Hi...Short blog for today. Sorry.
I have a valid excuse. I got carried away with fantasy hockey leagues tonight. It got so bad that my wife, in protest, started playing Whitney Houston songs really, really loud to punish me for the six-hours straight of drafting. Celine Dion; Whitney Houston; Mariah Carey - I hate that type of "music". A bunch of screaming for no reason.
Poor wife, the joke is on her: I created two different leagues/drafts tomorrow for people who follow me on Twitter. It should be a riot.
Here's some quick comments for you this Thursday morning:
- Why is everyone losing their minds about Wade Redden? Seriously. I'm guessing the Rangers had him in the minors for a reason. I must have received 100 messages: "I think the Oilers should sign Redden". Why? Whenever you bring someone in, you need to take someone out. You aren't going to give Redden the roster spot of either Schultz, Whitney, Smid, Petry or Fistric. So we'd bring him in to be a #7 defenseman? And, at best, he'd be at the same level of Corey Potter. What's the point?
- Only one person suggested to me the Oilers should sign Scott Gomez. A world of no.
- Hockey fans struggle with amnesia, I'm noticing. Do you remember the last time Oilers GM signed a bunch of half-assed UFA's? Belanger? Disaster. Eager? Disaster. Sutton? Not a disaster, but he hasn't helped. Hordichuk? He hands out water bottles to players who actually play. The only decent UFA signing from the Summer of Steve was Corey Potter, and Potter is a 6/7 defenseman. Why would the Oilers want more of that?
- Something Oilers fans are needing to wrap their heads around is the lean years are over. Everyone...Oilers fans and non-Oilers fans alike...Totally ripped my Weber blog, but there was a point to it (aside from pointing out that I like Weber): If the Oilers are going to make deals or sign free agents, it's time to go big or don't bother. If you look at the current Oilers D, Petry, Smid, Whitney and Nick Schultz are 3/4 defensemen. Fistric is a 4/5 or so. We still don't know what we have in Justin Schultz, but he looks like someone who can develop into a 1/2. Oscar Klefbom is another guy who could develop into a 1/2. Both JSchultz and Klefbom could go either way: Could turn into stars, or could flop. Kids are like that, especially defensemen for some reason.
My point is, there is a point to dealing for Weber. There's no point in acquiring more 3/4 guys.
- As for the people pointing out that I'm undervaluing Weber in a deal and not offering up enough, perhaps. The first thing you need to do when considering a potential Weber deal is take out all of the teams not willing to live with his contract. That takes about 20 teams out of the bidding in my estimation. Then you need to factor in what exactly Nashville would be looking for. If they dealt Weber, they would be going full rebuild, which means they'd want four quality younger players/assets. How many of the nine teams are willing to live with Weber's contract and would have prospect depth, and a willingness to deal 1st round picks?
A player is like a lobster: Market price. It's only worth what the market is willing to pay for it. Look at Roberto Luongo; perhaps a top 5 goalie in the NHL. The Canucks are going to get almost nothing for him when they deal him. Why? Because his contract stinks.
Do you remember the Eric Lindros trade from Quebec City to Philadelphia? Who won the deal? The Nordiques, obviously. Why did they win? Mostly because Lindros couldn't stay healthy. When he was at his best, Lindros was the best player in hockey. Shea Weber is not nor ever will be the best player in hockey. The Nordiques received Forsberg, Hextall, Simon, Ricci, Duchesne and draft picks for Lindros.
Keep in mind when the Flyers coughed up all that stuff for Lindros, Eric was a baby with the rest of his career ahead of him. There were no health issues. What would have this guy's career stats look like if he could stay healthy? Huge. They knew when he was 18 that he'd be that good. Hence why the Flyers ripped out their spleen to get him. Wasn't Lindros called "The Next One"?
Shea Weber is not "The Next Next One". He's an elite defensemen; one of the top 5 in the NHL currently. He's got a ridiculous contract, and teams make better deals now. Everyone learned from the Lindros trade. How many blockbusters of comparable size have you seen in hockey since then? None. Keep in mind what the Flyers thought they were trading for. A player coming into the NHL considered to possess the same prospect quality as a Gretzky, Messier and Lemieux. Weber is not a Gretzky, Messier or Lemieux. Or in defenseman terms, he isn't an Orr or a Paul Coffey.
- There's almost nothing to report from Oilers camp. The players here now are pretty much the starting night roster. Magnus Paajarvi, Taylor Fedun, Colten Teubert and Chris Vandevelde will all return to the minors in a few days unless a trade happens and a roster hole occurs. Looks like the Oilers will go with Hall, Ebs, Nuge, JSchultz and Hartikainen as the first PP unit, although Shawn Horcoff and Hartikainen have been moving in and out of the line. The 2nd PP is Gagner, Yakupov, Hemsky, Whitney and Smyth, although they have the option to put in Petry and remove Smyth so they can play two D men.
Theo Peckham is out with a hip flexor. Ryan Jones has an eye injury. Ladislav Smid is playing with a sore knee, but he's a warrior and warriors play hurt. Nikolai Khabibulin should be healthy enough to keep the bench warm. Nuge says the shoulder is fine. Can we start the season now, please?
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • 
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