Besides learning the game WTF gives you any reason to believe Yaks is a piece that may need to be dealt... I will say this now he already is better than any rookie we have had in the last 3 yrs.... Yaks should not be dealt as he is the purest sniper rookie we have ever had... Far superior to Hall... He has better passing abilities, speed, can hit harder and has a more pure onetimer than hall... And NO I do not have Russian goggles on!
- saskoil21

not at all saying we should deal yaks, just dont agree that yaks is the best rookie we've had out of the three.

i agree that he looks like he might be the purest sniper with that ridiculous shot, but imo he's been the least of the three firsts thus far. (better than eberle was for sure, but hes not included in my comparisons)

maybe it had alot to do with lower expectations for the nuge due to the size concerns etc, but he was fantastic imo. didnt he get a hatty in one of his first few games?
he was ROY for sure before he went down. i dont put yaks even in the top 3 at this point.

and as far as hall goes, he was the best rookie of the 3 imo. (not saying hes the best now, or going forward) i remember him pretty much immediately being our best player alot of nights and being the best player on either team alot of those.
i wont say that of yaks in any game thus far.

not at all hating on yakupov, and think hes got the skills to be great and has certainly shown some flashes. i just think hes struggling some nights to figure out the nhl game and has been very quiet. that said, he's still putting up decent numbers even with a little confusion. that might say alot about how great he could turn out

Barry Horowitz.
- Maxbone

So you are a "jobber"? You so poorly at blogging as so to make the other bloggers look good?

I can't say he's impressed Wild fans all that much, but he's been decent. He does have some head scratcher decisions once in awhile. I'll give you that.
- MnGump

Me and my buddy would sit and count the giveaways at games..

not interested in another top ten pick. losing isnt helping these kids at all.
that would be 3 years for eberle and hall being bottom feeders.
im all for dealing our first this year if the right deal came along
- hugefemale dog77

Ryan Getzlaf was drafted 19 overall. We could deal our 1st rounder plus Gagner plus two good prospects and maybe get back a player of Getzlaf's calibre.

http://www.thehockeynews....n-NHL-draft-rankings.html

Sitting at the #19 spot is Frederik Gauthier, who is 6"5 and 209 at the age of 17 and is scoring > 1ppg in the QMJHL.

Sure would suck to watch some other team use our 1st round pick on that guy, wouldn't it? We don't have to miss the playoffs to get a great value in this draft - but we'd be very reckless to deal our 1st round pick.

maybe it had alot to do with lower expectations for the nuge due to the size concerns etc, but he was fantastic imo. didnt he get a hatty in one of his first few games?
he was ROY for sure before he went down. i dont put yaks even in the top 3 at this point.
- hugefemale dog77

Even though he is third in goals and points for rookies? Though I suppose Schultz is 4th and for a Dman thats pretty good. It is definitely close

You know and I know they don't work that way. The Oilers ever since Katz and Tambellini have been an extremely secretive organization that says absolutely nothing to anyone. The only person with real inside information is Stauffer, because of who his friends are. Whenever there are information leaks about the Oilers, it's always the other teams (see Bryan Murray in Ottawa) who are doing the babbling.

It is a well-known and well-established thing that the MSM in Edmonton hate how Oilers management don't talk to them anymore. The contempt shown for Stauffer from some guys is embarrassing.

But let's not get off topic...If you read my blogs I constantly explain that I'm giving opinions and offering ideas. There have been blogs where I have discussed things like the inner workings of the arena mess. I had an actual source there, and I have absolutely no willingness to discuss who it is. Obviously I'll never get information from that person again if I give more details. Why do you think they'd come to an idiot blogger like me? Because I'm 1. Well read, and 2. No one takes me seriously, so the source has no fears of ever being connected to me.

I get more information than you realize...but of course, you've made up your mind about me already, so I'm wasting my time explaining this.
- Maxbone

I'll say I haven't one way or another - probably not so extreme one way or another as well. I do believe, however, that with your readership and enough poking or prodding you could get some info fed to you or search a little out yourself.

Even then, a little rephrasing from fact as is verbiage to personal statements would go along way some blogs - then you wouldn't have to do self-deprecating idiot-know nothing-blogger blogs (understandably self-deprecation usually gets a laugh) once every couple months

You know what - fukk it. If you're suffocating me with your sweaty disgusting forearm for anything more then 3 seconds I'll probably bite you too, Packy.

Isn't that what you want?

ma-dawgz
- Salvo

I woulda Chara'd him for that

not interested in another top ten pick. losing isnt helping these kids at all.
that would be 3 years for eberle and hall being bottom feeders.
im all for dealing our first this year if the right deal came along
- hugefemale dog77

What if we miss the playoff by one point and win the lotto for 1st overall

Ryan Getzlaf was drafted 19 overall. We could deal our 1st rounder plus Gagner plus two good prospects and maybe get back a player of Getzlaf's calibre.

http://www.thehockeynews....n-NHL-draft-rankings.html

Sitting at the #19 spot is Frederik Gauthier, who is 6"5 and 209 at the age of 17 and is scoring > 1ppg in the QMJHL.

Sure would suck to watch some other team use our 1st round pick on that guy, wouldn't it? We don't have to miss the playoffs to get a great value in this draft - but we'd be very reckless to deal our 1st round pick.
- thefullnelson

He is also a +24, always a good thing. I would be extremely happy to either just miss the playoffs, or have a first round exit and pick this guy up.

What if we miss the playoff by one point and win the lotto for 1st overall


- Lahey

I would laugh and laugh and laugh. You would have to think they would trade it? I dunno, that would be something though.

not at all saying we should deal yaks, just dont agree that yaks is the best rookie we've had out of the three.

i agree that he looks like he might be the purest sniper with that ridiculous shot, but imo he's been the least of the three firsts thus far. (better than eberle was for sure, but hes not included in my comparisons)

maybe it had alot to do with lower expectations for the nuge due to the size concerns etc, but he was fantastic imo. didnt he get a hatty in one of his first few games?
he was ROY for sure before he went down. i dont put yaks even in the top 3 at this point.

and as far as hall goes, he was the best rookie of the 3 imo. (not saying hes the best now, or going forward) i remember him pretty much immediately being our best player alot of nights and being the best player on either team alot of those.
i wont say that of yaks in any game thus far.

not at all hating on yakupov, and think hes got the skills to be great and has certainly shown some flashes. i just think hes struggling some nights to figure out the nhl game and has been very quiet. that said, he's still putting up decent numbers even with a little confusion. that might say alot about how great he could turn out
- hugefemale dog77

We can't say until the season's over and even then there'll questions about how Yak's rookie season being shortened may have made his play look better than it was. Would Nuge have done so well in that situation? Maybe. Would Eberle and Hall have done better with the support that Nuge played with? They may have. Could Yaks standout more were he given top minutes? Perhaps. My point is, there's no use arguing it as they were played in different years with different supporting players and in a different league.

I would laugh and laugh and laugh. You would have to think they would trade it? I dunno, that would be something though.
- ALEDDO

I would never move it, not this year.

Think what it could do is allow you to trade Gagner and Petry for a better d-man or center, depends who you draft.

He is also a +24, always a good thing. I would be extremely happy to either just miss the playoffs, or have a first round exit and pick this guy up.
- ALEDDO

Only way we get getzlaf to even sniff our way is with some taste of success...playoff entry is success...

Speaking of rookies, funny no one mentions how they are getting (frank)ed out of potential bonus money. Less games equals less chance to hit those offensive goals that trigger bonuses.

I just hope we play Calgary more
- saskoil21

Why, you can't beat us? and you can't score. Oh, you want a lottery pick.... makes sense

He is also a +24, always a good thing. I would be extremely happy to either just miss the playoffs, or have a first round exit and pick this guy up.
- ALEDDO

Agreed. I think for this season the development of our young players is of greatest importance. Any deals I would make would be of the "6th round pick for anyone better than Darcy Hordichuk" variety.

We've been patient sooooooo long... but I can be patient a little longer.

Ryan Getzlaf was drafted 19 overall. We could deal our 1st rounder plus Gagner plus two good prospects and maybe get back a player of Getzlaf's calibre.

http://www.thehockeynews....n-NHL-draft-rankings.html

Sitting at the #19 spot is Frederik Gauthier, who is 6"5 and 209 at the age of 17 and is scoring > 1ppg in the QMJHL.

Sure would suck to watch some other team use our 1st round pick on that guy, wouldn't it? We don't have to miss the playoffs to get a great value in this draft - but we'd be very reckless to deal our 1st round pick.
- thefullnelson

i dont understand ur point. would i love to have getzlaf?? holy eff yeah

for every success u name, ill name you 100 busts.
could be wrong, but didnt we pick pouliot AHEAD of getzlaf? maybe that was a different year (the parise trade... )

datysuk was drafted in the fifth or something silly.
outside of the top 3-5 overall, it's very difficult to predict. even then.

plus, we need valuable vets with these kids..not just one more kid after one more kid.
id much rather make a move for a proven guy to help us, than gamble with a pick if i had the choice.
even if said pick turns out, we could be waiting at least a few years for any impact. and the same goes for klefbom.

if not now, we need help asap

You're partially right on this. You're right when you say that anyone can write a hockey blog, sources or not. The part you can't seem to accept is that over time, especially if your work is popular, people start coming to you with information.

Obviously the Oilers are not a contender yet. This is not to say the goal is to ignore trying to win this season. But make no mistake; there's a plan and Oilers management are following it. This year is all about preparing to be a contender. Anyone who suggests otherwise doesn't understand how much time and work goes into developing a winning team.
- Maxbone

Only way we get getzlaf to even sniff our way is with some taste of success...playoff entry is success...
- saskoil21

I was talking about Frederik Gauthier

I would never move it, not this year.

Think what it could do is allow you to trade Gagner and Petry for a better d-man or center, depends who you draft.
- Lahey

I might but it would really depend, like if we just missed the playoffs and ended up with the first overall again teams in the top ten would be so pissed, a team like Colorado might be willing to swap firsts, we throw in something and they throw in O'Reilly (if he still hasn't signed by then)

We can't say until the season's over and even then there'll questions about how Yak's rookie season being shortened may have made his play look better than it was. Would Nuge have done so well in that situation? Maybe. Would Eberle and Hall have done better with the support that Nuge played with? They may have. Could Yaks standout more were he given top minutes? Perhaps. My point is, there's no use arguing it as they were played in different years with different supporting players and in a different league.
- MaximumBone

Good pt... But I truly believe that Yaks if given time will show he is the best rookie to date... He by no means looks awkward... And IMO he plays a smarter reckless game than hall with more pure talent.. If that makes any sense... We had no one on our team to compare to what hall brought as a rookie... Further yaks has more compete than Hall... When he gets the game (NHL) a bit more (learns) hall will be overshadowed... If yaks continues in the top 6 his numbers will be huge by the end of the year...

Speaking of rookies, funny no one mentions how they are getting (frank)ed out of potential bonus money. Less games equals less chance to hit those offensive goals that trigger bonuses.
- Lahey

Assuming that rookies are members of the NHLPA, they had a choice and a vote, same as everybody else. I agree that it means the rookies will "suffer" more for the lockout but I'm still feeling jerked around by the last lockout and have no sympathy for anyone involved.

- Reveen

I love how they went from using the actual Wendy to this

makes sense though, why have some fat chick be the spokes person of a fast food joint

Even though he is third in goals and points for rookies? Though I suppose Schultz is 4th and for a Dman thats pretty good. It is definitely close
- ALEDDO

debateable, but im arguing the 2nd point u made. i put schultz in the top 3.

havent seen enough of conacher, but by all accounts hes killing it

the homer in me wants to put schultz at 1 as hes a dman and not looking like a rookie.
but ill suffice to say hes for sure in the top 3 until i see more of conacher.

tarasenko, schultz, conacher, yakupov

Speaking of rookies, funny no one mentions how they are getting (frank)ed out of potential bonus money. Less games equals less chance to hit those offensive goals that trigger bonuses.
- Lahey

I don't think they really care... They just wanted to play the game and experience the NHL...