Can you all remember back to the beginning of the season, when everyone said Alex Ovechkin was washed up and the Caps should trade him? MVP this season, according to a collection of random media types. Who's laughing now?
Hockey fans are dumb. I should know; I'm one of them. The difference between me being dumb and the average fan being dumb is, I get about five people a day sending me Twitter messages to remind me how ordinary I am. Fine, whatever. Bunch of Leafs fans. Just keep in mind you were all likely saying how inadequate Ovechkin was a few months ago like everyone else.
It really has only been a few months. Hard to remember the lockout at this point, but it ate up the season up until January? February? See...I already forget when the season started.
I have a hard time taking Oilers fans who are overly critical of where we are in the rebuild seriously. Try to keep in mind what a write-off the 2012/2013 season was. Let me tell you a little story about Steven Stamkos.
Remember his rookie season? He looked kinda blah for most of it. But over the last few games of his first year, he played light-out. And then, during his second season, the bright star that is Stamkos started to truly appear.
Nail Yakupov, same same. Over the last month of the season, Yakupov looked...by far...like the best Oilers player. He would have put up more points if then-Oilers Head Coach Ralph Krueger used him more. You won't have that problem next season with Dallas Eakins running the show. I suspect the Oilers top two lines will play equal ice, and Yakupov will finish in the top 10 in league scoring. Book it. I'm not saying this because I'm stupid. I'm saying this because WE'RE ALL stupid in equal amounts. If Yakupov misses the top 10, I plan on blaming you, the Oilers fans. If it works for Tencer...
Look, I've been saying this over and over...I'm going to say it up until the draft, through free agency, and even when training camp begins: The Oilers are in for one more brutal season. You can't + and - 20 or more contracted players without there being some fallout. I keep hoping that Oilers fans will figure this out, and will relax next season when the team looks brilliant one game and terrible the next. We just need to get through it, folks. Time is on our side.
Hey, for those of you losing hope for the Oilers, keep in mind how terrible the Bruins were for most of the game on Saturday. Yet, they managed to win the game. Why? Because the NHL is a game of inches now. As much as I'm saying the Oilers will be bad in 2013/2014, what do I know? About as much as you all do. Exactly. Any dumber, and I'd need a sippy cup.
Speaking of sippy cups, Flames GM Jay Feaster is back at it again. Did you see his interview...was it with TSN? I read about it on TSN. The guy is a moron.
K, so let me understand this: You have a team Iggy wanted no part of and Kipper is going to retire from just to avoid. JayBo is gone, as he was traded away for a ham and cheese sammich. Feaster has done one thing right by stockpiling three 1st round picks in a deep draft year. You'd think someone that smart would know that now is the time to trigger the full rebuild.
Nope.
The Feast with Two Backs is going UFA hunting. He has cap room to play with...$20mil or so...so that equals three Nathan Hortons and a Mike Smith. Oh boy, oh boy, the Flames are going to win a cup now!
When, oh when, are people going to learn? Of course, they can't, because...as I've said...we're all stupid.
First of all, the draft might be deep, but the free agent pool isn't. Anyone expecting the Oilers to get two or three high-end guys are missing the point. There isn't two or three high-end guys to get. The one or two who are of quality will do the usual thing and sign in cities where life is "interesting". Blah. I hate that. Why do you think we need to go to Russia to sign a guy like Belov? He might turn out awesome, don't get me wrong...but when you're the Oilers, that's the sort of option they're left with. There won't be another Chris Pronger signing. Thank God for that.
So if a team that has six - 1st overall picks (Hall, Eberle, Nugent-Hopkins, Klefbom, JSchultz and Yakupov) can't attract high-end UFA's...do you honestly think the Iggy-less, Kipper-less, Bouwmeester-less Flames will? Lot on your knife.
The Flames will do what they always do: They'll overpay for mediocre talent like Dennis Wideman, so they can be good enough to just miss the playoffs again. Oh, and just to add sea salt to injury, don't be surprised if Feaster deals away one, two, or even all three Flames 1st round picks in an effort to find a quick fix. Not because it's the right thing to do. Just because...you guessed it...Jay Feaster is stoopid.
Oilers management, fans, coaches and players all need to demonstrate restraint. By my count, the Oilers have eight of the necessary Core 12 pieces to have a championship team (Petry, JSchultz, Klefbom, Eberle, Nugent-Hopkins, Yakupov, Gagner, and Hall). With luck, they will get piece #9 at the 2013 draft. Magnus Paajarvi and Devan Dubnyk will continue to develop into pieces #'s 10 and 11. Number 12 could be drafted in the 1st round of 2014, or could be a UFA signing, or might even be Anton Belov for all we know. He was, after all, the best D man in the KHL last season. Maybe he comes here and lights it up. Stranger things have happened.
I wonder what the Oilers need to give dumbass Feaster to move up one draft spot? At #6, you could have one of Barkov, Monahan or Nichushkin available. If what I'm hearing about the Hurricanes loving Darnell Nurse is right, maybe you'll have two available at #6. I can dream, can't I?
More Sunday afternoon, after I have my beauty sleep. And yes, I did post a picture on Twitter of me standing with Bryan Bickell...I mean, Fernando Pisani, at a golf tournament. Fourteen goals in the 2006 playoffs. Hell, he was better than Bickell.
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • 
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