On a positive note, I wonder if the league is taking notice of Arco? Not saying he has huge value, but I would say it has increased. Could be a handy trade chip if he doesn't fit in the long term plans.

What about we trade Eberle instead? Ebbs for Evander Kane. What do y'all think? Move Perron to the right

I missed this thread. Is Yakupov a bust or not?

probably not.
I think theyre loving foligno.
id even consider a resigned ott instead of foligno. but id push hard for him
- hugefemale dog77

Honestly, I think you have it backwards and if you really think about pursuing Myers is a no win situation for you guys. I know it's early but compared to the rest of the team he's actually played well. Not calder trophy well but like his sophomore year. He'd probably have more points if the forwards weren't so...um...terrible.

At this point one of two things will happen. Either it's a complete fluke and he'll regress but by then you might have overpaid for him. Or his offense starts to click again and, like his value was after his calder year, he'll cost you an arm and a leg....and a vital organ.

Foligno on the other hand, while a fan favourite, has slowly become not expendable but no longer close to untouchable. His family name and birthplace makes him easy to like but in reality you could argue we have several versions of him now. I mean once upon time most sabres fans deemed Kassian un touchable. He was dealt because of Foligno's emergence and I'd argue the same thing could happen to Foligno because of guys like Larsson, Girgensons and Zadorov (what they give up in size they make up for in having a higher skill level).

Honestly, I think you have it backwards and if you really think about pursuing Myers is a no win situation for you guys. I know it's early but compared to the rest of the team he's actually played well. Not calder trophy well but like his sophomore year. He'd probably have more points if the forwards weren't so...um...terrible.

At this point one of two things will happen. Either it's a complete fluke and he'll regress but by then you might have overpaid for him. Or his offense starts to click again and, like his value was after his calder year, he'll cost you an arm and a leg....and a vital organ.

Foligno on the other hand, while a fan favourite, has slowly become not expendable but no longer close to untouchable. His family name and birthplace makes him easy to like but in reality you could argue we have several versions of him now. I mean once upon time most sabres fans deemed Kassian un touchable. He was dealt because of Foligno's emergence and I'd argue the same thing could happen to Foligno because of guys like Larsson, Girgensons and Zadorov (what they give up in size they make up for in having a higher skill level).
- Sabresfan-365

Interesting.
2 things;
i read an article recently that mact was asking for ehrhoff during the yaks discussions, but regeir was pushing to deal myers. Grain of salt of course, but just sayin. (and I do believe the rumours that the oilers have pitched moving yakupov)
And secondly, i find it reasonable that regeir would consider dealing myers. I'ts basically close to fish or cut bait time with him. You move him now while you can still get a quality asset back, or you might have an immovable anchor contract if he nosedived and struggled again this year.

And as far as the rest your post, i think that's just it. If myers is playing as well as u say, then we probably dont get him.
It's a combination of alot of oiler fans maybe underestimating how good he was when he won the calder, overestimating how bad he;s been since, but more wanting something for nothing if you will.

If he was on a steady rise from his calder year we arent having this conversation about acquiring him. Teams dont trade 6'8, 23 year old franchise dmen.
Not only that, but they certainly dont add in a young potential power forward who might be good for 20 a year and plays a game we're desperate for.

Long story short; its a risk to trade yaks, he could be a superstar snipe. ( i believe we're a better team with the pieces he could bring over him even fulfilling his potential tho) but people dont want risks coming back. Thing is, we'd never get that type of value in return if it was a sure thing.

Why do we like Belov again?

for every good play he makes, I see a ton of lazy plays like this, where he could easily have gotten to Gallagher:


And despite having purportedly the best shot among dmen on the team, he never shoots the puck.

What about we trade Eberle instead? Ebbs for Evander Kane. What do y'all think? Move Perron to the right
- OilHead1989

Send Yak to OKC its time for him to spend time working on his game.

Interesting.
2 things;
i read an article recently that mact asked for ehrhoff, but regeir was pushing to deal myers. Grain of salt of course, but just sayin.
And secondly, i find it reasonable that regeir would consider dealing him. Its basically close to fish or cut bait time with myers. You move him now while you can still get a quality asset bsck, or you might have an unmovable anchor contract if he nosedived and struggled again this year.

And as far as your post i think that's just it. If myers is playing as well as u say, then we probably dont get him.
It's a combination of alot of oiler fans maybe underestimating how good he was when he won the calder, overestimating how bad hes been since, but more wanting something for nothing if you will.

If he was on a steady rise from his calder year we arent having a conversation about acquiring him. Teams dont trade 6'8, 23 year old franchise dmen.
Not only that, but they certainly dont add in a young potential power forward who might be good for 20 a year and plays a game we're desperate for.

Long story short; its a risk to trade yaks, he could be a superstar snipe. ( i believe we're a better team with the pieces he could bring over him fulfilling his potential tho) but people dont want risks coming back. Thing is, we'd never get that type of value in return if it was a sure thing.
- hugefemale dog77

You're never going to win a trade involving yakupov because everyone will comment on the potential you're giving up. I'd only trade Yakupov if I were getting someone I know can fill a crucial hole in the roster. I like Myers but there is way to much risk attached to that even if he is playing better.

That being said it's worth noting that it wasn't too long ago where a lot of fans were open to the idea of trading there 2012 pick for Myers+. It might be worth looking into again if it can net them Myers and another guy they really need.

Why do we like Belov again?

for every good play he makes, I see a ton of lazy plays like this, where he could easily have gotten to Gallagher:


And despite having purportedly the best shot among dmen on the team, he never shoots the puck.
- Morris

he doesn't use that shot nearly enough.

and ive certainly noticed some lackadaisical moments in his game.
and he's very raw, but shows some real flashes of being a quality defender.
he's a solid skater, doesn't mind the physical stuff and you cant teach that size (6'4?)

I think it's a real possibility he becomes a true top 4 guy. but the best part is; he's no risk with that contract and we could probably resign him for reasonably cheap if we choose. at the moment, he certainly gets the nod over either of n. Schultz or smid imo.

You're never going to win a trade involving yakupov because everyone will comment on the potential you're giving up. I'd only trade Yakupov if I were getting someone I know can fill a crucial hole in the roster. I like Myers but there is way to much risk attached to that even if he is playing better.

That being said it's worth noting that it wasn't too long ago where a lot of fans were open to the idea of trading there 2012 pick for Myers+. It might be worth looking into again if it can net them Myers and another guy they really need.
- Sabresfan-365

good post.

it would really be all about maximizing your return if you did in fact pursue him.

as it's such a huge risk with his contract, you'd try and push for that second quality asset to sorta fall back on. ie; myers busts and your saddled with that contract for 4 more years. all the while yaks scores 35 next year....
if MF worked out mact can explain that foligno scores 20 a year, crashes and creates space for the nuge. certainly not a total loss. maybe even spin it that he's the type of piece we needed more, even if he isn't of yaks caliber.
kind of a 'gm job saver' if you will.

Ryan Garner: Examining Yakupov's Month-Long Audition
- Ryan Garner

And until someone in the organization wakes up & realizes the Oilers need players like Simmonds, Clarkson, D.Brown, Callahan, they are going nowhere because too much skill doesn't win either.

But god forbid the Oilers give up their first round pick this past draft or next year for a player like Simmonds, who only scores 20 to 25 goals a year, hits, fights & creates space for the skilled players. Heaven forbid to trade Yakapov for a player who has everything & don't come on here & say he doesn't because 10 Wayne Simmonds will beat 10 Eberle's in a game - any day!!

But the Oilers like small, skilled forwards & so is the reason they continue to sit in the basement.

And until someone in the organization wakes up & realizes the Oilers need players like Simmonds, Clarkson, D.Brown, Callahan, they are going nowhere because too much skill doesn't win either.

But god forbid the Oilers give up their first round pick this past draft or next year for a player like Simmonds, who only scores 20 to 25 goals a year, hits, fights & creates space for the skilled players. Heaven forbid to trade Yakapov for a player who has everything & don't come on here & say he doesn't because 10 Wayne Simmonds will beat 10 Eberle's in a game - any day!!

But the Oilers like small, skilled forwards & so is the reason they continue to sit in the basement.
- newmy

You make a good point. The Oilers are not going to survive on skill alone. They'll need a bit of size, grit, and the entire team will need to commit to be better possession players, if not also better defensive players.

From a personnel standpoint, I don't know if we need to pay the big price to get the big bona fide power forward.

Bryan Bickell, Pascal Dupuis, Steve Downie, Troy Brouwer, Dwight King, Justin Abdelkader, Winnik and Kulemin on their own are not that talented players. But all of them do their jobs well, play with grit and energy and fit in REALLY well with their linemates. That means that they're able to play top 6 minutes (some of them night in, night out) because they really compliment the more skilled players on their lines.

I agree the oilers should look at a move, and expand their skill set, but in my mind we need a smart move as opposed to a big move. And acquiring the next guy who can fill this kind of role instead of courting a big PWF at big cost is the most prudent way to do that.

And until someone in the organization wakes up & realizes the Oilers need players like Simmonds, Clarkson, D.Brown, Callahan, they are going nowhere because too much skill doesn't win either.

But god forbid the Oilers give up their first round pick this past draft or next year for a player like Simmonds, who only scores 20 to 25 goals a year, hits, fights & creates space for the skilled players. Heaven forbid to trade Yakapov for a player who has everything & don't come on here & say he doesn't because 10 Wayne Simmonds will beat 10 Eberle's in a game - any day!!

But the Oilers like small, skilled forwards & so is the reason they continue to sit in the basement.
- newmy

you're post is reasonable, but then you just completely drop the ball and look like a fool with the bolded.
people only remember the dumb things you post and the rest becomes invalid by default.

you've been banging the Simmonds drum for ages. who ever said he wouldn't help? name one poster who doesn't think Callahan would be fantastic on our team?
maybe you convince yourself that we feel this way, which then somehow gives you a feeling that you know best and carte blanche to troll the fuk out of us. this is called being delusional bro.

we would all love simmonds or Callahan. but certainly not at the expense of eberle right now. expecially right now with hall and gagner out and yaks invisible. you clealry don't watch enough oiler games and see what eberle brings for us. he's not expendable right now. especially for much less talented guys.

and the best teams have a blend of both types. while Richards, brown etc are also needed, u also cant win without kane, krejci, sharp etc.

keep ebs and deal yaks for one of those bonifide PWF guys u mentioned?? im in!!
but does it take a star power forward to drastically change the makeup of this team? probably not. and would one of them cost less than eberle? also yes

good post.

it would really be all about maximizing your return if you did in fact pursue him.

as it's such a huge risk with his contract, you'd try and push for that second quality asset to sorta fall back on. ie; myers busts and your saddled with that contract for 4 more years. all the while yaks scores 35 next year....
if MF worked out mact can explain that foligno scores 20 a year, crashes and creates space for the nuge. certainly not a total loss. maybe even spin it that he's the type of piece we needed more, even if he isn't of yaks caliber.
kind of a 'gm job saver' if you will.
- hugefemale dog77

Agreed and it's not totally a one way street in terms of risk. Sabres aren't exactly well known for their player development, particularly when it comes to russians. Given his performance, the sabres do end up carrying similar risks here. On your team Yakupov tradable because of the talent you have up front, dido myers for us. If you swap them, both teams are putting a lot of eggs into one basket for these guys.

Personally I'd try and work a deal around guys like Foligno, Ott, McNabb and if it is a package deal, I'd even entertain our pick this year. I think it minimizes (to an extent) the risks for both teams.

Also, the oilers tried to get Clarkson remember?
we offered him more cash apparently, but we wouldn't give him the ridiculous term.
this doesn't exactly jive with the "oilers only love small guys and need to realize they need these types" line of thought. but either way it's a fact.

also, I think newmy gets confused sometimes and thinks us oiler fans here on Hockeybuzz are the ones making the decisions...

Keep Hemsky!

Trade Yak!

Agreed and it's not totally a one way street in terms of risk. Sabres aren't exactly well known for their player development, particularly when it comes to russians. Given his performance, the sabres do end up carrying similar risks here. On your team Yakupov tradable because of the talent you have up front, dido myers for us. If you swap them, both teams are putting a lot of eggs into one basket for these guys.

Personally I'd try and work a deal around guys like Foligno, Ott, McNabb and if it is a package deal, I'd even entertain our pick this year. I think it minimizes (to an extent) the risks for both teams.
- Sabresfan-365

pysyk also interests me.

I would still push for myers instead tho. although pysyk seems to be the more steady guy, I don't think he has the ceiling.

and totally about yaks risk. huge...
and that's the thing that we wrestle with when dealing the guys we're speaking of.
while yaks and myers could be anchor busts (yaks contract is much more friendly at the moment which has to give him abit more value), they both also have so much potential

pysyk also interests me.

I would still push for myers instead tho. although pysyk seems to be the more steady guy, I don't think he has the ceiling.

and totally about yaks risk. huge...
and that's the thing that we wrestle with when dealing the guys we're speaking of.
while yaks and myers could be anchor busts (yaks contract is much more friendly at the moment which has to give him abit more value), they both also have so much potential
- hugefemale dog77

Regardless of the risk though, I personally think this is a trade for draft day, not the middle of the season.

As I say, here are some of the players that are in NHL top 6s right now on GOOD teams:

San Jose - Freddie Hamilton, Tyler Kennedy
Colorado - Steve Downie
Vancouver - Chris Higgins, Zach Kassian
Boston - Reilly Smith
Pittsburgh - Chuck Kobasew
Los Angeles - Dwight King, Matt Frattin
Nashville - Craig Smith
Detroit - Justin Abdelkader
Minnesota - Justin Fontaine
Tampa Bay - Ryan Malone, Richard Panik, Alex Kilorn
Montreal - Michael Bournival

If we want to acquire size and two-way ability, it is NOT going to cost us Yak and/or Eberle.

Regardless of the risk though, I personally think this is a trade for draft day, not the middle of the season.
- Sabresfan-365

the oilers should be much more desperate than the sabres though (which of course could work in your favour in terms of value)
the sabres knew coming in they were in for a rebuild and almost assuredly a losing season.

the oilers are in year 4 after the total scorched earth approach. playoffs were the hope, and for the first time at least realistic.
but even if they were abit far fetched, 3-7-1 is a disaster. I think mact needs to take steps to save this season if it continues to go south. does this mean gambling and possibly losing a deal in the long run? maybe. I really don't want to hear managements reasons or long term excuses anymore. we do not need to be bottom feeders again in year 4.
and it's not even neccasarily about playoffs for me, it just scares me what another year of losing will do to these kids

I was yoda drunk, did we win?

As I say, here are some of the players that are in NHL top 6s right now on GOOD teams:

San Jose - Freddie Hamilton, Tyler Kennedy
Colorado - Steve Downie
Vancouver - Chris Higgins, Zach Kassian
Boston - Reilly Smith
Pittsburgh - Chuck Kobasew
Los Angeles - Dwight King, Matt Frattin
Nashville - Craig Smith
Detroit - Justin Abdelkader
Minnesota - Justin Fontaine
Tampa Bay - Ryan Malone, Richard Panik, Alex Kilorn
Montreal - Michael Bournival

If we want to acquire size and two-way ability, it is NOT going to cost us Yak and/or Eberle.
- Morris

Should be noted that many of those players are playing with elite talent that is making them appear better than they actually are.

On a positive note, I wonder if the league is taking notice of Arco? Not saying he has huge value, but I would say it has increased. Could be a handy trade chip if he doesn't fit in the long term plans.
- Jeropotato

they are.

I watched the Washington feed and he was mentioned a few times

Should be noted that many of those players are playing with elite talent that is making them appear better than they actually are.
- Sabresfan-365

That's precisely my point.

Why do we need to go pay some huge price to try to acquire Simmonds or some other bona fide PWF when we can stick the right complimentary player on a line with high skill guys like Nuge and Eberle and have it pay dividends.

It's all about the right fit.

Should be noted that many of those players are playing with elite talent that is making them appear better than they actually are.
- Sabresfan-365

downie and abdelkader would be great for us imo

Higgins, malone and bournival could be very helpful too