Defence looking stronger every draft

Edmonton gave up its 2006 1st round draft pick in the Roloson trade, and so started with a 2nd round pick in the draft. With this pick they selected Jeff Petry out of the USHL. Not much was known about him at the time. In fact almost nothing was known about him, or the league he came from. But heres what McKeen's magazine wrote this about his playoff performance this season:

Jeff Petry (Edm), D, Des Moines
The best defenseman in the league will play for Michigan State next fall .. is a great skater that is elegant on his feet with an effortless and powerful stride in all directions .. dangerous when he decides to skate the puck up the ice but does not do so enough, as he is always aware of his defensive responsibilities .. hands are soft and his skill set is underrated .. vision is top-notch, as he makes a great first pass or can quarterback the powerplay .. owns an accurate 98 mph slapshot that is the heaviest in the league .. often elects to take a little off his shot to release the puck more quickly with his fine wristshot and does a good job of keeping it low and on the net .. has a great head for the game at both ends .. more physical this year and uses his great lateral mobility to line up a stiff hip check time to time .. savvy one-on-one defender, as he uses his reach well and maintains proper body positioning at all times .. gap control is flawless .. still could stand to add some bulk to his lanky frame, as his upper-body strength is just average for a player of his height .. backbone of this team and is a true leader .. poised and can change the pace of the game to his liking .. an astute selection by the Edmonton Oilers.

This is looking like a great pick by Lowe et al. Its looking like he could have top 2 upside in the NHL. The USHL is not as strong as some leagues but has produced offensive defenceman like Matt Carle and Brian Lee along with top prospect forwards like Kyle Okoposo and Martin Hanzal.

If Petry can have a strong next couple seasons at Michigan State the Oilers could be well stocked with excellent two-way defenceman. Gilbert, Grebs, Chorney, Petry, Smid are all 24 and under showing top 4 upside. What used to be one of the most shallow positions in our system is starting to look pretty promising.

For all those who bash Lowe, you have to admit the guy can draft defenceman.

Edit to add: Here is a list of all the players drafted out of the USHL.

CBD's second round predictions

We missed the first round but here are our picks for who will win in the second round. For these picks (which for two of us were heavily influenced by the pool) we also recruited 2 other analysts. Bethany and a coin. The coins results were done by arbitrarily giving a side of a coin a team and then flipping it until one side showed 4 times.

Josh

San Jose in 6
Anaheim in 5
Buffalo in 7
Ottawa in 6

Jon

Detroit in 7
Anaheim in 6
Buffalo in 6
New Jersey in 6

Bethany

Detroit in 4
Anaheim in 7
Buffalo in 5
Ottawa in 6

The Coin Flip says

San Jose in 6
Vancouver in 6
New York in 6
New Jersey in 7

You know that car you bought? Ya, It's a lemon

With most of the series already settled it got me thinking about how so many trade deadline buyers are licking their wounds. This season’s deadline seemed to be very expensive for many teams, and I really wanted the Oilers to be sellers. I thought that the Oilers would pay a dear price to try and make the playoffs and if they did make it wouldn’t make it far. They were definite sellers, but not to the extent I had hoped. Last season teams like Edmonton and Carolina loaded up at the deadline with players that played key roles in their post season success. I’m a strong believer that success created the high price for players this season. So what did teams pay for this season?

Well Atlanta made two significant trades to bolster their team for the playoffs.

D Braydon Coburn

For

D Alexei Zhitnik

F Glen Metropolit, 2007 1^st & 3^rd Round Picks, 2008 2^nd Round Pick

For

F Keith Tkachuk

So clearly they gave up a lot only to be swept in 4 games by the Rangers.

The Islanders went shopping at Champions and pulled out this:

D Denis Grebeshov

For

D Marc-Andre Bergeron

F Robert Nilson, F Ryan O’Marra, 2007 1^st Round Pick

For

F Ryan Smyth

Again they gave up 3 young players drafted in the first round alone with another draft pick for two players who got them five games against the Sabres.

Nashville was one of the biggest players on Trade Deadline Day gave up some good young players.

F Scottie Upshall, D Ryan Parent, 2007 1^st & 3^rd Round Picks

For

F Peter Forsberg

Two great young players and two high picks for a 20 regular season games of Frosberg and a five game loss to the Sharks in the playoffs. Forsberg is a UFA who will likely not resign back with Nashville (cap problems an obvious reason).

The Flames though not eliminated are down 3-2 to Detroit and can’t seem to win on the road. Clearly these players can’t either.

F Jamie Lunkmark, 2007 4^th Round Pick, 2008 2^nd Round Pick

For

F Craig Conroy

F Chuck Kobasew, D Andrew Ference

For

D Brad Stuart, F Wayne Primeau, Conditional Pick

What makes the Stuart trade hurt is that he is a UFA as well as Primeau (I think) and therefore they gave up two long term assets for one year of the other two players.

The Stars are on their heals against Vancouver (but making a valiant comeback) and gave were definite buyers.

F Mathias Tjarnqvist, 2007 1^st Round Pick

For

F Ladislav Nagy

They also made a large trade with LA mostly involving a lot of picks and a two for two player trade that was a trade for today, but not a glaring high cost.

The teams moving on are not teams that made big splashes in February, they are teams who came into the season with a good line-up and filled the small holes that showed during the season with minor players who brought different things to their team. Me thinks buying big name UFA’s at the deadline is a tad overrated. Me also thinks the price for these players will be going down next year.

Who’s the first GM to go this summer? I’m going with David Polie in Nashville. Two first round exits in a row is not a good resume builder.

Preying on the Weak?

So I have always been a proponent of decreasing the amount of times the teams play the other teams in their own division from the 8 the NHL currently has. My two main reasons are:

1. Teams such as Nashville and Detroit feast on the weaker teams in their division and as such get a much better seeding then they deserve when the playoffs start.

2. I personally would like to see the Canadians teams from the west play the Canadian teams from the east more often. (Or at all, no Hockey Day in Canada next year since the Northwest teams do not play the Northeast teams next year.)

In regards to the first reason that is why I have made this post. I have broken down each division with the teams and the amount of points that they accumulated strictly on divisional games. Hope you enjoy.

Eastern Conference

Atlantic Division

Team	Div.	Points
New Jersey	23-6-3	49
Pittsburgh	20-9-3	43
NY Rangers	15-12-5	35
NY Islanders	17-11-4	38
Philadelphia	5-20-7	17

As you can see this is pretty even, I am assuming that everyone just feasted on Philly when they played them. However, you can see no other real disparity.

Northeast Division

Team	Div.	Points
Buffalo	18-11-3	39
Ottawa	19-10-3	41
Toronto	13-14-5	31
Montreal	16-12-4	36
Boston	14-17-1	29

I thought it was weird that Ottawa actually did better than Buffalo in divisional point accumulation. However, again overall the teams match up quite well against each other with Toronto being the lowest in the win category at 13.

Southeast Division

Team	Div.	Points
Atlanta	18-7-7	43
Tampa Bay	19-11-2	40
Carolina	19-11-2	40
Florida	13-14-5	31
Washington	11-15-6	28

This division is a little more spread out with Carolina being 9 points ahead of Florida. Maybe this division is starting to show a little bit of the top three teams preying on weaker competition.

Western Conference

Central Division

Team	Div.	Points
Detroit	22-4-6	50
Nashville	21-8-6	48
St. Louis	12-16-4	28
Columbus	11-17-4	26
Chicago	14-17-1	29

Here is the poster boy for disparity between teams in a division. Detroit and Nashville are extremely close to each other. But then Chicago is 19 points back of Nashville. Seems to me that two of these teams are feasting on weaker competition. While St. Louis, Columbus, and Chicago are pretty evenly matched.

Northwest Division

Team	Div.	Points
Vancouver	16-13-3	35
Minnesota	18-8-6	42
Calgary	17-12-3	37
Colorado	18-11-3	39
Edmonton	11-20-1	23

Again you look at this division and obviously with the Oilers fall from grace there would be disparity between the 4^th Vancouver and 5^th Edmonton. However, the other four teams look like they put up a good fight against each other.

Pacific Division

Team	Div.	Points
Anaheim	19-8-5	43
San Jose	18-13-1	37
Dallas	24-7-1	49
Los Angeles	10-18-4	24
Phoenix	9-18-5	23

Again this division looks as though the top three teams are splitting games between themselves and coming out on top against the bottom two teams.

So, in conclusion, to me it looks like clearly in one division (Central) the top teams are preying on much weaker competition. In two divisions (Pacific, Southeast) the top three teams are preying on the weaker two and in the other three (Northwest, Northeast, and Atlantic) competition is pretty decent between the teams.

All in all I think that the NHL should try to maybe curb the divisional rivalry a little for the fact that some divisions there is no legitimate rivalry between the teams

By the way, the average amount of points for divisional games was 35.8. What ever happened to Jeff Norton?

Report Cards

CBD’S first annual player report cards are out. We have compiled our knowledge and created a masterpiece of grading (hey, one of us is a teacher, this is what we do). Everyone should have a look of amazement and intrigue, but save the compliments for later (we didn’t give very many out so why should you). After an unbelievable season last year this year has been a tough pill to swallow. God damn we should have taken the blue pill. I know, enough and get on with it.

Forwards

Shawn Horcoff
GP:80 G:16 A:35 PTS:51 +/-: -22 PIM:56 TOI: 20:49

Played the most minutes per game for an Oilers forward, even while playing with Smyth and Hemsky could not get it going offensively. Was not very good defensively (-22). Horcoff like I said last year would be at best a good third line center and penalty killer for his skill set. Hopefully the Oilers can upgrade this position for next year.

Grade: D

Raffi Torres
GP:82 G: 5 A:19 PTS:34 +/-:-7 PIM:88 TOI:14:19

I expected big things out of Raffi after last years 27 goals. However, he played the Raffi way. A force when he had confidence, invisible when he didn’t. Set a career high in assists at 19. I think what Raffi needs for next year if he is still here is consistent line mates.

Grade: C-

Joffrey Lupul
GP:81 G:16 A:12 PTS:28 +/-:-29 PIM:45 TOI:15:35

One of the fans favorite scapegoats for a team’s bad season. Huge drop in productivity from last years 28 goal, 25 assist season. Joffrey had the worst plus minus on the team at -29. Best thing about his year is that he has owned up to it saying that he has been horrible. Deserves another shot to prove himself before he is sent packing.

Grade: D

Jarret Stoll
GP:51 G:13 A:26 PTS:39 +/-:+2 PIM:48 TOI:18:11

Jarret missed 31 games and still finished 4^th in overall scoring on the team. Was also the only regular forward to finish the season with a plus rating. I believe that Jarret was stepping up a class this year before he was derailed by injury problems. Hopefully, with the summers rest he can come back at 100%.

Grade A-

Ethan Moreau
GP:7 G:1 A:0 PTS:1 +/-:-4 PIM:12 TOI:15:08

Ethan got hurt only 7 games into the season and it showed that the Oilers missed his leadership on and off the ice. Too bad that he got hurt on such a meaningless play. The Oilers missed the intensity that he brings to the game each and every day.

Grade: N/A

Marty Reasoner
GP:72 G:6 A:14 PTS:20 +/-:-15 PIM:60 TOI:13:52

Marty produced what you would expect out of a 4^th line center. Marty also had a decent year on the penalty kill. Glaring stat would be his -15 rating, however, with almost every player being a minus that has to be taken with a grain of salt. He will likely be our 4^th line center again next year.

Grade: C

Toby Petersen
GP:64 G:6 A:9 PTS:15 +/-:-18 PIM:4 TOI:13:40

What is there to say about MacT’s man crush? He seems to be one of those players that are average (at best) at everything and not quite good enough at anything to make him stand out. Not great offensively (15 points). Not good defensively (-18). Should not be on the Oilers roster when training camp opens in September.

Grade: D-

Brad Winchester
GP:59 G:4 A:5 PTS:9 +/-:-10 PIM:86 TOI:8:04

Under MacT he was really never given an opportunity to develop his game. He has the skill set and the body size to be an average power forward. However, the Oilers will never have a chance to use him as he will sign elsewhere this summer.

Grade: C-

Patrick Thoresen
GP:68 G:4 A:12 PTS:16 +/-:-1 PIM:52 TOI:11:25

Thor had a great start to the year with 6 points in 8 games. Really tailed off with only 10 points in the next 60 though. Thor was used to kill penalties and had an excellent +/- rating at -1 comparitively to the rest of the team. I think that his production was killed by playing with new line mates almost every night and not being able to develop any kind of chemistry. Will likely be a decent 3^rd or 4^th line guy next year.

Grade: C

Fernando Pisani
GP:77 G:14 A:14 PTS:28 +/-:-1 PIM:40 TOI:16:53

Fernando was only 2 goals off his pace from last year’s regular season. Unfortunately Fernando scored the same amount of goals in 77 games as he did in 24 games last spring. His contract is too huge for a 3^rd line winger and if the Oilers can move him they should. We would be losing probably our most sound defensive player though as with this team he compiled an outstanding -1 rating through those 77 games.

Grade: C

Petr Sykora
GP:82 G:22 A:31 PTS:53 +/-:-20 PIM:40 TOI:16:39

Wow what has Hemsky done for you lately? Finished the year tied for first in Oilers scoring (Hemsky played 18 fewer games). MacT was put on record saying that Sykora was hurt for the last 30 games of the year and as such didn’t want to play him with Hemsky. A lot of first half bang (15 goals going into the Christmas break) with a second half fizzle. Will need to take a pay cut to play in Edmonton again next year I would think.

Grade B-

Ales Hemsky
GP:64 G:13 A:40 PTS:53 +/-:-7 PIM:40 TOI:16:59

The piece of the Oilers puzzle that they will need to build around to be successful. Hemsky is absolutely amazing to watch while he has the puck (even if turnovers are a problem right now). He also actually started to use his shot more when everyone was going down with injuries which was a good sign. Still needs a triggerman to be more effective.

Grade: B+

Petr Nedved
GP:19 G:1 A:4 PTS:5 +/-:-6 PIM:10 TOI:12:47

The Oilers took a “Flyer” on him half way through the year. Turned out it was not the right fit before the Oilers and Nedved decided mutually to part ways. Thing that stood out the most to me was how horrible of a skater he is.

Grade: N/A

Jean-Francois Jacques
GP:37 G:0 A:0 PTS:0 +/-:-11 PIM:33 TOI:7:54

For what ever reason could not seem to fit right with the Oilers. 26 points in 27 games in the AHL, 0 points in 37 games in the NHL. Just goes to show you the elevation of play between the two leagues. Showed stints of intensity while he was in the lineup and can bang bodies around. Still lots of time for this guy to develop before we need to put his head on a stick and wave it around (ala Brad Winchester).

Grade: D+

Marc Pouliot
GP:46 G:4 A:7 PTS:11 +/-:-2 PIM:18 TOI:13:02

Pouliot, while being listed as an offensive prospect really didn’t show much with only 11 points in 46 games. When MacT is done with him there will not be an offensive bone in his body and we will end up having another 3^rd line two way center. Showed flashes of offensive flare at times, but needs to be commended on his -2 overall rating.

Grade: C+

Zack Stortini
GP:29 G:1 A:0 PTS:1 +/-:-7 PIM:105 TOI:7:09

Zack showed good promise in being an excellent agitator down the road. Most ridiculous part of the year was when he was playing first line with Horcoff and Hemsky. Needs to realize that you don’t need to beak someone off after/before every whistle to be effective. Playing a full schedule he would have lead the league in penalty minutes.

Grade: B-

Defenceman

Matt Greene
GP:78 G:1 A:9 PTS:10 +/-:-22 PIM:109 TOI:17:36

Seems to have hit a plateau in his progress. Penalty troubles still haunt him along with a lack of consistency. Played good with soft minutes but was exposed with top 4 ice time. Atrocious +/-.

Grade: C

Laddy Smid
GP:77 G:3 A:7 PTS:10 +/-: -16 PIM:37 TOI:19:14

Had what could be called an above average season for a 20 year old rookie playing top 4 minutes on a bad team. Tied for first in goals by defenceman (??) but second worst +/-. Showed flashes of intelligence and an ability to rush the puck. Played a tougher game than expected.

Grade: B

Jason Smith
GP:82 G:2 A:9 PTS:11 +/-: -13 PIM:103 TOI:21:08

Was forced to play as our number one defenceman even though he is clearly a number 3 and was exposed. Had to baby sit a lot of young players. Clearly on the decline in his career but not as bad as everyone thinks once he settles into his role.

Grade: B-

Steve Staios
GP:58 G:2 A:15 PTS:17 +/-: -5 PIM:97 TOI:21:22

Was given the assignment of tutoring Smid and did an admirable job. Lead the team offensively with Bergeron’s absence. Evaded a lot of the criticism the defence took. Brings the same thing every game which is a compliment this season, but won’t be every year.

Grade: B-

Jan Hejda
GP:39 G:1 A:8 PTS:9 +/-: -6 PIM:20 TOI:20:23

A European vet who came in a brought a quiet consistent game. Looked solid most nights. Had the odd bad game but as an NHL rookie not much to complain about.

Grade: C+

Tom Gilbert
GP:12 G:1 A:5 PTS:6 +/-: -1 PIM:0 TOI:20:05

A very promising defenceman who brings a strong two way game. Played well on a bad team as a professional rookie. At 24 years old is not as young as the other rookies which would indicate he should be better. Had the best +/- on the team in the last 12 games.

Grade: B

Bryan Young
GP:15 G:0 A:0 PTS:0 +/-: -8 PIM:10 TOI:10:06

Went from playing Junior to ECHL to AHL and then finally to the NHL. At this rate he will be an allstar by next season. Kidding aside he has looked good in sheltered minutes but did get in over his head early on. Can absolutely devastate with open ice hits, but has 0 offensive ability.

Grade: C-

Daniel Tjanqvist
GP:37 G:3 A:12 PTS:15 +/-: +3 PIM:30 TOI:22:41

Played only limited action but was second in scoring from the backend even with playing 37 games. Only plus defenceman on our team but that can be attributed to being injured during the losing streak. Maybe our most consistent two-way defenceman this season.

Grade: B

Mathieu Roy
GP:16 G:2 A:0 PTS:2 +/-: -7 PIM:30 TOI:14:06

Looked good at times, not good others. Can rush the puck and play the body, but does neither overly well.

Grade: C

Danny Syvret
GP:16 G:0 A:1 PTS:1 +/-: -10 PIM:6 TOI:18:28

Shows puck poise in the offensive zone, but less in the defensive zone. Gets pushed around easily.

Grade: C-

Goalies

Dwayne Roloson
GP:68 W:27 L:34 OT:6 SO:4 GAA:2.75 SV%:.909

In a worthless MVP debate Roloson has to be the front runner. Played good, and played often never really having a terrible stretch of hockey (considering the team in front of him). If we had him playing the entire last season like he did this season we would have been first. A solid goalie who gives your team a chance to win every night.

Grade: B+

Jussi Markkanen
GP:22 W:5 L:9 OT:1 SO:0 GAA:3.15 SV%:.886

Not very good stats for the guy who played unbelievable against the Canes last year. Would play a good game and then a bad game. His inconsistency prevents any questions of whether he is starter material. A dependable backup on a good team.

Grade: C+

New Arena

Now that the Oilers are looking into some new accommodations here is a look at the Newark area arena that the New Jersey Devils will begin playing is as of next year. Little bit of a long video at just about 10 minutes. However, if the Oilers could get an Arena like this it would be pretty amazing.

Click anchored link here

Playoff Payoff

So the playoffs start today. Sitting here its looking like 3 of the 4 games tonight will go to OT, which can not be a bad thing for this league. No team has been written off (aside maybe the Penguins after getting kicked in their special place tonight), and most of the games were high scoring. Which is good for all the poolies. Some things I noticed about our pool:

• If Buffalo is out in the first round it will be the lowest scoring pool in the history human kind being able to count numbers.



• If Buffalo makes it to the eastern finals the guy who picked his entire team of their players wins by default, and probably 40 points



• Thornton was a concensus pick (mostly) therefore nullifying him, which feels like a tie, or kissing your sister if you follow the analogy all the way down the line



• There appears to be a 50/50 split between guys picking all players they think will be in the conference finals (me) and just picking great scorers (which i think is a bad idea, but time will tell...time will tell)

So good luck to all the poolies, should be some good races if the scoring keeps up.

Heres to Detroit in 4.