Saturday, June 26, 2010

2010 Oilers Draft Review



Take a good look at these young men Northwest division. These young men are coming for you and there is nothing you can do to stop it. 

Is it just me or do these young men look like they want your liver and your kidneys? I would be afraid if I am any team the Oilers have to play over the next 187480540435* years.

* Actual length of time that this team is going to be good.

Think about it, Paajarvi, Eberle, Hemsky, Hall, Gagner, Lander, Pitlick, Plante, Petry. If that doesn't get your juices flowing, you must be a Canuck fan. It has been noted that teams who have done well have drafted well, and well I think over the last few years I would say with some luck/skill(eg. MPS falling to #10, Eberle at 22) we have drafted pretty damn good.

Fear not Oilers Nation, the future looks damn bright, Northwest, the ball is in your court. 

Friday, June 25, 2010

16 Hours and Counting






In less than 16 hours Steve Tambellini get to walk up to the podium in Los Angeles and announce "With the first overall selection in the NHL Entry Draft, the Edmonton Oilers are proud to select....." and no one knows what will be in the blank. Part one of the seven part "Oil Change" documentary that aired on TSN Thursday night gave no insight on which way the Oilers were leaning but did reveal a couple things:

1) Our scouts are really high on Gudbranson, going as far as saying "there is no one in our system like him"

2) Our scouts have their sights set on someone who they say will be a "dark horse" in the first round, no specific names were mentioned, but it was noted this player was a forward, had character and leadership, and had a good second half of the season. This player could be Austin Watson who exploded offensively with the Petes after being traded from the Spitfires.



Random Thoughts 


  • Sheldon Souray is back in LA after heading back to Edmonton to get a clean bill of health on his hand/wrist. He says it feels good, and Tambi hopes to have him dealt by Saturday
  • Tambi should do all he can to get as many picks as possible, even if it means trading Penner and Hemsky.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

2010 Oilers Off Season

With it being one week from the draft I figured I would compile a list of things the Oilers must do this off season:
1) DON'T SCREW UP THE DRAFT!!!!!!!! I cannot stress this enough, from 1st overall to the 6th round, we must address team needs and draft accordingly.
2) Send Souray on a one way flight out of town. Get that S.O.B. out of here, he and most of the "veteran  leadership" are cancers in the locker room, they need to go!
3) Get Moreau, Nilsson, O'Sullivan somewhere else but here. These trio of forwards were at the center of frustration for many fans last season (even though Nilsson did show some flashes of talent every 20 games or so). I don't care how this gets done but it needs to be.
4) Sign Gagner and Brule. These are the two RFA forwards that we need to keep long term. Both are young and have tremendous upside. I suppose Potulny could fit in this group as well, although for no more than a year or two.
5) Pick a goalie! Both DD and JDD are RFA's this off season. Both are waiver eligible. Both would not pass through waivers if sent down.  Tambellini needs to pick one of the two, and trade the other.
6) Do something with Andrew Cogliano and Marc Pouliot. These two forwards are either what we have too much of, or completely useless, and both are RFA's so we should try and get something for them before we get low balled on offer sheets.
7) Under no circumstances trade Penner, Smid and Cogliano for Jason Spezza. See the Heatley fiasco last season.
8) Find a top four defenceman. We have a solid top pairing in Gilbert and Whitney, and a solid bottom pairing in what will probably be Strudwick and Peckham we need a 4th guy since neither Strudwick or Peckham is competent right now.