It's time for one of those point-form blogs that don't beat around the bush. Gets right to the point. Gets to the heart of the matter. Gets in the thick of it. Goes for the gold. Strives to be better. 100% Satisfaction guaranteed. No money down. No offer refused. The best you've ever seen. The best a man can get. The biggest ball of twine in Minnesota. In a big country. Guns 'n' Roses before Axel lost his mind and started only playing the piano.

- Minnesota Wild bought out Tom Gilbert today, which was expected. Do the Oilers pull him off the waiver wire, or do they wait for him to be a UFA? UFA means they could likely get him for $2mil less per season, but it also opens up a range of competition for the defenseman. Gilbert is right-handed, which might make a big difference to the Oilers. Anton Belov, Nick Schultz, Ladislav Smid and Oscar Klefbom are all lefties. Justin Schultz and Jeff Petry use their right. There's a very obvious fit.

- Should the Oilers decide to pull Gilbert off of waivers instead of attempting to sign him as a UFA, his cap hit would be $4mil next season, and his actual contract would pay him $3.5mil. I believe Gilbert will get $2mil - $2.5mil as a UFA...So the Oilers are only looking at an actual $500k saving and $1mil cap hit saving by going the UFA route. Not much money. If they want the player bad enough, he's worth getting off the waiver wire.

- I still believe Ladislav Smid is the primary asset that needs to be moved if the Oilers want to acquire Braydon Coburn. In other Flyers related news, the morons are seriously considering Tim Thomas as their goaltender next season. Thomas, who took a year off to join a gun club and live in alone in a cabin in Montana, is likely a $2mil - $3mil per season signing, bringing the Flyers cap position to Infinity + 1. By dealing Smid for Coburn, the Flyers would create a $1mil in cap space.

- If the Oilers D pairing in 2013/2014 are Coburn/JSchultz, Belov/Petry and NSchultz/Gilbert, I'm a happy guy. I keep saying Belov is going to surprise everyone...best defenseman in the KHL last season. Gilbert was far better on the Oilers than he was on the Wild, and Coburn is a better Smid...so the Oilers, defensively speaking, would be a far better team than last season. Corey Potter is a decent #7 guy.

- Should the Oilers bring in Gilbert and Coburn, they'd have the ability to give Oscar Klefbom a year in the AHL to develop. That's never a bad thing, especially for a defenseman who had a big injury last season. Klefbom, Fedun, Marincin, Davidson, Musil and Gernat give the AHL Barons a very young D group with all sorts of potential.

- No news is no news with respect to Oilers trades, UFA signings, UFO signings, or visions from beings from a different dimension. What Craig MacTavish is doing with his work day is a complete mystery.

- I still think Bryzgalov ends up becoming Dubnyk's backup. His agent Ritch Winter says he'll play for the Oilers. Ray Emery is staying in Chicago and the Flyers will have Thomas. It doesn't sound to me that the Oilers are real keen on Anton Khadobin. They failed in their attempts to land Cory Schneider or Jonathan Bernier. Options are running out...real fast. Dozy MacTavish needs to do something at some point.

- Up front, you can forget about David Clarkson. Wants $6mil per season over a long-term deal, apparently.

- Ales Hemsky to the Columbus Blue Jackets is what I'm hearing today. Coming back in return is winger Nick Foligno. He could be a perfect fit for the Oilers 2nd line.

- With the Taylor Hall and the all-star team thing, what do you expect? Oilers players are never considered for things like this. Yakupov should have won rookie of the year, and wasn't even named in the Top 3.

- Edmontonians have a sense of haha. The player drawing most interest at the development camp? Yakimov. Why? Because it would be hilarious to have Yakupov and Yakimov on the ice at the same time.

- Terrible news about former Oilers anthem singer Paul Lorieau dying of cancer last night. Condolences to his family.

- There's plenty of buzz around regarding the idea of the Oilers signing UFA center Peter Mueller. Strong chance they make a serious pitch for him.

- There's buzz that the Oilers are open to re-signing Ryan Jones to play on the 4th line. I'm okay with that.

- With Magnus Paajarvi able to play either wing, I still think Benoit Pouliot is worth of consideration as another UFA signing. Pouliot/Mueller/Paajarvi...PMP...It's dynamite! Until it gets injured.

- I don't expect the Oilers to do anything big and impressive. KLowe is not going to destroy the fiscal outlook of the team over players like Daniel Briere or Tyler Bozak. If he's going to risk some cash, it will be on younger players who have something to prove like Pouliot and Mueller. There's also younger players who can be signed to one or two year deals at less than $3mil per.

- Sam Gagner...still no contract. Why?

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