Dubnyk's last 7 games...
4-3-0, 1.76, .944 in last 7 GPI
- laughs2907

this is an inconvienent stat.

please erase it.

the masses have decided that we need to trade dubnyk for another unproven goalie. and that's final.

this is an inconvienent stat.

please erase it.

the masses have decided that we need to trade dubnyk for another unproven goalie. and that's final.
- hugefemale dog77

Yes, I agree, trade Dubnyk for another unproven goalie, and while we are ati t, through in another proven roster player so we can worry about filling that hole up as well. This team simply needs to create more problems for itself to get to the next level.

4)Holy CRAP Hall is getting good!

5)I want Edmonton to lose every game of the season (I'm thinking about the next ten years and if we draft a miniMoose our odds of challenging for 10 Cups in a row go a long way up) so roleplayers trying extra hard to show their worth... alarms me. The time to kick ass was two months ago. Now is the time to turtle.

6)The question with Gagner is how much money does he have to leave on the table to be an Oiler? Even if we draft a miniMoose, he very likely won't be better than Gagner next year. I like Gagner. A lot. Could we give him a 1-year contract at a large overpayment (say, 6M or whatever we can afford) with a gentleman's agreement that after that he resigns at 4 years 3 Mil? Drafting miniMoose and keeping Gagner just means we gotta have 3 scoring lines. I'm cool with that.

More to come. I talk too much.
- thefullnelson

Look at Nail, are we positive he is THE go to man for the second line next year? and he was the best pick last year. Whoever we get should take Horcoff's spot if they are NHL ready or 4th line wing like nail did.

The only D man that makes sense is Seth and that is if we really overpay for the first pick or if we win the lottery. Which neither are going to happen. Anyone else won't be ready for at least 2 years and then they won't fit in our line up. We will have Toronto's problem trying to fit Gardiner in.

Smart money is the top 3 going just as predicted. MAYBE Seth slips 1 if the team REALLY doesn't need a dman. But unless those there is some background deals going, those 3 will go as predicted. Aleksander Barkov, Valeri Nichushkin, Darnell Nurse and Sean Monahan are a gamble. Barkov is big but has less points and the same size as Monahan and Barkov played in Finland vs. the OHL. Nichushkin has the "russian factor" which some teams stay away from, especially when they are currently in the KHL and have a contract for next year to play there. Nurse looks to be an amazing two way dman and a good sized one.

This is the range I predict the oilers to pick in. I expect they will take one of these 4 and probably which is left for them. If a team needs a d Nurse will go at any time. Monahan is who the Oilers will want due to their tendancy to pick Canadian players. However they could go out of their comfort zone again and go with a second russian for Nail's benefit. Monahan is the best of the 4. His team is the weakest of the 3 forwards and his points are the highest. He has a good potential to be a force on the team next year and to compete for a spot next year.

If the oilers finish 9th, I would trade down and go for Mantha. Highlights show him as being a complete force. A power forward a 6'4 that puts up big numbers. Maybe trade with columbus by throwing in the oilers second pick and the oiler first pick and grabbing columbus's first pick and last pick in the first round. I think a goal should be emerging goalie Tristan Jarry ranked 45 with a 1.61 GAA for the Oil Kings with Anahiems pick. However there are a lot of maybe's on these and there is the fact that our GM is an idiot.

Calm down, there buddy. I think Clarkson will get paid.5 million might be a stretch, but he really made a name for himself in the playoff's last year.He might be a top on some teams because he can score.I'm not sure, but can an injured player be bought out? I thought there was a rule there saying they couldn't.
- Jeropotato

Thats a good question, I thought the buyout rule was a blanket. I never looked at the fine print on it. Anyone know?

No. Our goaltending has not been a problem this year... At all. No way I'd do that deal.
- laughs2907

I wouldn't go as far to say as out goal tending hasn't been a problem. I think we have already established that our goalie has let in some weak goals this year. I can remember a recent goal where our goalie got a beautiful assist from behind the net. That might not be a problem for some if he was on their team. I think he made some amazing saves and if he made a few more, our standings would be a lot different. The rest of the team is a problem too but I really think Habby is still the better goalie.

What the (frank) are you talking about?

Dubnyk's last 7 games...
4-3-0, 1.76, .944 in last 7 GPI
- laughs2907

People watch the highlights, see a couple weak goals and assume those were the only shots he faced.

I wouldn't go as far to say as out goal tending hasn't been a problem. I think we have already established that our goalie has let in some weak goals this year. I can remember a recent goal where our goalie got a beautiful assist from behind the net. That might not be a problem for some if he was on their team. I think he made some amazing saves and if he made a few more, our standings would be a lot different. The rest of the team is a problem too but I really think Habby is still the better goalie.
- bsteinley

Maybe if the team wasn't consistently giving up 35+ shots a game the standings would be a lot different.

Look at Nail, are we positive he is THE go to man for the second line next year? and he was the best pick last year. Whoever we get should take Horcoff's spot if they are NHL ready or 4th line wing like nail did.

The only D man that makes sense is Seth and that is if we really overpay for the first pick or if we win the lottery. Which neither are going to happen. Anyone else won't be ready for at least 2 years and then they won't fit in our line up. We will have Toronto's problem trying to fit Gardiner in.

Smart money is the top 3 going just as predicted. MAYBE Seth slips 1 if the team REALLY doesn't need a dman. But unless those there is some background deals going, those 3 will go as predicted. Aleksander Barkov, Valeri Nichushkin, Darnell Nurse and Sean Monahan are a gamble. Barkov is big but has less points and the same size as Monahan and Barkov played in Finland vs. the OHL. Nichushkin has the "russian factor" which some teams stay away from, especially when they are currently in the KHL and have a contract for next year to play there. Nurse looks to be an amazing two way dman and a good sized one.

This is the range I predict the oilers to pick in. I expect they will take one of these 4 and probably which is left for them. If a team needs a d Nurse will go at any time. Monahan is who the Oilers will want due to their tendancy to pick Canadian players. However they could go out of their comfort zone again and go with a second russian for Nail's benefit. Monahan is the best of the 4. His team is the weakest of the 3 forwards and his points are the highest. He has a good potential to be a force on the team next year and to compete for a spot next year.

If the oilers finish 9th, I would trade down and go for Mantha. Highlights show him as being a complete force. A power forward a 6'4 that puts up big numbers. Maybe trade with columbus by throwing in the oilers second pick and the oiler first pick and grabbing columbus's first pick and last pick in the first round. I think a goal should be emerging goalie Tristan Jarry ranked 45 with a 1.61 GAA for the Oil Kings with Anahiems pick. However there are a lot of maybe's on these and there is the fact that our GM is an idiot.
- bsteinley

Nail is mos def the go to guy for the 2nd line. Even if he has a sophmore slump, we gotta run with him. I totally agree that only Seth could help this team next year, but there is no guarantee that he can safely play top 4 minutes,meaning we still need a D-man if the goal is making the playoff's.
I don't really understand why you want to rid the Oilers of Shaun Horcoff as 3C. His contract sucks, but it runs out on time for Yak's next contract, so tying up that money until then is good insurance against over spending. Besides, he has done pretty well for us this year, and is a pretty good 3C, just over priced.
Personally, I could care less about this draft. Nobody we take will make this team much better right away. Another top six young gun forward would be sweet, but I think it's time to start using picks as trade pieces.
Either way, drafting and keeping a player for the long term is smart, but I would like to some playoff hockey next spring.

is it totally absurd?

of course they might get dealt, i certainly wont say it aint possible.

our biggest need is a quality top 4 minute dman.
and with the assets we have, i do think we can get that done. dont under estimate the power of a top ten pick.

as far as the big bodied guy, im not so sure it needs to be a stud power forward. just a big guy that goes to the net and can create some space for nuge and ebs. morris mentioned brian bickell. perfect. and at present neither would a guy of that ilk cost too much on the open market or in a trade.

and as far as the center goes, im just gonna disagree. or at least so that we dont necassarliy have to deal one of our core.
we get that other big body in the top 6 and i think we're ok with keeping gags. hes proven he can be a true #2.

you cant have superstars at every position. u need to manage your cap as well as your assets. u get a core and build around them with secondary pieces that come and go while trying to get the right mix.
and the beauty of this is that even in a down year, youve still managed to stay relevant as u have that strong core.

this way we get bigger, deeper, kept our kids and havent broken the bank.
and most importantly, i dont think acquiring a quality dman and a brian bickell type is far fetched either.
- hugefemale dog77

This. All of it.

Hmmm, I wonder if Ek could install a twitter like feature on here so each post can only be 300 words. Some of the novel like posts are just way to rambling to even make sense by the time you get to the end of it.

streit's a good player no doubt. but he'll be 39 when that contracts up. risky/
id consider him, and if hes the best option (tambs has tried to make a deal that wont materialize) then i wouldnt be opposed at 3 years and 4ish.

but i also dont agree for a second that none of BIEKSA, hamhuis, edler are as good as streit. at all.
hamhuis is WAYY underrated. i think hes had abit of a down year this season. but that's from norris candidate type year last season.

bieksa has been stellar this year. and is a mean, tough SOB that can skate and carry the puck.

edler is an enigma, but we've talked about this. i certainly dont think hes as bad as u do. and we also KNOW he can be elite. hes big and can/has dominated physically.
id take him over streit in a heartbeat.

and theyre all younger too.
- hugefemale dog77

They are younger and I would take Bieksa and Hamhuis over Striet if they were UFA's as well for that reason. Bieksa is a good player, he was inconsistent last year but he has gained my respect back this year. I do like him but he is a lot like Hemsky, he just doesn't seem to show up some games. Amazing in others but just has no intensity at times. I do like him. My bias towards Striet my be clouding me on that one. As for Hamhuis, I am a huge fan of him, he is a better version of smid and plays a great defensive game. He just doesn't have the experience or offensive side the Striet does. Again, I might be biased on him. As for Edler, maybe last year but he has been a train wreck this year and Potter is the only D on the Oil I would trade him for and only if Van kept some of the salary.

The point is Striet is a UFA. I know that on our team 39 is extremely old but there are many players playing into their 40's now. There is even a chance that Hasek is coming back next year to back up Howard in Detroit at the age of 48. Striet has 4 years in him. He is playing some of his best hockey right now. Striet won't be setting any records at 39. But I do agree that some other team will scoop him up before us as our GM sucks.

Thats a good question, I thought the buyout rule was a blanket. I never looked at the fine print on it. Anyone know?
- bsteinley

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=413753

Looks like no.That's why Redden and Gomez were asked to stay home.If they played and were injured they wouldn't be able to be bought out. That's why Pronger,Savard,etc remain on IR and will untill the end of their deals most likely.

this is an inconvienent stat.

please erase it.

the masses have decided that we need to trade dubnyk for another unproven goalie. and that's final.
- hugefemale dog77

We must travel back in time and acquire Bishop before he was traded to Tampa. We must trade anything for him.

They are younger and I would take Bieksa and Hamhuis over Striet if they were UFA's as well for that reason. Bieksa is a good player, he was inconsistent last year but he has gained my respect back this year. I do like him but he is a lot like Hemsky, he just doesn't seem to show up some games. Amazing in others but just has no intensity at times. I do like him. My bias towards Striet my be clouding me on that one. As for Hamhuis, I am a huge fan of him, he is a better version of smid and plays a great defensive game. He just doesn't have the experience or offensive side the Striet does. Again, I might be biased on him. As for Edler, maybe last year but he has been a train wreck this year and Potter is the only D on the Oil I would trade him for and only if Van kept some of the salary.

The point is Striet is a UFA. I know that on our team 39 is extremely old but there are many players playing into their 40's now. There is even a chance that Hasek is coming back next year to back up Howard in Detroit at the age of 48. Striet has 4 years in him. He is playing some of his best hockey right now. Striet won't be setting any records at 39. But I do agree that some other team will scoop him up before us as our GM sucks.
- bsteinley

I have no problem with Streit either, as long as he helps the team 5 on 5, we don't need a PP specialist. If you say he will, I'll take your word for it, I don't watch too many Islander games aside from highlights. I would prefer a 2 year deal to give some prospects development time as well.Klefbom should play a year in the AHL. This handing rookies roster spots nonsense need to stop eventually.

I wouldn't go as far to say as out goal tending hasn't been a problem. I think we have already established that our goalie has let in some weak goals this year. I can remember a recent goal where our goalie got a beautiful assist from behind the net. That might not be a problem for some if he was on their team. I think he made some amazing saves and if he made a few more, our standings would be a lot different. The rest of the team is a problem too but I really think Habby is still the better goalie.
- bsteinley

Let in some weak ones, kinda like every other goalie does in the NHL.

Dubnyk: 33GP 2.52GAA .922SV%
Khabibulin: 9GP 2.50GAA .923SV%

Goaltending hasn't been a problem this year... It has actually been one of our strengths.

Tough to buy out Horc without that replacement signed though.What if we do that and Bozak tells us to bugger off? Now we are screwed. Is there a plan B to Bozak? Plan C? I think Horcoff is as good as just about any UFA or buy out candidate in the 3C spot. I don't advocate getting rid of any servicable roster players for nothing when we already have depth issues.
- Jeropotato

Plan B's
Elias
Weiss
Zubrus
Cervenka
Antropov
Prospal
Cullen
Piere-Marc-Bouchard

Just off the top of my head. Some better than others. Some play wing and center. All will sign for less than 5.5. Some are big improvements. Antropov might be a downgrade but lets call him plan d.

People watch the highlights, see a couple weak goals and assume those were the only shots he faced.
- abware

Yup... Very true.

We must travel back in time and acquire Bishop before he was traded to Tampa. We must trade anything for him.
- laughs2907

Bishop sucks

Bishop sucks
- Reveen

Bishop will solve our goaltending issue, and chip in for 70-80 goals per year (Like Dubnyk should have been doing all along).

We must travel back in time and acquire Bishop before he was traded to Tampa. We must trade anything for him.
- laughs2907

bishop just got lit up for 6 the other night...

Plan B's
Elias
Weiss
Zubrus
Cervenka
Antropov
Prospal
Cullen
Piere-Marc-Bouchard

Just off the top of my head. Some better than others. Some play wing and center. All will sign for less than 5.5. Some are big improvements. Antropov might be a downgrade but lets call him plan d.
- bsteinley

BIG improvements? That's debate worthy,I think.Elias and Weiss maybe. The rest are about the same, or in the case of Antropov, Prospal and Zubrus, a downgrade. Are you worried about Horcoff's salary here? I don't see the 3C position as a real area of concern on this team.Not to mention, is there anything that hints Elias won't resign with NJ? Like I said earlier. Horc must be bought out prior to July 1st. Unless we have a garauntee that his spot is covered, I say keep him. He helps more than he hurts and lets see if Lander makes any progress this year. The same buy out option is available for Horc in June 2014 if we haven't used them both up by then. I say play it safe.

bishop just got lit up for 6 the other night...
- hugefemale dog77

If Bishop wanted to save those shots, he would have. Unlike Dubnyk (who is sh1t) Bishop is an all-star starter, and would instantly transform the Oilers into a cup contender. Bishop is the greatest goaltender in the NHL. Trade Hall, Yakupov, Dubnyk (if they want him for backup obviously) and maybe RNH (even though he is sh1t this year, due to his Mono, broken shoulder, 4 broken fingers, Polio, and cock-eyed-ness).

Clouts, there is no way..NO WAY.. that Gagner is traded for a pick or prospect. Snap out of it, bud. You are so obviously trolling for reaction.
- seanjohn667

Last year Tampa traded Kyle Quincy to Detroit for their first round pick and a prospect. As one of many recent examples. Quincy had 26 points they year of the trade and 2 points this year as Detroit made that trade for a player they use as their 5-6 dman.

http://www.tsn.ca/draftcentre/feature/?id=11700

Trade details at the bottom

Gagner is second highest scoring on the second line on Edmonton. He is 23 in his 6th season and just played his 400th game. He has 35 points in 40 games this year.

So yeah, I think he could be worth a first round and a pick. Especially if you look at the UFA list this year.

I am honestly curious as to what YOU think he is worth this year?

I have no problem with Streit either, as long as he helps the team 5 on 5, we don't need a PP specialist. If you say he will, I'll take your word for it, I don't watch too many Islander games aside from highlights. I would prefer a 2 year deal to give some prospects development time as well.Klefbom should play a year in the AHL. This handing rookies roster spots nonsense need to stop eventually.
- Jeropotato

this

streit was fantastic with montreal a few years ago. but this is mostly what he was.

im not dissing streit, he was and still is a good player and would be in our top 4 without a doubt.
but 5v5 is what we really need. ill take dudes word for it as i dont watch too much nyi either. but from what i have seen, im a little unsure if he is in fact that guy.

id take him, but id explore some other avenues first

Being in the bottom 5 is almost as unlikely as making the playoffs. We'll pick probably exactly where we are right now.
- Morris

Where is that can do attitude? Hemsky is out again tonight. We just need to bench hall for being too good. Then we need Smid, Eberle and RNH to get in a fight with their visor's on and this game is in the bank.