Taylor Hall's team looks like it's ready to leave the station for 2011-12. Some quick healing defensemen have apparently made a waiver claim or trade moot, and we can hope that Ryan Whitney has some good practice sessions for the rest of this week.
Based on
this article from Jim Matheson, we might conclude the roster will look like this.
- IR: Sam Gagner, Ryan Whitney, Ladislav Smid, Ben Eager, Taylor Fedun
- G: Nikolai Khabibulin, Devan Dubnyk
- D: Tom Gilbert, Cam Barker, Andy Sutton, Jeff Petry, Theo Peckham, Corey Potter, Taylor Chorney
- C: Shawn Horcoff, RNH, Eric Belanger, Anton Lander
- L: Taylor Hall, Ryan Smyth, Magnus Paajarvi, Ryan Jones
- R: Ales Hemsky, Jordan Eberle, Linus Omark, Lennart Petrell, Darcy Hordichuk
22 men on the active roster, they can activate Smid (who apparently is close to ready) should he be able to go for game one. The older players added up front (Smyth, Belanger, Petrell, Hordichuk) should make that forward group much better, and if they can help out the blue and the goaltending can stay together then there's a chance they finish deep in the second division.
I'll say 13th in the conference, 26th overall.
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ReplyDeleteLT: What do you think happens when Gagner is ready to come back? Do they simply send Lander down, or, if Lander plays superbly, do they consider the opportunity to trade Gagner (+?) from a position of strength for the ever-elusive help on the D?
ReplyDeleteClay: Dammit, Clay! Thanks. :-)
ReplyDeleteMad: I think there'll be another injury before Gagner returns. If the Oilers aren't going to address need (defense) then they're looking for more draft picks (I assume).
So, maybe Gagner goes at the deadline. Or Hemsky.
Ugly, ugly, extremely predictable situation the Oilers are in once again...
ReplyDeleteThat defense represents another lottery pick to be certain.
Maybe the real plan is to score 400 goals and just ignore the defense and goaltending woes?
re: Hemsky going at the deadline.
ReplyDeleteAt what point do we say it's a foregone conclusion that he's not in the future plans? Hemsky's injury woes not withstanding, this situation is eerily similar to how they handled Smytty summer '06.
I know the prevailing hope is that the organization is going to wait to see if he's healthy before committing long term, but I think that's nonsense.
Let's say he plays injury free until February. It doesn't mean he's any less injury prone than before, and it definitely does mean that his value on the open market will be high - both in the trade market, and the UFA market July 1. He'd be crazy to resign then considering the insane dollars being thrown at good UFA's.
I think Tambo has already made his decision on Hemsky. He is gone by the deadline if not sooner. He's just hoping he shows good for a month or two so that he's worth something.
Clay: I think you're right. After the Ryan Smyth fiasco, I decided it was best to:
ReplyDelete1. Find out the earliest date the Oilers can negotiate with their ufa's to be.
2. Assume they're trading him if you don't hear about a contract negotiation within 10 days.
Roster set, eh? Whitney can't make a turn when that dirty Russian Horcov goes blazing by him, but he'll be ready for Malkin.
ReplyDeleteDifferent day, same drapes being smoked.
LT said...
ReplyDeleteIf the Oilers aren't going to address need (defense) then they're looking for more draft picks (I assume).
This sounds like a request for an overpay. I' not okay with that, not this year. I am, however, okay with blackmail, extortion, honey-potting other GMs...lol.
I drove around today wondering if the trade talk Dreger talked about between the Leafs-Oilers would come off.
ReplyDeleteTOR has some nice things on that blue, and the NAS defender they picked up is an interesting fellow.
I wonder if Burke called, and if so which of those beauty forwards he asked after?
Can we please wait and see if Hall will even be a better player then RNH before we continue calling this team his. Come on your hero seekers, in the real world depth chart of the oilers Hakk is 4th or fifth behind Hemsky, Smyth, Eberly, and potentially a couple others.
ReplyDeleteIr's Taylor Hall's team. If it weren't, Ryan Smyth would get more PP time.
ReplyDeleteI'd bet he was after Harski. Possibly Lander or Pitlick.
ReplyDeleteI'd also bet he was offering Komi.
I'm sure there's peeps around these parts that would do a Horc for Komi trade in an eyeblink, but I wouldn't.
Oh God, me either. Komisarek doesn't do enough to earn that money.
ReplyDeleteKomisarek is awful, God its impossible to emphasize how bad he is.
ReplyDeleteKomisarek is a stark example of how your linemates can really inflate your apparent value. And how Goddamned good Andrei Markov is, when healthy.
ReplyDeleteI don't know, I think you emphasised it well enough, Black Dog. I believe you now.
ReplyDeleteI think Burkie's after Pitlick. A large, hard-shooting, truculent American player.
I'm not sure I'd like to see him go for Franson, but it may just be the ticket. Is he top 4? I don't know enough about him.
ansidnes - not playin' Sunday.
Franson > Chorney? If the answer is yes, then looking at a non-roster player or draft pick is worth the discussion.
ReplyDeleteBurke isn't after Pitlick.
ReplyDeleteHe wants a top 6 forward who can help this season.
He's dangling Bozak and Gunnarsson.
Bozak? What in hell are the Oilers going to do with Bozak? No sale.
ReplyDeleteCC
ReplyDeleteI don't know how you can see this team as being anyone else's other than Hall.
Watch a interview with the young man and see how he talks about the Oilers. Look at how the media outside of Edmonton talks about him. Watch CBC and wait for the Messier references. The story is already playing out and Hall has shown he is never one to shrink from a challenge.
(Small side-note about Hall's maturity already, at the draft when he was asked to talk about RNH he kept referring to his future set-up man as a "kid", I found it pretty amusing).
At least he has a cool nickname.
ReplyDeleteBlack Jack Bozak.
RNH, Larsson, Couturier made the team.
ReplyDeleteDon't know about Landeskog.
Huberdeau got cut. Believe all the others got cut also.
Blogger Lowetide said...
ReplyDeleteBozak? What in hell are the Oilers going to do with Bozak? No sale.
I guess it all depends what the Oilers would offer in return.
If it's not a top 6 roster player, Burke will also be saying no sale.
The Hemsky situation is going to be very intriguing to watch.
ReplyDeleteI don't think he had much value this summer given he's had two years of bad shoulders. Nothing of value would have been offered to the Oilers to move him.
The Oilers know what they have with a healthy Hemsky. I think that if the Oilers are in the mix for a playoff spot at the deadline they'll hold onto him. They'll either push hard for an extension until June 30th or deal him like Nashville tends to do with their impending UFAs.
The problem with extending him this year is that you really handcuff you're flexibility at the deadline. If the Oilers had re-signed Hemsky and were out of it at the deadline then your most attractive bargaining chip becomes worthless.
I think the Oilers feel they could live without Hemsky given the skill that Eberle and Omark have; but, they would love to have him around long-term if it fits.
At this point it's about options.
WHL update: Gernat picks up an assist, and the shootout winner, after getting kneed early in the game and spending time in the dressing room. Also laid a thunderous hit on some opposing schmuck.
ReplyDeleteHe's the leading WHL D scorer with 8 points in 5 games.
"Top 35", huh?
The Mark, Mark ascension. Hola
ReplyDeleteThe question that I would like the answer to is how Stu knew he could leave Gernat till the 5th round. It is one thing to be a good judge of talent. It is another to know that he could wait till the 5th round and Gernat would still be there.
ReplyDeleteStu has both eyes and spies, apparently.
@fpb
ReplyDeleteThe Jets kept Scheifele for at least a 9 game look.
Dean Millard on Martin "The Gnat" Gernat:
ReplyDeleteThe Oiler draft pick wasn't only picking up assists, but he delivered a wicked hip check on Sam Reinhart during the second period, and then scored the game winning goal in the shoot out on a 'Peter Forsberg' type goal. Expect to see it on the WHL plays of the week.
Landeskog is on the Av's roster.
ReplyDeleteStrome is on the NYI roster.
Gernat followed closely by Davidson at 7 pts, then Marincin and Musil at 5. Musil at 6'4" 200 is a good size.
ReplyDeletegodot10: He was likely just playing the odds with Gernat. Central Scouting had him ranked 106th in Europe. The chances of a player ranked around there getting drafted at all are probably under 5%. The chances of that player being drafted in the first 4 rounds must be around 1%.
ReplyDeleteTo illustrate the point, only 2 players ranked outside the top 50 in Europe were drafted at all (4th and 7th rounds). It's possible that someone else might have seen Gernat good as well but it was very unlikely and so he rolled the dice.
I'm in the send RNH to Red Deer, The World Jrs, and hopefully the WHL playoffs.
ReplyDeleteI'm down with two more years of top 5 picks in this rebuild.
Two more years closer to a new arena.
It makes no sense at all to rush an 18yr old when we don't have to.
I'd rather see the sophmore years than a burned ELC when there is no need.
Word Verication: punit: Two words. Gene Principe
If Burke would take Pitlick for a top 6 Dman I'd do it in a heartbeat. An asset for a longshot? Now please.
ReplyDeleteListening to Corey Graham, who does Oil Kings play by play, and he described Gernat as "playing rover more than defense"
ReplyDeleteApparently he's all over the ice, but getting away with it due to foot speed.
One of his goals this year came on a break away.
Defenceman on a break away.
Awesome.
This guy is probably worth checking out live before the coaches beat that out of him.
v3.1 has publicly mentioned the need for a top 3 Dman that has to come via trade.
He does see what we see.
I hope he makes the right decision.
Evaluate 3.1, evaluate.
Hmm, Gret99sky, but what value do you put on burning an ELC year to make a season bearable to watch? If fans stop going to the games, then we can kiss many things goodbye, and his ELC freshman year will be the least of our worries.
ReplyDeleteAttendance went up last year because of Hall and Ebs, but without them, who knows?
Also, this is definitely Hall's team. It's not Smyth's -- you don't see him wearing the C, eh? In fact, I get the feeling that Smyth wouldn't wear the C very well for some reason.
RNH is too pro for the WHL, don't you think? There's a chance that a player like him gets bored and loses his work ethic when he's forced to play in juniour, don't you think?
As for Hemsky trade talk, I will miss him. His accent, his straight talk, his beauty moves... But it's more true this season than last season that we're overskilled at the F position. This will balance itself out. Hemsky is as good as gone; he would have probably been gone last year if not for his injuries.
I will be sad for about a week, like I was with Penner (Pennnnerrrrrr! Noooooooooo!), but the team will be better, and that's the bottom line.
1. Hallsy's team
2. Trade Hemsky, I'll get over it
3. RNH should stay up, I cannot bear to postpone gratification until next year; I demand to be satisfied THIS year, and DAMN the ELC!
Verification word: middyi. Example usage: "Smytty used to be gritty, but now he's just middyi."
Brendan Saad is starting the seaon with Chicago. He was their second round pick.
ReplyDelete!!
Bozak is terrible too, no thanks.
I like Gunnarsson but if the cost is a top six forward I say no thanks.
I think if the plan is to trade Hemsky the best thing to do is wait a bit and a) hope he stays healthy and b) hope that a team who considers itself a contender has a key injury and feels the pressure to do something about it, ideally with an overpay. I still wouldn't trade him but would be surprised if they didn't.
ReplyDelete