Pad Stacking

One of the biggest holes on this team has been a lack of consistently great goaltending. This team has lacked it probably since Joseph save for maybe a season or two of Salo and Roloson's post trade 2006 season. As for Roloson, he has had some great games and is playing well of late, but he has had some horrendous games to go along with that. What I feel you should be looking for in this position is a goaltender who keeps you in almost every game and will steal you the odd one. This team needs to end the roller coaster ride that its been suffering through for almost a decade. If you look at our track record you will see, consistently good goaltending = playoffs.

So I've tried to compile a list of possibilities that this team could look at come July (I don't see goaltending address at the deadline, we have other issues). When looking at the goaltenders out there I tried to use common sense before putting them on the list. This is why you won't see a guy like Backstrom on this list, there is no way Minnesota lets him walk and if they did it would be for astronomical dollars, which this team has already spent. Some of them are free agents (RFA and UFA) and some would have to come via trade, which I also tried to use common sense on, which is why you won't see Luongo or Brodeur on here :).

I've broken them down into two categories: sure things that you can expect to know what you'll get from them and then projects, who have shown the ability to be good but have not flourished in their current role. Each has its pros and cons, with money being a big one, and as you'll see I've tended to lean towards knowing what you're going to get.

UNKNOWNS

1. LEHTONEN, 25 (RFA) - Second overall draft pick back in 2002 has been mediocre on a bad team. The Thrashers have the 2nd worst GA/G in the league this season and were tied for last in 07/08. He has maintained a sv% over .900 since entering the league. In his four seasons as an NHL starter he's posted: .907, .916, .912, .906 from most recent to least. Lehtonen destroys AHL competition so the possibility of playing for a better defensive team may allow him to become a dominant goaltender in this league.

Money: He was a 3 mill cap hit on what I believe was a one year deal. As an RFA I wonder if it may be easier to trade for his rights then sign for Roloson money?

2. NIITTYMAKI, 28 (UFA) - A late round pick of the flyers, he has not had a great start to his career, but after some rough years he looks to have settled down. Posting career bests with a 2.59 GAA and .916 sv% he is outdoing his counterpart on the Flyers (Biron) and getting less playing time. I'm not sure what the Flyers plans are for who they intend to keep (both are UFAs) but I think NIITTYMAKI is worth a look.

Money: He was a 1.225 cap hit so his price tag should not be much, possibly as low as in the 2.0 million range.

3. KHABIBULIN, 36 (UFA) - The dominating, cup-winner that was great for Tampa has been far from since signing his big contract with Chicago. But this season with Chicago's resurgance as a dominat team Khabibulin has also recovered posting 2.37 GAA and .924 sv%, so we know he has the possibility to be a great goaltender. I do have reasons for putting him in this group. For one, who knows what his intentions are going forward and what the possibility of Edmonton being in his plans. Another is his age, he has been splitting games 50/50 with Heut and at 36 he likely only has a couple years left but at what level and for how many games?

Money: Coming off a 6.75 mill 5 year deal I doubt he is looking for a big pay cut. Your likely paying at the least 6.0 for his services.

4. LECLAIRE, 26 (2yrs/3.8mil) - The 8th overall pick in 2001 has had a hit and miss career. In 07-08 he was amazing, posting a 2.25 GAA/.919 sv% and league leading 9 shutouts only to be snubbed from Vezina voting and not even receive a single vote (11 goalies did). This season Leclaire has been out a large portion of the year with an ankle injury. He's young and not exactly proven, but if you could get similar seasons like last year out of him you'd be in the gravy. If Mason is CBJ's goalie going forward they may look to deal Leclaire to get depth and make a playoff push.

Money: he has 2 years left at a 3.8mil cap hit then UFA. Takes Roloson's money and is signed for another two years.

CONSISTENT PERFORMERS

5. GIGUERE, 31 (2yrs/6.0) - Since joining Anaheim he has elevated his career to be a great starting goalie, even winning the Conn Smythe in '03 on the losing team. Amazing numbers since the lockout, Giguere has faltered this year. He is being outplayed by his counterpart Hiller, and being out played badly. Giguere is posting a 3.09 GAA and .903 sv% in 35gp compared to Hiller's 2.20 GAA and .924 sv% in 30 gp. Hiller is a 24 year old sophmore but Anaheim may want to throw the reins to him come next season. Its a positive asset just to remove Giguere's cap hit off the books. As for Edmonton, even though Giguere is having a bad year he too good of a goalie to be bad for long and a new motivation may be what he needs.

Money: Edmonton would need to clear cap space for him, as Roloson will only be 3.667 coming off of our books.

6. FERNANDEZ, 34 (UFA) - Was a very good goalie in Minnesota (why they trade Roloson to us) and when he plays he has continued that in Boston. The problem with Fernandez has been a nagging knee injury that wiped out his entire year last year and caused him to miss ample time the year before, including the playoffs. But if you can get a healthy Fernandez you have a great starter that will provide you with consistent goaltending. He's taking about 40% of the games in Boston and isn't being outdone by their hero Thomas (GAA 2.12 / 2.15 SV% .931 / .925) so both are putting up equal stats. Age and injuries may be risky with him, but he is likely available as Boston will choose to keep the higher profile Thomas.

Money: coming off of a deal that had a 4.33 cap hit Fernandez will be looking for money in the 5.0+ range and his boxcars are likely slightly inflated playing on a dominating team like the Bruins.

There are some interesting choices this offseason and there is definately options available to the Oilers to shore up their goaltending situation. There are questions as to whether this team should spend money on goaltending or go with a journyman and use the money elsewhere in the roster. I think with a very good defence and excellent goaltending this team can go far, especially in the second season where these things stand out more than any other.

Just some food for thought regarding the available tenders this summer.

EPIC Fail

I've never seen this team lose so big, so often. That first period was possibly the worst period of hockey in this teams history. It was like a beer league team came to play shinny against the defending Stanley Cup Champions. Only they forgot the beer.

Here's a little gem....if you can't laugh at your own team who can you laugh at. Besides the Leafs of course.

We're back.....again?

Built from limbs and organs of useless dead corpses.....

Oilers Lose Hossa Sweepstakes and Dodge a Bullet

After throwing a reported deal of 9 years and 92 million dollars (at least that is what I take from the Rich Winter quote “I have never been involved in a deal and seen a player get so excited to take $85 million less than he was offered elsewhere.”) at Marian Hossa only to have him sign a 1-year 7.45 million dollar contract with Detroit it seems as though the Oilers have lost again. However, in some fashion I believe that they have won in a few areas.

First, they have proven through the league that they are trying to get better and obtain a high profile player. This act will hopefully show other teams and players that they have the drive and the vision needed to be successful and possible will not have to overpay to get free agents in the future.

Second, they have banished the thought that they are only a small market Canadian team that can not go after big names. Which will only help the credibility of the other Canadian teams and show the strength of the Canadian dollar in the new NHL.

Third, they do not have a player taking up 16% of their cap room for next year and will have to money available to start negotiations with the likes of Horcoff and have money to resign players like Gagner, Cogliano and Smid when the time comes.

Forth, they still have to fill out a little part of their line up and will avoid having to trade players for draft picks to get under the salary cap for next year.

Many questions are still floating around Edmonton as to “do you attempt to get Hossa next year on July 1^st when he becomes a free agent again?” My simple answer to that is no. If he did not want to take the chance and come to Edmonton believing they are not an elite team, then we do not need a player like that wearing the Oilers silks.

Hemmer's Triggerman

The difference between this offseason and last has been somewhat Jekyll and Hyde. The 06-07 season could be called nothing less than disastrous, with the team failing to make the playoffs after being in the Stanley Cup on top of trading away the face of the team, Ryan Smyth. This lead into an offseason in which Kevin Lowe claimed to be bring in “six to eight new faces”, a large amount by any means. So insert UFA signings like Mathieu Garon and Sheldon Souray, much talked about RFA signing Dustin Penner, as well as one of the largest youth movements in recent memory. So abracadabra and we are back in the Stanley Cup finals right? Wrong.

The team struggled to find chemistry, and this was most evident on a horrendous power play that lacked imagination. This put the team in the basement of the west for much of the 2007 calendar year and made the playoffs yet another distant dream. But as the New Year rolled forward so did the team. The youth movement started looking good and players like Andrew Cogliano, Sam Gagner, Robert Nilsson, and Denis Grebeshkov started showing why they were put on this team. The team finished strong only to be eliminated from the playoffs in the final days.

Which brings us to ‘Offseason 2008’. Kevin Lowe has gone from man possessed to man relaxed. He has pieces to deal and holes to fill, but nothing major. From all accounts in his quotes and actions he is in no rush to make a trade, at least not in the same fashion as last year. During the draft weekend it was expected something would be done, but the prices were high and Lowe wasn’t buying. The holes this team has are a bit of a grey area as guys like Curtis Glencross, Jarret Stoll are free agents. The one constant is a top line forward that can play with Hemsky. More specifically this team needs a left wing shooter who will finish the passes he receives from Hemmer. This leads us to a list of three candidates I have compiled from around the league. Things I want out of this spot include someone who likes to shoot (and finishes!), has veteran experience to improve on the youngest team in the NHL, and obviously someone who is not only available but affordable. So let’s get into it.

Jason Blake - $4 mill cap hit for four more seasons

Thoughts: It is pretty obvious that Blake is available and I’d assume for not a lot. He was second in the league in shots for LW to Ovechkin, so he’s a shooter for sure. Had a tough year for goals with only 15 but put up 57 points. His shooting % was a awful 4.5 and his career average is not much better at 8. From the stats he looks to be a 25 goal scorer who had one unbelievable 40 goal year with an unsustainable 13% shooting. So maybe he doesn’t offer the finish you’d like, especially for 4 mill but he gets a lot of shots on net and who knows what can happen with a new team. He has been very healthy in his career playing at least 75 games every year and was able to play every game this season even after being diagnosed with cancer.

Eric Cole - $4 mill cap hit for next year then UFA

Thoughts: Cole’s name has come up on numerous occasions and there is a reason for it. He’s the type of player we’re looking for and he fits. He was in the top 20 for LW shooters and scored 22 goals in a sub par year for him. He is a 30 goal scorer with some speed and size which are two qualities that Blake doesn’t offer. He is the youngest of the three that will be listed at 29 but still offers some veteran leadership including a cup win (though only playing two games). He is likely to cost the most in terms of assets but would fit in well on a line with Horcoff and Hemsky. One major issue with Cole is health as he has yet to play a full season.

Marcus Naslund – UFA

Thoughts: Naslund is an interesting idea. He is a long time Canuck coming off of a subpar year in which is relationship with the team became clearly strained. There are many things to like about Naslund; he is a veteran leader, was tenth in shooting for LW last year, has been a 40 goal scorer three times, has decent speed, and has been healthy throughout his career. The question marks surrounding him would be obviously his age as he will be 35 this year, as well as his willingness to play in the NHL and for the Oilers. Speculation is that he may want to return to Sweden instead of staying in North America. Finally we would have to know what kind of compensation Naslund is looking for. Coming off of a couple of seasons where he did not meet his career numbers Naslund could be had for an affordable price, assuming he is able to return to old form.

Nevertheless there are some interesting pieces to be had for the Oilers most pressing need. The question remains at what price and is Lowe willing to pay it. It will be interesting to see.

Oiler UFA and RFAs

Part 1 – Introductions and Allan Rourke

With the Oilers signing Grebeshkov, Nilsson, and Gilbert early this “off-season” the question comes back what should they do with the other UFAs and RFAs. Now I know that the Oilers have many other RFA contracts (ex. Troy Bodie) but, I will limit these entry to players that have played at least 15 games with the big club.

Introductions:

The UFAs

Player	07/08 team	07/08 compensation	GP	G	A	PTS	+/-	PIM
Geoff Sanderson	Edmonton	1,500,000	41	3	10	13	-7	16
Marty Reasoner	Edmonton	950,000	82	11	14	25	-17	50
Curtis Glencross	Columbus	522,500	36	6	6	12	+8	25
	Edmonton		26	9	4	13		28
Allan Rourke	Edmonton	475,000	13	0	0	0	-1	5
	Springfield		44	3	11	14	-6	24

The RFAs

Player	07/08 team	07/08 compensation	GP	G	A	PTS	+/-	PIM
Joni Pitkanen	Edmonton	2,400,000	63	8	18	26	-5	56
Jarret Stoll	Edmonton	2,200,000	81	14	22	36	-23	74
Marc Pouliot	Edmonton	942,000	24	1	6	7	-1	18
	Springfield		55	21	26	47	-11	47
JF Jacques	Edmonton	650,000	9	0	0	0	-3	2
	Springfield		38	11	14	25	-13	63
Danny Syvret	Springfield	567,000	36	1	7	8	0	14
	Hershey		27	1	11	12	-4	29
Zach Stortini	Edmonton	475,000	66	3	9	12	3	201
	Springfield		4	3	2	5	0	21

Now that the introductions are out of the way let’s get down to what the Oilers should do with said players:

UFAs

I will start with Allan Rourke as out of the UFAs he earned the least, so if nothing else he will win at being the first player talked about in this blog.

Originally brought to the club as part of the deal that also brought back the Oilers 3^rd round selection in 2008 (later parlayed into Dustin Penner) for a 2^nd round pick in 2008. Rourke filled the role of utility defensemen when Souray, Tarnstrom, and Greene went down to various injuries from Nov. 10 – Dec. 10. During his time with the big club Rourke suited up for 13 games (the team went 6-6-1), playing an average of 10:55 per game. Which means that he played the equivalent of roughly 2 whole games while the team was playing .500 hockey. However he was dependable enough that he was only -1 during the time.

Now what should the Oilers do? Well with Grebeshkov, Gilbert, Staios, Greene, Souray, Smid already signed and Pitkanen a pending RFA and other prospects knocking on the door, Rourke would be pretty low on the depth chart. Relegating him to Springfield for the length of his new contract barring another rash of injuries. However, I would like to see the Oilers re-sign him as he is the ideal 8^th defensemen reliable and cheap. As well, if nothing else he could enhance the Falcons lineup for the 08-09 season by adding a guy who has been a career AHL player.

Coming Up: Part 2 Glencross – Sanderson

IIHF Update

With the announcement that Sam Gagner will be drawing into the IIHF game for Canada tomorrow against Norway 6 Edmonton Oiler players will be representing their countries at the tournament (7 if you count Garon being the backups backup and I don’t so 6).

Now I know that during the qualifying rounds of this tournament powerhouses like Canada, US, Russia end up playing teams like Italy, Germany, Belarus etc. So stats this early do not usually mean much with teams winning games 10-1. However, it is still interesting to look at.

Player	Team	GP	G	A	PTS	+/-	TOI
Staios	Canada	6	0	0	0	+7	16:35
Grebeshkov	Russia	6	0	4	4	+6	13:48
Nilsson	Sweden	6	2	3	5	+5	12:00
Greene	USA	6	0	0	0	0	13:47
Gilbert	USA	6	1	3	4	0	16:39

So what can we glean from these results.

Well “Steady” Steve is having a pretty good campaign. Still no points to show, however, that is not what he is there for. He has been on the ice for 2 of the 10 goals scored against Canada, with both coming against the United States. He is also logging a fair amount of ice time as Duncan Keith is the team leader at 17:37.

Grebeshkov is also having a good tournament for his country. Despite having the second lowest TOI of regulars he is leading the Russian defensemen in point production. His +/- statistic is also pretty impressive at the Russians only had one lop sided win during the qualification round.

Mr. Nilsson is also picking up where he left off the regular season and is performing at a high level. He is currently tied for 7^th in point production on the Swedish team. While averaging much less ice time then his fellow countrymen.

Greene is much like Staios in the fact that he has no points, however, again if he was recruited to score them, the US scouting team did not do a very good job. However, he is logging some valuable minutes and has stayed even through the tournament which means that he must be playing responsible hockey.

Finally, Gilbert has been counted on to log the 3^rd most minutes on his team. He has also produced the 2^nd most points on the United States backend. While picking up where he left off has played responsible hockey and is even through the qualifying round.

Take from it what you want. But, to me with 4 of the 5 of these guys being 25 or under, with the addition of 18 year old Gagner and Pitkanen who left the team. The future looks bright for the Edmonton Oilers.

Condolences go out to the Stall family