Fantasy Hockey

 

Hello there Mr. Karlsson, you look good in that Ottawa Senators jersey, mind coming to the Oilers and play with fellow country man Jonathon Ericsson? No? Hmm, well you have no choice. 

 And by no choice I mean that tonight is the rookie draft for my fantasy team, the Edmonton Oilers of the National Fantasy Hockey League. 

Since the start of the league my team has finished last and 5th last in the league. Meaning last year I would have had the 1st overall selection in the Rookie Draft. Who did I pick? Stamkos? Nope. Mason? Nope. For some reason I decided that the first round pick packaged with Roman Hamerlik was worth Marian Gaborik, T.J. Hensick, Jonathon Ericsson and to move down 21 spots to the 22nd pick. Who did I pick then? None other than the Oilers own Jeff Deslauriers. Did I foresee Stamkos leading the league in goals? Not a chance. But I did get Gaborik out of it, so it's not all bad. 

Having Gaborik leaves me with a top 6 that boasts such talents as: Scott Hartnell, Patrice Bergeron, Martin Erat, David Legwand and Jakub Vorachek. The would be no room for Stamkos in that top 6. 

The defense doesn't look too bad either with Josh Gorges, Tom Gilbert(I know what will be said but he was top 4 in the league in assists), and Jonathon Ericsson, they should keep the puck out of the net right? Right? Not when you have the superb goaltending tandem of Deslauriers and Biron. 

With this team will I be keeping the cup out west(Vancouver and Calgary won the first two cups) or will I be gunning for Hall, Eberle etc.? Only time will tell. 

Mid Summer Musings

Remember when we had him? (Smyth not Lupul) Those were the days. I remember being at the game where Smyth beat one of Gretzky's Oiler records for fastest 3 goals(You can see the video here). Boy was that magical. Well the fine people on the internet were suggesting that there was a possibility of the mulleted one returning to Edmonton. My take on it? I would prefer taking someone like Stoll back. Looking at the Oilers depth chart on LW(Hall, Paajarvi, Penner, JFJ?), the Oilers simply don't need another LW, especially at a cap hit of $6.5 million a year. 

Souray?

One of the more intriguing story lines of the off season is where Souray will end up. No one quite knows the answer. If it was up to Souray, he shuts his mouth and plays the season in Edmonton. If it's up to Tambi, Souray is playing in the ECHL. Should be fun to watch.

Khabibulin

It seems like a wonky back and dehydration issues were the least of his worries this past season. There was the matter of the whole driving 70mph in a 45 zone, and having a BAC of .164, twice the legal limit. He has two options for his trial, either he can have the judge act as jury and have a trial at the end of August or he can have a jury trial at the end of September. His lawyer says these both interfere with his off season training, but wouldn't make sense to get it over ASAP? You'd think but apparently they need to clear that through the Oilers.

Should make for an interesting couple of months.

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. 

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.

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.