Preseason Thoughts - Forwards on the Cusp

Slava Trukhno!
Can this guy play or what! Good skill set, a bit suspect on the skating, great shot, backchecks... I really like this guy. I think he would greatly benefit from big minutes in the A, and looks like a good injury callup. Plus the guys are calling him Trucker!




Gilbert Brule:
Love this guy. Smart hockey player, good skill set, not afraid of the corners, fast. Has shown decent faceoff skills in the past, and looks like a good fit for a 3rd or 4th line role. Would love to see him on a line with Brodziak... could maybe fill the Glencross shoes? He seemed a bit selfish with the puck in the last preseason game... trying to do too much and impress probably... but I'm sure MacT could settle him down. With a defined role, I think he will be a big upgrade on Torres.

MA Pouliot:
I've been a fan of this dude for a while... and it feels like I've been waiting for him to break out in the bigs for years now. He'll show a flash or two of excellence... generally makes the right play, and looks good in a bottom 6 role. Then he'll stall out, have a bad period, make junior-level mistakes - the guy is fustrating me to no end! Three years ago I would have told you that he would be centering a stellar checking line that could put the puck in the net. If you ask me, this will be Poo's last 'Cup-o-coffee' for the Oil if he doesn't pull it together.

Ryan Potulny:
Who? Doesn't ring a bell... Seriously, has anyone noticed this guy in preseason yet? Invisible! Apparently a solid 2-way player, but haven't seen him do much of anything. Not ready for the show.


Rob Schremp:
Whooo boy, where do I start? Ok. This guy has an amazing set of hands. Fantastic skills with the puck. HOWEVER, he lacks at two-way play, is afraid of the tough areas on the ice, and doesn't have the footspeed to keep up with Gagner or Hemmer. IMO, he would be wasted on a 4th line, PP specialist role. Plus, we already have at least three skilled forwards who can set up on the half boards on the PP (Gagner, Hemsky, Nilsson, etc). Don't get me wrong, I like 'Sugartits', but there isn't a spot on the roster for him. I say we keep him up, give him some playtime, and ship him outta dodge for a 3C faceoff defensive specialist (see Nichol post below).

Enough 'Silly' talk! What do you think about a Stanley Nichol?

I've noticed recently on a couple of the Oiler blogs that others also think the Oilers are lacking in a solid defensive 3rd line righty centerman - with good faceoff skills. Like a Draper. Oh I'm sure everyone would love to have a Draper, wouldn't they? Good luck stealing him away from the Wings!

Anyway, I've noticed that some would like to see Mike 'Silly' Sillinger make his way over to the Oilers. I too was looking pretty hard at Sillinger - I think he would be a good fit for now - but are we trying to plug a temporary hole here? Sillinger is not a "piece of the puzzle" in my opinion. At 37 and on the decline is more of a stopgap. And as that may be a good fit while Cogliano and Brodziak develop, I myself have always been a Puzzle kind-of-guy.

The player that I've really been impressed the last couple of seasons with is Scott Nichol from Nashville. Good solid player defensively, pk, top righty faceoff guy, and at 33 he still has some good years ahead of him. Would love to see this guy in copper and blue. Maybe a rich-man's Reasoner?
His defensive numbers from last year were pretty good:
- Faceoffs: 60% (441 won for 738 tot);
- Plus/Minus: +12
...and his +/- On Ice per 60 mins VS +/- Off Ice per 60 mins looked even better, at 0.71 vs 0.12. (See Desjardins Behindthenet for detailed excellent stats).

I see us giving up a goalie and/or some young skill / prospects. Nashville is lacking in proven goalies (Their top two have less than 50 big league games between them) and just lost Radulov to Russia. Maybe a Schremp or a Roly is something Nashville could use right now, as they have no shortage of established centers (Arnott, Legwand, Bonk, Fiddler).

I'm trying, I really am...

Why-oh-why is this blogging thing so hard to keep up with? I'll tell you why dammit, cause I started a friggen hockey blog in the middle of this beauty summer! Not the brightest idea, but one that I'd like to keep the car running on until the hockey actually starts up. THEN you'd better watch your ass, 'cause they'll be so many bloody posts you'll be a-spinnin'.

Riiiight.

Okay, so todays hot hockey topic is, ahhh.... uh... lemme see... lets run through some here...


"Oilers Capitan Moreau passenger in hit and run" - Wha? Oh yes. Very lame. Ethan and his chachi buddies are out for shooters at a posh Vancity club... hit a PARKED CAR while backing out of the parking stall, set off some car alarms, then took off. WTF?

No? Feeling dumber? Join the club.

Lets try another:


"Horcoff to Habs for Plekanec trade rumour" - Wow. Some Habs fans just won't let this one go.

This rumoured trade makes ZERO sense. They JUST signed Horc to big dollas for six yrs. It would be at best a lateral move for the Oil... and what kind of message does that send to other players (ie. Garon, Cole) who are thinking about long-term deals?


Who makes this crap up? Seriously. Ok, one more before my brain explodes:

"Khabibulin to LA for a pick and a prospect" - I've seen this one floating around for at least a month now. Chicago brought in Huet as the new #1 this summer, and they are now about $2.5mil over the cap. The Builn Wall is in his last year of a pricey deal: $6.75mil / yr cap hit.
The Kings on the other hand are well below the salary cap floor (~ $10mil +) and need to do some signing/spending/trading in the next 4 weeks. Also, they are lacking in the "quality proven goalies" department. It would seem to be the perfect fit, so I'm not sure why this one is stalled out. Maybe LA has their eyes on a bigger prize? Or isn't willing to fork over some future just to make the cap. Not sure why Lombardi didn't just offer big bucks to Huet on July 1 in the first place. Would have saved him a whole lot of headache now!

Well, that's about all I can come up with. Relevant Oilers news is hard to find this time of year. Hell, ANY hockey news is hard to find. Just be happy that I'm not talking about Mats again!

TTFN suckas.