Derk Roy has really slowed and Mike Ribeiro is now on 5th nhl team. Why do fans think Oilers needed either C, even at cheap price?#oilers
— Jim Matheson (@NHLbyMatty) July 16, 2014Not sure why there's so much angst that Oilers didn't sign No. 2 centre. Will be addressed via trade after camp if need be.#oilers.
Now look, I am probably one of the people MOST comfortable with the idea of the Oilers coming to training camp with the Center depth as it stands today, but I at least understand why everybody is concerned.
The Oilers depth chart, as best as I can see it, is:
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins Mark Arcobello Leon Draisaitl Boyd Gordon Anton Lander
That’s the top 5 Centers in the entire organization. Squabble about who is really #2 or what it means if Boyd Gordon faces the toughest opposition with the toughest Zone Starts, but that’s the top 5.
Why are people concerned right now?
Oh, I don’t know, maybe because only 2/5 of the list is an established NHL player? Maybe it’s because Leon Draisaitl is 18 years old and has never even played a professional game in his life. Maybe it’s because Arcobello is scarcely tall enough to ride the Mindbender at WEM. It’s hard to say, really.
Despite the fact that Arcobello produced reasonably well last year and had team best possession numbers he is still listed at (and this is not a joke) 5’8… and 166lbs. That is reason for concern to any reasonable person who is trying to determine if the Oilers could compete for the playoffs this coming season. And I say that having become a convert to the church of Arcobello. When he arrived I assumed he would be sent down the second the Oilers started getting healthy. I joked that his shot was the result of a Little-Mermaid style trade, given up to become an NHL player.
Arcobello made a deal with the witch Ursula to become an NHL player. All he had to give up was his Shot. #IWantToBePartOfYourWorld
I say that LIKING Arcobello, but for all of the progress the Oilers have made adding quality possession players with size and skill, they neglected the Center position and I don’t think it’s reasonable to just go out and make a trade after camp.
By the time Camp ends most teams want to see their roster in action, not make deals just before opening night. The only deals that MIGHT happen on the Eve of Game 1 will be deals that put Cap teams in more favourable positions (looking at you Vincent Lecavalier). And it’s not as if 2Cs just grow on trees and teams are so lush with them that they practically give them away for peanuts.
The reason a lot of people wanted Ribeiro or Roy was because they were the best of what was remaining. The picks of the UFA litter are gone. All that’s left are players who have slowed down or players with big question marks. So, while individually I could have done without either Roy or Ribeiro, the fact is that the other options are probably worse.
Who is left for the Oilers to choose from of the UFAs still out there? Saku Koivu is old enough to be my Grandmother and Michal Handzus is beat up and it would make me sad to see a team force him to physically exert himself. By the time you get to the bottom of the list you start wondering out loud if it makes sense to offer Scott Gomez a contract. You can conceivably get useful minutes from Roy and Ribeiro, you need to squint really hard to see useful minutes from the others.
So yeah, I’m ok with giving Arco a shot at 2C to see if he can do it. He dominated the AHL and did well enough in the NHL. But, wouldn’t you have liked the safety net to be a guy like Ribeiro, Roy, or Jokinen instead of Anton Lander?
No, I don’t know why anyone would think the Oilers could have used depth down the middle at all.
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