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Schultz and Yakupov are for Real |
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Justin Schultz: 12pts in 7 games played for the Oklahoma City Barons of the AHL. He's currently leading the scoring race in the AHL.
Nail Yakupov: 8 goals in 11 games played for Nefetkhimik Nizhnekamsk of the KHL. He's ranked 11th in goal scoring in the KHL this season, even though he missed nine games.
Both players are playing pro hockey for the first time. Both players are part of the Edmonton Oilers organization. Are we excited yet?
The cynic in me wants to remind everyone that the AHL and the KHL are not exactly the NHL when it comes to the level of play. Perhaps overall, the KHL is a higher-level league than the AHL, but comparing the two is apples to oranges. The ice is much bigger in the KHL, and the style of plays in both leagues differs from the NHL. Keep in mind when it comes to Schultz that he's got NHL-level star players (Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jordan Eberle) to pass the puck to.
We still don't have enough information to answer the question, "how good will they be in the NHL." We're inching closer to an answer, but we're not there yet. Schultz is absolutely gifted. Solid skater, good passer, outstanding shooter, and has a defensive conscious too. Yakupov is a human highlight reel. The goals he scores all look extremely beautiful. There's way too much raw talent with Yakupov to ignore. Both individuals are NHL Rookie of the Year material.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: The Oilers might be one of the only teams benefiting from the lockout. It's giving Taylor Hall plenty of time to heal properly and get in game shape. It's giving current and future young Oilers (Eberle, Nuge, Teemu Hartikainen and Magnus Paajarvi) time to work on their games without an abundance of pressure. Schultz and Yakupov are perhaps going to benefit the most. They are proving game-in and game-out that they have handle pro hockey, and playing consistent hockey in a top-line (or pairing) role.
With Respect to the New Rink...
After my last blog, I received a couple messages from people claiming to work for the City of Edmonton in different capacities. Both claim there is no way the city will ever negotiate with Katz again, and that the city is going to build the rink themselves without involvement from the Katz Group. I am certain they are wrong. The city attempting to build their own rink would be a huge mistake for everyone involved.
For one thing, consider the $75mil already put towards the current project. And don't forget either how long it took to get to where we are. A design model for the Katz rink would have been ready to go early in 2013. The discussion about the Katz rink has been going for five years. Should the city start completely from scratch, I'd hate to see how long it will take before a new rink is actually built. My guess? 2025. The Oilers won't still be in Edmonton if it takes that long. Katz and the NHL will not be that patient, nor should they be.
I don't doubt people working for the city want the Katz Group and the entire rink situation to go away. First problem is, that's emotion, not logic talking. Second problem is, like it or not, Katz owns the team and the city needs to deal with him. Here's where I get confused: How will negotiating a lease deal for an Edmonton-built and owned rink be any easier than working with Katz to build something? If you hate demands of the Katz Group now, do you honestly think the demands will be less if Edmonton owns the arena? People who think so are missing the point entirely. Allow me to clarify:
Daryl Katz wants a new rink for his hockey team. Why? In part because Rexall Place is the oldest and worst rink in the league. Also in part because a new arena could potentially make him much more money.
Katz was willing to throw in some of his own funds to build the rink downtown. It wasn't exactly an altruistic act: Katz owns property around the rink site, and he potentially could have put a range of different businesses in. It was a package deal - Katz gets an arena set-up that allows him to operate several successful businesses, and the city got a huge upgrade to the downtown plus significant future tax revenue from the arena district. Significant enough, perhaps, to eventually make up expenditures on the rink and then some.
Should the city build their own rink without Katz, the first question is where to put it. I've heard City Centre Airport; I've heard other locations downtown...wherever they put it, it needs to be a location that offers businesses to develop around it. It's the other businesses that will bring money back to the city in the form of taxes. For this to be a successful development model, people need a reason to go to the location when games aren't occurring. That's what made Katz's intended location so appealing: There would have been constant traffic in the arena district. The new rink would have been smack dab in the middle of everything.
The best case scenario Edmontonians can wish for with a city-owned rink is a $1 per year lease deal with Katz. Seriously. The Oilers want situations like other teams have, where they can financially benefit from all aspects of the operation. It's going to end up costing the city more to build and maintain their own rink than it would cost just to work with Katz now.
What really scared me here is the potential for the city to create a dumbed-down version of the arena. Everyone thought upgrading Rexall for $200mil was an insanely bad idea, especially the NHL itself. So what would be the purpose of creating, let's say, a $400mil rink in an undesirable location? Edmonton doesn't need Rexall Place the sequel. Edmonton DESERVES a world-class arena. At least one thing I think we all know and can agree on with Katz is that whatever he wanted to build, it would have been a class establishment. That's how he rolls. With the city making the design decisions, I have absolutely no faith in the situation.
One other piece of information everyone seems to be neglecting here is that Katz was prepared to sign a 35 year location agreement with his downtown arena concept. With an Edmonton-owned rink, there will be no location agreement. At best? There will be five year deals. I don't know about you, but I never want to discuss the Oilers ever leaving again after the rink thing is sorted. So I'd rather the city and Katz figure out an iron-clad 35 year plan. Once that happens, we hope the NHL and NHLPA figure out a 35 year solution to the CBA. How amazing would it be to just be able to focus on the game itself?
I just sorta want to forget about much of the year so far. No NHL hockey due to a completely avoidable lockout; no arena deal because Katz and the city can't play nice in the sandbox. No chance to see Schultz and Yakupov light it up in person for the foreseeable future. Argh.
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • 
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