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Edmonton Oilers Blogger •
I received an email from my sister early this morning. "I haven't seen a blog from you in a while. Everything okay?" Ummm, health stuff. I won't get into details, but I'll try harder to keep writing while I continue to deal with this junk. Now let's talk some hockey.
Strange times last week in Oilerville. I heard someone from Sportsnet say that everyone except Sam Gagner had the flu. Good genes? Youth? Not sure why Sammy escaped unharmed. Laddy Smid was confirmed as having the H1N1 virus, so it seems reasonable to think other players had the same condition. The Oilers played like a team with the flu, losing to Calgary, Vancouver and Colorado, and almost losing to Detroit. But seriously folks, the flu bug is a weak excuse at best for losing. Every team in the league is dealing with H1N1. Another realization? Dustin Penner, who is having a ridiculously good season and has recently had four and five point games, has been battling the flu for two weeks. If he can play through it...
The Oilers hit the road this upcoming week starting in Boston on Saturday at 1pm EST. The Bruins? Forgetaboutit. The Oilers never do well in Boston. The schedule maker must have been in a strange mood when he designed this road-trip. After playing in Boston, the Oilers head to Long Island to play against the Islanders, and then, they return home to play the Rangers. Huh? Wouldn't it be easier for the Oilers to do the standard Islanders/Rangers/Devils road-trip? Save some fuel? Heck, they could do Boston, Buffalo, and then the New York teams in a week, and be truly environmentally friendly. Why not? This two game road-trip will be a 1 - 1 affair.
It seems likely that the first line of Hemsky-Horcoff-Penner trio will stay together for a while. What is less predictable is the 2nd thru 4th lines. Fernando Pisani is almost ready to be inserted back into the line-up, and most of the flu bugs and little injuries to the forwards are going away. What does it all mean? The Oilers will be forced into making a roster move or two. What to do? What's likely to happen is that the Oilers will send down Robert Nilsson in hopes they will lose him to waivers. They won't. I can give you 2 million reasons, and Steve MacIntyre won't be sent down because he is a low-cost extra forward that looks pretty in the press box.
Lemme play devil's advocate. Pisani isn't a tradable player, and aside from that, Fernando can add some quality in terms of two-way presence. Nilsson could perhaps be a throw-in as part of a trade, and the Oilers would love to dump his contract.
Trading Nilsson straight up for someone is not going to bring a return. Maybe a 3rd round pick? Not very inspiring, nor would it bring immediate help to a team that will be on the borderline for a playoff spot this season. Would the Oilers be willing to move a player with Nilsson to add a quality forward to immediately improve the team's chances? Absolutely. And the player that could be moved is Andrew Cogliano.
Cogs is a quality young forward, but the Oilers are loaded with small young centers. Gagner has shown flashes of brilliance this season, but with Cogliano it has been speed in skating with very little finish. A number of teams love his potential and would be willing to offer an established player of quality to obtain his services.
There has been talk of the Oilers having an interest in Nathan Horton from Florida, Patrick Sharp from Chicago, Alexander Frolov from LA, and Tuomo Ruutu from Carolina. You might as well add Matt Cullen from Carolina and Drew Stafford from Buffalo to the list. I would love to see Stafford in Edmonton personally, but I can't see Cogs and Nilsson being enough. Carolina is playing terrible hockey, so they might have some great motivation to move a player or two, plus the Hurricanes and Oilers have been dance partners in the past. The Oilers have loved Ruutu for years.
While the Oilers are playing decent...not great or terrible, but decent...hockey, there are a few issues that must be addressed for the team to improve. First being, Steve Staios and Sheldon Souray need to return. Souray in particular has been missed on the PK, and both bring a physical presence to the defense that is currently lacking. The other big ugly is the Oilers still stink in the face-off circle. And that's why a deal could occur.
A few things to keep in mind, my eager friends. In respect to movable assets, IF all the Oilers defensemen were playing and healthy, the Oilers could survive a deal including one of their Top 4. This is because Taylor Chorney has shown himself to be ready for the NHL, and Jason Strudwick is a quality 7th man/injury filler. Most likely to be moved would be Tom Gilbert, who is having a difficult year, and is perhaps on paper the most tradable of the Top 4. Cogliano is the other quality player that could be moved, and as previously mentioned, Nilsson's contract is one the Oilers would enjoy to dump. If the Oilers took all three players, and wrapped them up with a big, shiny bow, perhaps the return would be a quality, if not star, forward with size and skill in the face-off circle.
When Pisani and the defense all return, something's gotta give. Look for the rumors to pick up BIG TIME over the next few weeks.
Strange times last week in Oilerville. I heard someone from Sportsnet say that everyone except Sam Gagner had the flu. Good genes? Youth? Not sure why Sammy escaped unharmed. Laddy Smid was confirmed as having the H1N1 virus, so it seems reasonable to think other players had the same condition. The Oilers played like a team with the flu, losing to Calgary, Vancouver and Colorado, and almost losing to Detroit. But seriously folks, the flu bug is a weak excuse at best for losing. Every team in the league is dealing with H1N1. Another realization? Dustin Penner, who is having a ridiculously good season and has recently had four and five point games, has been battling the flu for two weeks. If he can play through it...
The Oilers hit the road this upcoming week starting in Boston on Saturday at 1pm EST. The Bruins? Forgetaboutit. The Oilers never do well in Boston. The schedule maker must have been in a strange mood when he designed this road-trip. After playing in Boston, the Oilers head to Long Island to play against the Islanders, and then, they return home to play the Rangers. Huh? Wouldn't it be easier for the Oilers to do the standard Islanders/Rangers/Devils road-trip? Save some fuel? Heck, they could do Boston, Buffalo, and then the New York teams in a week, and be truly environmentally friendly. Why not? This two game road-trip will be a 1 - 1 affair.
It seems likely that the first line of Hemsky-Horcoff-Penner trio will stay together for a while. What is less predictable is the 2nd thru 4th lines. Fernando Pisani is almost ready to be inserted back into the line-up, and most of the flu bugs and little injuries to the forwards are going away. What does it all mean? The Oilers will be forced into making a roster move or two. What to do? What's likely to happen is that the Oilers will send down Robert Nilsson in hopes they will lose him to waivers. They won't. I can give you 2 million reasons, and Steve MacIntyre won't be sent down because he is a low-cost extra forward that looks pretty in the press box.
Lemme play devil's advocate. Pisani isn't a tradable player, and aside from that, Fernando can add some quality in terms of two-way presence. Nilsson could perhaps be a throw-in as part of a trade, and the Oilers would love to dump his contract.
Trading Nilsson straight up for someone is not going to bring a return. Maybe a 3rd round pick? Not very inspiring, nor would it bring immediate help to a team that will be on the borderline for a playoff spot this season. Would the Oilers be willing to move a player with Nilsson to add a quality forward to immediately improve the team's chances? Absolutely. And the player that could be moved is Andrew Cogliano.
Cogs is a quality young forward, but the Oilers are loaded with small young centers. Gagner has shown flashes of brilliance this season, but with Cogliano it has been speed in skating with very little finish. A number of teams love his potential and would be willing to offer an established player of quality to obtain his services.
There has been talk of the Oilers having an interest in Nathan Horton from Florida, Patrick Sharp from Chicago, Alexander Frolov from LA, and Tuomo Ruutu from Carolina. You might as well add Matt Cullen from Carolina and Drew Stafford from Buffalo to the list. I would love to see Stafford in Edmonton personally, but I can't see Cogs and Nilsson being enough. Carolina is playing terrible hockey, so they might have some great motivation to move a player or two, plus the Hurricanes and Oilers have been dance partners in the past. The Oilers have loved Ruutu for years.
While the Oilers are playing decent...not great or terrible, but decent...hockey, there are a few issues that must be addressed for the team to improve. First being, Steve Staios and Sheldon Souray need to return. Souray in particular has been missed on the PK, and both bring a physical presence to the defense that is currently lacking. The other big ugly is the Oilers still stink in the face-off circle. And that's why a deal could occur.
A few things to keep in mind, my eager friends. In respect to movable assets, IF all the Oilers defensemen were playing and healthy, the Oilers could survive a deal including one of their Top 4. This is because Taylor Chorney has shown himself to be ready for the NHL, and Jason Strudwick is a quality 7th man/injury filler. Most likely to be moved would be Tom Gilbert, who is having a difficult year, and is perhaps on paper the most tradable of the Top 4. Cogliano is the other quality player that could be moved, and as previously mentioned, Nilsson's contract is one the Oilers would enjoy to dump. If the Oilers took all three players, and wrapped them up with a big, shiny bow, perhaps the return would be a quality, if not star, forward with size and skill in the face-off circle.
When Pisani and the defense all return, something's gotta give. Look for the rumors to pick up BIG TIME over the next few weeks.
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