I'd say poor man's Burmistrov. I'm awful at comparables, though.
- MaximumBone

Burmistrov was pretty damn underrated IMO.

This is typical. All the other fans that have been in here slamming Smid the past few year are now going on about him being our best DMan. Smid has been awful.

Getting rid of him for anything is a great deal. I didn't want him signed to that crappy new deal.

Have fun tonight Yeti! Get that ban hammer shined up!
- Iggysbff

So much for your rumors EK

- AdamFrench

Hahaha.....not funny....

No. He will not net you 30 goals. He never has. He has come close once. Never again. He's not that good.
- DTF69

you act as if he's 33 years old and on the decline. he's 25. he scored 28 goals as a 23 year old, and was on pace for 27 as a 24 year old. to say he's going to regress for the rest of his career is a little crazy.

he's young, and he's going to get better, and he will score 30 a few times in a his career. every single year? maybe not. but i can't imagine him not scoring at least 20-25 barring a bad year or 2.

Its sad that this situation is still like 2 years, at least out. You'd think someone from a later round around when Gagner was drafted would've done something with their lives but nope.
- DTF69

Agreed. That 2007 draft was the death knell for the Oilers scouting staff.

Plante, Nash were uberbusts and Omark was Omark. Gagner is probably among the top 15 players drafted that year, but certainly not near the top of the list.

So who goes when Bryz comes in ? Labarbara or Dubnyk ?

I thought he already trashed playing in Edmonton (before he was unemployed)... oh well, everyone seems to come to Alberta for work these days
- BigDre

You left out upside and defense, while the pro of clearly having passion
great skater though which is typical of Slovaks hope he does well
- FLflames34

Oh sorry! I never like to comment on upside, but with what I've seen, I'd say a reasonable expectation is he turns out as an offensively inconsistent third liner that can play the PK and can play up the line-up with skilled players once in a while. Still has the offensive tools to possibly be a top-6er someday, but I highly doubt he pulls that off.

Hahaha.....not funny....
- Iggysbff

Cloutier rolling in his...I want to say grave but he's not dead...fat?

Crazy thought: how about they get a legit top 4 defensmen?
- Nucker101

That's definitely whats needed but Who? Who is willing to give one up?

Ya that's crap. We have plenty of cap space.
- Iggysbff

Not to sign him to the 3mil cap hit I read on Twitter.

Burmistrov was pretty damn underrated IMO.
- Nucker101

Oh yeah! Wonderful underlying numbers and a solid offensive skillset to boot. I was lobbying hard in these boards for the Oilers to grab him (in vain, of course) during the early offseason.

So who goes when Bryz comes in ? Labarbara or Dubnyk ?
- Reveen

both!

Agreed. That 2007 draft was the death knell for the Oilers scouting staff.

Plante, Nash were uberbusts and Omark was Omark. Gagner is probably among the top 15 players drafted that year, but certainly not near the top of the list.
- Morris

It's okay the Bruins took Zach Hamill with the 7th pick that year

Burmistrov was pretty damn underrated IMO.
- Nucker101

I had hoped we'd take a run at him on his way out of Winnipeg.

Agreed. That 2007 draft was the death knell for the Oilers scouting staff.

Plante, Nash were uberbusts and Omark was Omark. Gagner is probably among the top 15 players drafted that year, but certainly not near the top of the list.
- Morris

Oh 2007...almost as bad as 2004. Now that's one lopsided as (frank) draft

Oilers sign gretzky to a 2 year $4 million contract

Agreed. That 2007 draft was the death knell for the Oilers scouting staff.

Plante, Nash were uberbusts and Omark was Omark. Gagner is probably among the top 15 players drafted that year, but certainly not near the top of the list.
- Morris

He's the third best player to come from that draft. Kane, JVR, Gagner.

It's okay the Bruins took Zach Hamill with the 7th pick that year
- fudd1689

There were about 10 big misses in the first round that year. weird round.

SH!TS GETTING TOO CRAZY!

Burmistrov was pretty damn underrated IMO.
- Nucker101

But he's "soft" because he's European. Not that he just played more of a positional game versus trying to run dudes over when you're not a dude that runs dudes over. Its like calling Gagner soft because he's never murdered anyone on the ice.

He's the third best player to come from that draft. Kane, JVR, Gagner.
- DTF69

Wasn't that Couture and Benn's draft year as well?

I can't fckin' believe Dubey poop the bed this hard...

10 years the Oil put into him, he did fine until this, his contract year... the starters job was handed to him on a freakin' platter...

HOW IN THE SH!T DID THIS GO SO WRONG!!!

40-10-6 for the playoffs boys... let's see it happen

He's the third best player to come from that draft. Kane, JVR, Gagner.
- DTF69

no way man, Subban, McDonagh and Benn were in that draft too.

Then you've got
Turris
Alzner
Voracek
Couture
Perron
Sutter
Eller
Shattenkirk
Pacioretty
Simmonds
Gunnarsson

Gagner's on par or ahead of some of those players, but a couple more probably have him beat.