Shawn Score-coff!? I think not!
Posted 4:49 PM ET | Comments 3
Its been 10 years and 506 games since the Shawn Horcoff experiment began and people are still wondering whether this guy can be a first line center or not. Nobody has ever questioned his leadership or work ethic and Im not going to start now but honestly, Shawn Horcoff is not a first line center. Never has been never will be. If it wasnt for the magnificent cross seam passing by Ales Hemksy they would have shipped his ass out of here a long time ago. The points have never been there. His best season came all the way back during the cup run (GP79 G22 A51 P73 ) when everybody including Pisani was having career years. Everybody figured finally! he's taking the final step required to be that guy. Then he followed it up with a disasterous campaign in 06 only netting 16 goals, 35 assists and 51 points in 80 games. Not to mention a fantastic -22 plus/minus rating. Then the following year he gets injured with a knee injury and is limited to playing only 53 games. Now in 2008 he s putting up the same ol' stats (20 Points in 26 games.) These stats, while not being terrible, are certainly not first line star player stats. I mean the mans 30 its not as if he's just entering the prime of his career. The Oilers just signed him to that lengthy 6 year deal, do they plan on him being our first line center all this time? I hope not! Granted he has 8 pts in his last 5 games, Its not enough! We dont have to trade him I d love to see him as a second line guy but with guys like Cogs, Gagner, Schremp and Brodziak do we really have the room? And at a 3.6 million cap hit could we really afford the salary of another top line guy with him still in the fix? I dont think so! There is still a lot of time in this season for Horcoff to establish himself as a star player in this league but how long can Tambellini or Lowe wait for him to regain his 05/06 form? Given how long its been already I think he'll be an Oiler till he retires and by all rights he should, just not on the top line.
Yup I think your bang on, much like Fisher in Ottawa, love the guys but not as top line centers
The 3.6M this year isn't so bad... it's the 5 M he's getting for the remainder of his contract that worries me.
In a perfect world, he's your 2nd line center behind a Joe Thorton type guy, that said he's a fringe first liner.