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Edmonton Deals Terrible Goalie And Pick For Pieces They Desperately Need |
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The Edmonton Oilers made a great move today by moving out an unwanted and unsuccessful Goalie in Devan Dubnyk for Winger/Center Matt Hendricks then filling the gap in Net by moving out their 3rd round pick to LA in exchange for Netminder Ben Scrivens. They were forced to retain some of Dubnyk's hefty salary but those are the situations that occur when a player loses almost all value. In the end, what they moved out is next to worthless and what they got back answers their needs now and moving forward.
DUBNYK
Unlike many of my fellow members of the Oilogosphere I do not believe MacT made a terrible mistake moving Dubnyk out and taking Hendricks back. Let’s begin with the basic facts about Devin Dubnyk. Dubnyk is 27 years old, he has managed to grab the Starting job once in his NHL career and only in a season that was 48 games long, he has a save percentage below .900, is a pending UFA, and the management already tried to upgrade from him once before.
Devan Dubnyk is a terrible goalie. He has a penchant for giving up a minimum of one brutal goal a game, his high glove side is a glaring weakness that most Junior players can exploit. Actually, Ryan Whitney can change directions faster than Dubnyk can lift his glove. He is a monster of a man at 6’6” and yet somehow routinely makes himself tiny on the ice. He spends more time on his knees than most carpet layers. In a year where he was going to become an Unrestricted Free Agent he crumbled and played worse than he has ever played before.
If the Oilers, or any team for that matter, ever wants to compete for the Playoffs then putting all of the pressure on Dubnyk is not the way to get about it. He has maybe 15-20 more games if he’s lucky to prove he belongs in the NHL and that’s just to be someone’s backup. Good luck Nashville, you’re gonna need it. The Oilers trusted this player to be there for the team and instead what they got night in and night out was bitter disappointment.
HENDRICKS
The player they took back is a bottom 6 forward with a less than stellar contract. No doubt the Oilers will likely have issues with Matt Hendricks as he gets closer to his mid-thirties. Hendricks is 32 year old Winger/Center who has played more W than C as of late. He took 259 faceoffs last year but this year only has 26. He’s been a penalty killer for the Preds this year averaging the 2nd most amount of time per game shorthanded on the team. He is also 2nd in Hits for the Preds this season. His offense is negligible at this point and certainly isn’t the reason MacT got him.
There is a downside though, Hendricks is signed for 3 more seasons at a rate of 1.85M per season. This is a hefty price tag for a player who doesn’t add much offense and is into his thirties. Does it make the trade terrible as so many people have said today?
God no.
The Salary Cap is rising and could reach seemingly ridiculous levels by the end of this contract. Oilers fans predicted doom and gloom when Horcoff was signed to a contract of much greater significance and they were at no point hampered by the Cap while he was here. This is a very small amount of money. Half of it can be buried in the AHL and the remaining half is less than a Million dollars. And until that day comes, the Oilers have another penalty killing forward with size who likes to hit people and scrap it up.
3RD ROUNDER
The Oilers gave up a 3rd round pick to the Kings for Ben Scrivens.
Alas 2014 3rd rounder, for we only knew thee for so long.
Who am I kidding, even a high 3rd round pick is still in longshot territory to make the NHL and the Oilers need more 18 year olds like they need a hole in the head. Any Oiler pick out of the 1st Round is available and there aren’t that many left. If you fill the comment section of this article with examples of 3rd rounders who made it then I will retaliate with the list that didn’t.
SCRIVENS
The former Leaf, former King goalie is too good to be a backup and was a pending UFA. Scrivens to Edmonton makes all kinds of sense on multiple levels. First, he’s an Edmonton product. This is his home. Second, the Oilers are in desperate need of his services. It doesn’t take a savant to figure out Edmonton is in need of a goalie. He has a chance to be the goalie of the present and future on the team. Third, he’s familiar with Dallas Eakins. He’s played almost 100 games for Eakins’ Marlies. This is a coach he has had success with and with whom he has a personal relationship.
Now lets talk about the best part about Ben Scrivens. He stops pucks. This season he has a .931 save percentage and his career save percentage is .917, higher than the slug the Oilers traded and trending in the right direction. His save percentage had been solid in every league he’s played in as a professional. This is a guy with a track record of success.
He will be given the same chance in Edmonton that Dubnyk had. The chance to become a starter in the NHL. This is something that he has never really had, not as a Leaf, not as a King. Here's to hoping he's up to it.
FINAL THOUGHTS
How will Scrivens look with that Oiler defense in front of him? I fully expect better than Bryzgalov and Dubnyk. Not all of those teams he’s played for have had the kind of defense that the Kings can boast and he’s still performed well for them. The Oilers D is so bad that nobody could walk in and turn this team into a playoff contender, but the player that Scrivens is replacing was so flawed that he compounded the problem instead of helping it.
The Oilers need to sign Scrivens to an extension to make the trade truly "Worth It" but given the fact that the Goalie market will be flooded with UFAs it's in Scrivens' best interest to sign and if he shows he's capable then the Oilers' best interest to keep him. I expect a deal to get done barring a complete meltdown.
Edmonton shipped out a brutal Goalie and a 3rd round pick and got back a physical presence for their bottom 6 who is also a penalty killer along with what may be the answer to their questions in Net. I cant believe there were so many people who hastily labeled any part of these moves as bad for the club.
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • 
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