If I was GM of the Oilers....
Posted 5:53 PM ET | Comments 11
If I was GM of the Oilers, first after I finished wrapping my mind around the absurd amount of money being payed to 2nd line players and third rate checkers, I would have no choice but to succumb to the heavy workload forced on me by the previous neglectful administration before. Steve Tambelinni has inherited a franchise battered worse then the U.S governments credibility on the world stage after 8 years of the Bush administration. Face it he is the Barack Obama of NHL GM s, next to be followed by whomever has to deal with the godly disaster of cleaning up the mess made by Garth Snow and Charles Wang in Long Island. Its not as if this team has its shortage of young talent. Hemsky, Gagner, Cogliano, Nillson, Grebeshkov, Smid, Chorney,and Deslauriers are great young talented players, all of which I hope stay in Edmonton for a long time. But they're not the problem: Horcoff, Pisani, Penner, Staios and probably the entire coaching staff are. These 4 players, next year, will acount for 16.55 million dollars in cap space and if you throw in the 16 million tied up in contracts with Souray, Gilbert and Visnovsky, next year the Oilers will be spending 32.55 million dollars (that's 60% of our available salary cap) on 7 players! With the exceptions of Souray and Visnovsky none of these guys are and will ever be top line guys! But how do you move guys like Penner, Horcoff, and Staios when A). Staios and Horc are considered "leaders" on our team ( although some would argue, and I am one of them, that after trading both Ryan Smyth and Jason Smith that this team might not understand the meaning of the word "leadership" ) and B). what can you really get in return for these guys and would anybody even take them? We all no noone is gonna take Penner at this point so lets just move on, but i still believe theres got to be at least some interest out ther in guys like Gilbert, Staios and Horcoff. Throw Schremp in there and a draft pick and why cant we pick up Spezza, Neil and Philips maybe from Ottawa or maybe Boyes, King and Jackman from St.Louis. Something! Anything! We need a top line centre and some players that play with some jam! Both these potential deals (although maybe not likely) would adress exactly that. We dont need a complete over haul and tear this team down but there are certain pieces that must be moved in order for this team to be competive this year and in years to come and YES this does include a coaching change as well. I love MacT I think hes got a great hockey mind but it does not seem to be working at this point but much like the situation in Ottawa it may not be the case of bad coaching but bad personell on the part of the GM. If MacT had an actual first line centre, some toughness and heart both up front and on the back end, and a Dustin Penner who actually skates and hits!, then maybe a coaching change is not needed but it must start with the GM and the players he has assembled. Its time for Tambo to put his stamp on this team! If he wont I elect myself as the new GM of the Oilers and I promise to inject some heart and talent into this organization (and unlike our respected elected officials) with out just throwing money at the problem!!
i f i were the GM i would get rid of cole and grab Gionta from NJ... i love gionta he is awsome but i know u guys could send us somthing back that we could use as well, come playoff time.. Gionta is on pace fgor 70pts and his second best season of his career....
i f i were the GM i would get rid of cole and grab Gionta from NJ... i love gionta he is awsome but i know u guys could send us somthing back that we could use as well, come playoff time.. Gionta is on pace for 70pts and his second best season of his career...
First move is to get rid of Mactavish. How can a guy coach a team since 2000-2001 with limited success.Even the most successful franchises are hard pressed to stick with one guy for 9 years. It is unfortunate that Edmonton made a playoff run otherwise I believe MacT would have been gone after that season and could have carried on with a stronger head coach.
If I were Ottawa's GM, I'd be feeling the heat more... and I'd be laughing at you if you came at me with that proposal... Gilbert, Staios, Horcoff and Schremp for Spezza, Phillips and Neil? Spezza owns more talent than anyone Edmonton gives up and Phillips is twice the defenseman that Gilbert or Staios are... Schremp intrigues me... but not enough to take that significant a drop in talent while also taking on salary and not addressing the need for secondary scoring.
I'd trade you Spezza (7) and Neil (1.1) for Schremp (0.8), Cole (4), Gilbert (4)... Edmonton gets the top line/franchise forward its looking for and a gritty player who has played PP in the past. Ottawa gets a young centre with upside, a decent puckmoving defenseman, and a 2nd line winger with impressive intangibles... both Cole and Neil are UFA's this summer with Cole being more important than Neil so Ottawa sees more of the risk from this move.
A-Mar where do I sign?
haha... I just didn't feel comfortable with Phillips going the other way... the rest of the trade wasn't terrible... I think were I Ottawa in that circumstance, I'd almost be looking for a conditional pick should Cole move on in the summer... just because he's such a big part of the move.
Regarding Penner... Thank GOD the Ducks didn't match KLowe's offer sheet. I've read that Burke had the OK to match and was going to but Dave McNab talked him out of it because it would have driven up the price for Getzlaf and Perry. Thank you Mr. McNab!
hey man, really excited to read this, but PARAGRAPHS ARE YOUR FRIEND. it's too late, i'll have to try this again in the morning.
thanks for posting.i disagree with you assesmnent of valuepenner for example does hold value. right now we have 5 confirmed sellers at the deadline that may rise to 8 teams selling. that means 22 teams buying.so 20 or so teams probably all looking for secondary scoring. if we want to we can deal penner. i do not want to discourage you from posting keep it up. i jnust disagree with the value you place on the players
I don't know how you think that you could trade your Sloppy Seconds and get St.Louis' best player in the deal.