I think part of the problem in reading Myers stats is like you said injuries but also you have to understand what the sabres organization is trying to do with him. Throughout the year they have basically tried to make Myers a meaner/dirtier defenseman Chris Pronger style and I think that has taken away from his offensive edge.

Also its not just the injury that slowed him down but when you take a look at the lack of talent that was around him (due to other injuries to other players or just poor management) Myers didn't have much to work with. Post All star break he really turned it on offensively and defensively.

I guess what Im trying to say is he's not Dion Phaneuf here. Everyone knows he's got the skill, its just that lack of talent around him and the pressure from up top and fans to become a dirtier and more productive player can be a bit much for a player. He's 22 though so he's got a bit of time before you can really judge how good he is or not
- sabresfan365

Good insight. Was looking for something like this. Don't doubt Myers is a top pairing guy I just don't see him play enough. His goal scoring is consistent though which is good. We need a guy who can get pucks through To the net. as a sabers fan would you deal Myers straight up for yak?

I agree ,and next year when they still don't have a well rounded team and finish at the bottom you will draft next years big name forward.

I think Hall RNH Eberle are going to be a great 1 st line .Where does Yakipov fit in?
- VANTEL

On another line.

I couldn't help but notice that you didn't have Karlsson listed as one of your demands from Ottawa. I didn't see much of him in the regular season but I sure did love watching him in the Playoffs. Any particular reason you didn't mention his name as part of a potential trade?
- thefullnelson

Sens wouldnt consider it.

I couldn't help but notice that you didn't have Karlsson listed as one of your demands from Ottawa. I didn't see much of him in the regular season but I sure did love watching him in the Playoffs. Any particular reason you didn't mention his name as part of a potential trade?
- thefullnelson

Ottawa won't part with him. He's a Norris candidate.

I agree ,and next year when they still don't have a well rounded team and finish at the bottom you will draft next years big name forward.

I think Hall RNH Eberle are going to be a great 1 st line .Where does Yakipov fit in?
- VANTEL

Oil finished in 29th and weren't all that far from being several spots higher. Curious why you think they'll not only finish the same or lower, and won't improve at all?

Oil finished in 29th and weren't all that far from being several spots higher. Curious why you think they'll not only finish the same or lower, and won't improve at all?
- GuyLaDouche

With a fantastic young core that just oozes talent, theres no reason to think they'll ever get any better.

With a fantastic young core that just oozes talent, theres no reason to think they'll ever get any better.
- robin_steele264

They've all plateaued. Not winnin for Mackinnon!

Look closer. Dubnyk was rock solid from Jan. on. Yann Danis was voted AHL goalie of the year and Bunz was one of the best goalies in junior this year. We have some depth there believe it or not.

As for the D thing, I dont think you got my point there. As the value of these guys goes up, they'll fetch more in a trade. SO you'll have four guys, Hall, Ebs, Nuge, Yak plus guys like Gagner, Paajarvi etc. that can used as trade pieces. It's kind of why they say you always take BPA at #1. It's highly unlikely that Ryan Murray will instantly make their D instantly better. Young dmen take a while to round into form. However, young forwards come into their own much faster. So, say, hpothetically, in a year or two, the Oilers let it be known they'll deal a guy like Nuge or Hall for a certain type of dman....
- GuyLaDouche

This is what I am getting at. Stop the stock piling already.You have great pieces in place NOW.There are some very good D men on the UFA this year. Make the move now.Tim Thomas will probably be available this year.Why not take him a for a year or two.Weber Suter Allen Wideman Jackman Gill Salo. Why not trade Yakipov Gangner + for Perry. His name was on the market.

Oil finished in 29th and weren't all that far from being several spots higher. Curious why you think they'll not only finish the same or lower, and won't improve at all?
- GuyLaDouche

Because I don't like your D or bottom 6 .Plain and simple.Your top end is crazy good but that is where it ends .

Just to be clear. Staal is 23, and he's an RFA after next season. I'm not saying that that makes him worth Yakupov, but he's not a UFA risk yet.
- Ben37

No his a UFA after next year.

On another line.
- robin_steele264

And this brings us back to square one you are drafting the same players over and over.

Let me ask you this. If the Leafs call up and said we will send you Luke Schenn, Nazem Kadri and 5th overall in exchange for 1st overall. Do you do it ?
- Starbuck

No. There is no room in the roster for Kadri - we're probably going to need to deal Gags and/or Hemmer to get bigger up front, and Kadri won't address our shortcomings at all.
Luke Schenn might... but I'm starting to see him as a guy who will develop into a great 2nd pairing shutdown man. He'd be nice to have but no more so than two dozen other guys.
As for the #5 overall - I'm not interested in trading down.
Offer us a franchise goalie, franchise D-man or fix our size issues up front, and we'll listen. Seriously though, we're not taking your organizational dregs in return for the #1 overall. You're trying to feed us hot dogs when we want surfnturf.

Ya want to know whats wrong with drafting the best player available year after year dumbass? You never get around to building a team! And why should any GM trade for the over-hyped rookies that still need time to develop. After all they have finished 30th, 30th and 29th. Its not like any of them will make a team a Cup contender next year. If all goes well for the Oilers, they may actually climb to the 20th-25th spot.

Your right in one aspect. All the high scoring forwards on the Oilers are great prospects. But they need more time to develop. The rest of the league will wait till they become UFA and pick them up when they can actually make a difference and contribute to a playoff caliber team.

And thats what the Oilers are without a rebuilding plan. A development team for the rest of the league. But thats what happens when your team picks 1st overall every year and doesnt actually have a rebuilding plan.

OH BTW: Trolls are misunderstood, your just a moron. But hey, dont feel bad. The world needs TMZ reporters too.


- Deisty

Spoken like a true short thinking unknowledgable fan.

You don't progress bt drafting lesser prospects. You take the BPA and round out your roster through free agency and trades. You never build a championship calibre team by leaving value on the table. It simply doesn't happen.

Rather than moving Yakupov it would make much more sense to offer players and picks to move back into the first round targeting a defenseman.

I couldn't help but notice that you didn't have Karlsson listed as one of your demands from Ottawa. I didn't see much of him in the regular season but I sure did love watching him in the Playoffs. Any particular reason you didn't mention his name as part of a potential trade?
- thefullnelson

Because a player of Karlsson's ability is untouchable.

I see Schenn turning into Jason Smith V2.0
- Starbuck

I see that as his upper ceiling. No call to be giving the kid that much credit yet.

This is what I am getting at. Stop the stock piling already.You have great pieces in place NOW.There are some very good D men on the UFA this year. Make the move now.Tim Thomas will probably be available this year.Why not take him a for a year or two.Weber Suter Allen Wideman Jackman Gill Salo. Why not trade Yakipov Gangner + for Perry. His name was on the market.
- VANTEL

Salo? As in Sammi Salo?

Nthx. He is the Hemmer of the Defensive world.

And this brings us back to square one you are drafting the same players over and over.
- VANTEL

So you dont want elite players on the 2nd line?

Deisty has listed himself as a BJs fan too. not sure what team he actually roots for. Doesn't really matter. He's not very bright so I generally just let him spout his silly things and ignore him, kind of how I would ignore a downie eating rocks and drooling on themselves.
- GuyLaDouche

lol you're right. And I usually know better than to give those types any of the attention they crave. Bad me!

Salo? As in Sammi Salo?

Nthx. He is the Hemmer of the Defensive world.
- OilHorse

Not last year. He is a very solid cheap D that offers experience and has a very good winning pct when in the line up.

Yeah... I'd love to build to the Avs model. Tell you what, we'll tell everyone Nail won't play for Edmonton so that some idiot offers us, say, Karlsson, Zibanejad, a couple #1 picks, and, oh, say 10 million dollars just to sweeten the pot. With me so far?
Then we'll wait for Montreal management/fans to finally piss Carey Price off so much that he demands a trade, and we'll offer them a ridiculuous underpayment. Say, Gagner and Pitlick for Price.
Then we'll take a year or two for our team to gel, then we'll be a dynasty for 10 years.
/end sarcasm
Can we please acknowledge that Colorado didn't "build to a model" as much as they were "handed some of the game's best players"? Ugh. Don't get me wrong - I'd LOVE to build to the Colorado model, but some of us are stuck living in the Real World.
- thefullnelson

lol.... wut

Good insight. Was looking for something like this. Don't doubt Myers is a top pairing guy I just don't see him play enough. His goal scoring is consistent though which is good. We need a guy who can get pucks through To the net. as a sabers fan would you deal Myers straight up for yak?
- ystoil

Before I would have said hell no but I think now I'm really at 50/50. Thing is, if the sabres can get someone like Brad Stuart at the draft and sign him the D pairings without Myers would look something like:

Stuart-Ehrhoff
Regehr-Leopold
Sekera-McNabb

it's not the worlds greatest but it certainly one of the better ones. And if that were the case i think Myers would become expendable especially if it meant getting someone like Yakupov and putting him on a line with say Hodgson and Vanek (which would do wonders for his development)

And this brings us back to square one you are drafting the same players over and over.
- VANTEL

We're taking the BPA with our #1 pick overall and we'd be stupid not to. Have you read that list of the last 10 years #1 overall picks? Do you want to be the guy who picked Jack Johnson? 'Nuff said.

This may surprise fans of other franchises, but the Oilers also get to pick in the 2nd round, and again in the 3rd, and so on. Stu MacGreggor is one of the best head scouts in the league and is the biggest reason Tambi and Lowe still have their jobs IMO. We're getting the same kind of mileage from the 2nd round that most teams get from mid-1st.

This may also surprise other teams' fans, but the Oilers have many upper-mid-range Defensemen on schedule to break through in the next 2-4 years, which fits well because management has not promised any success for another 2-4 years.

Finally, with that 2-4 year timetable in mind... no franchise talent comes without overpayment (unless you get Colorado-lucky, anyway). Given that we will likely need to make a depth-for-quality deal at some time to aquire either the franchise d-man or keeper we covet, why pull the trigger now? Winning isn't the goal for another couple years (the other reason Lowe and Tambi have jobs), plus all our depth prospects will be more developed and we'll be able to see which will fit our team and which will be traded. Those who will be traded will have higher trade value than they do today (prospects are funny like that) so we'll need to give up less to get what we want.

Before I would have said hell no but I think now I'm really at 50/50. Thing is, if the sabres can get someone like Brad Stuart at the draft and sign him the D pairings without Myers would look something like:

Stuart-Ehrhoff
Regehr-Leopold
Sekera-McNabb

it's not the worlds greatest but it certainly one of the better ones. And if that were the case i think Myers would become expendable especially if it meant getting someone like Yakupov and putting him on a line with say Hodgson and Vanek (which would do wonders for his development)
- sabresfan365

Myers for Yakupov would be an interesting deal for both sides. I really like the fact that he is signed long term.

Myers for Yakupov would be an interesting deal for both sides. I really like the fact that he is signed long term.
- Starbuck

Honestly I feel like this would be the most likely way that the 1st overall pick gets dealt. Not necessarily because Myers is better than everyone else but because it's such a simple trade and it addresses a glaring flaw on both teams.

Honestly I feel like this would be the most likely way that the 1st overall pick gets dealt. Not necessarily because Myers is better than everyone else but because it's such a simple trade and it addresses a glaring flaw on both teams.
- sabresfan365

The Sabres would would have a couple a dangerous snipers with both Yakupov and Vanek on the team.