TC and if he's claimed, revoke the claim allowing him to remain in Edmonton. Is this still an acceptable action within the CBA?
Dorito: Thanks for the info on OKC's d-men. I couldn't remember what was going on there, and was a bit lazy to look, in honesty.. but it looks like they'll be fine in that regard. They're definitely in a better state this year than last (not that this is hard to do). As long as the big club doesn't need to borrow a whole wack of players like last year, they should be a much better team this year (OKC that is).
ReplyDeleteAlso, I don't know everything there is to the CBA, but I'm not aware of that out that you speak of with wiavers.
Great signing, zero-risk so anything he provides (even just competition to push JDD/DD) is a bonus.
ReplyDeleteEven if he's terrible stick him in the minors: nothing gained, nothing lost.
Maybe..............just maybe someone in the Oiler organization has big enough balls when Khabby is unable to show up up for the first 6 weeks of training camp/season to void his contract.
ReplyDeleteTh final decision in that case -arbitration, judicial review etc would not be known for 2 to 3 years but the Oilers would, at first blush, be out from under a bad contract......... arguably the only real bad contract of the "Tambi" era
Course if this worked...Lowe would probably rush out to sign a BAD player for ridiculously big $$$$ and a long term (it would, of course, be the fault of the EIG, etc)
no downside, but i think the chance of a signing like this resolving the goaltending situation long term is pretty slim.
ReplyDeleteno downside moves are always a good thing, just don't want to blow this out of proportion.
could be building a real contender down in OKC.
i think gerber actually has a couple shots at the show this way. one way is straight out of camp he only needs to beat one of JDD/DD in camp if khabi doesn't show.
another way is longer term. go down to OKC and lead a farm team resurgence, and come back if JDD/DD fail, or Khabi re-injures.
anyway, he's won 2 stanley cups as a backup so surely if he ends up as a backup in edmonton we're going to be making a cup run.
if only it worked like that.
If it is true that he does not have to clear Re-entry waivers, I really like this deal. He should land in OKC without a question but if things change up we at least have an experienced goalie on the team without a doubt.
ReplyDeleteChartleys
No doubt Krueger was involved in this...
ReplyDeleteEven if he's terrible stick him in the minors: nothing gained, nothing lost.
ReplyDeleteWhat would be gained in that situation is a quality AHL Goaltender.
Win, win.
Seems like a good sensible signing and with both Madden and Moore going elsewhere and the Oilers having done some sensible things all around I'll presume that those guys don't want to play here; or, that the Oilers don't care about not having three lines or three pivots that can play against real players and it's just a year where the kids cut their teeth and if we end up in the lottery again then huzzah.
ReplyDeleteThe only problem with this is the burning of years on the pacts of 27 and 83.
Striatic said: no downside, but i think the chance of a signing like this resolving the goaltending situation long term is pretty slim.
ReplyDeleteno downside moves are always a good thing, just don't want to blow this out of proportion.
could be building a real contender down in OKC.
That's the key though.. this signing isn't to fix the Oilers' goaltending situation, it's to fix OKC's situation. And really, any one of our 4 goaltenders might have question marks at the NHL level, but I'd say that any one of them will be very successful at the AHL level. That's what's important, with this signing.
The first year for any sport/team's franchise is hugely important, and I'm really glad to see the Oilers treating it that way. Another way to think of it too is that you've got your young future-stars down there. You don't want them suffering year after year of loss and being around a lot of negativity.
From The Sun:
ReplyDeleteRumours that the club is looking to loophole its way out of Khabibulin’s contract if he’s found guilty are way off base, he [Olczyk] said.
“He was our MVP until the point that he got hurt, and his injury affected us, no question. Walking away from the contract? No. I have the utmost confidence that he’s going to bounce back and have a phenomenal year. He’s going to keep our guys in the game, give our guys a chance to win, because they’re going to be young and they’re going to make some mistakes back there. He’s a great person, he’s made a mistake and he’s going to learn from it. He’s a better person than he was six months ago.”
All i can say about this signing, is that (assuming no one gets picked up on waivers) we are no longer two injuries away from Pitton on the roster.
ReplyDeletespOILer: thanks for that. The other interesting comment by Olczyk was the one that was something like "we're going to have two darn good goalies in OKC this year". Well, Pitton definitely isn't at that level where I'd call him "darn good", so I'm thinking that alludes to JDD or Dubnyk going down at some point too... I'd say JDD. Yes, the salary isn't exactly pleasant for the AHL, but it sounds like they're willing to do it to ensure success this year for their farm club.
ReplyDelete"That's the key though.. this signing isn't to fix the Oilers' goaltending situation, it's to fix OKC's situation."
ReplyDeletei suppose, but i have feeling Gerber doesn't want to play AHL hockey for 200k. i imagine he could get more than that in Russia based on an above par WC performance.
a lot has changed with the farm team but the last times JDD and DD were down there they didn't play particularly well.
anyway, this *should* help out OKC but the big problem remains on the big club. unless gerber shows up and knocks it out of the park as a starting G [has he ever done that in his career?] then this leaves serious problems on the big club still to be solved.
Dubnyk was really good down there this past year, actually. The Falcons were on their way to the conference lead while he was there. They called him up, and it pretty much fell apart from there (granted, other callups didn't help... but I think Dubnyk's was a key part of that).
ReplyDeleteThat might be more of a testament to how un-AHL-ready Pitton is more than anything, but I think any of these guys can handle the AHL.
As far as the NHL, well, the Oil are clearly still confident in Khabi. I am confident in him when he plays (despite those weird gaffs early in the season last year)... I'm just not confident in his back and other things (namely the possible jail time).
As for Gerber not wanting to be paid 200k in the AHL, I wouldn't really argue that, although at the same time, he wasn't willing to be paid that, why would he sign on the dotted line?
He can evidence his unwillingness to play in the AHL by playing well and earning some time on the NHL club, if he wants though.. that would be a win-win situation.
How does these type of numbers represent the Oilers MVP:
ReplyDeleteNikolai Khabibulin
18g
1089mins
55GA
3.03 GAA
7 wins
9 losses
2 ties
0.909 S%
This type of statement by the Oilers is EXACTLY why they are such a bad organization.
Instead of saying we are comfortable with his contract, and choose not to void it. They say...OMG was he ever great until injured...our MVP
i think it's great that khabi is our m.v.p... did he play last year?
ReplyDeletenot the goalie i wanted but at least they addressed the situation. the way this organization spends their money baffles me, but then again, they are thoilers.
It would be really dumb for the Oilers to say anything remotely critical of Khabibulin if they are hoping for an Arizona miracle loophole.
ReplyDeleteIf the miracle happens, and the Oilers try to void the contract, it is sure to be grieved by the NHLPA, and like Kovalchuk, head to arbitration.
You would only want the most glowing comments about Khabibulin on the record in public, which is why the Oilers are only saying nice things about him, rather than say anything that remotely suggests they are hoping and praying for an Arizona miracle.