Alright, here goes alooooooooot of text for you guys to read...Well, hockey's worst kept secret (and possibly worst case Oiler scenario) was revealed earlier today as Mats Sundin decided on the Canucks over the Rangers; and who says money doesn't run the world? The NYR could only offer $5million tops, while having to dump some players in order to accommodate that number; mean time in Vancouver, the Canucks have tabled a 2-year $20million deal since the very beginning and never took it back. That's the basic breakdown in leymonds terms, so let's tale a look at some other issues: Was money the only factor? How does this improve Vancouver? And what does this mean for the Oilers?
Money – Money always helps, but I don't think it was the determining factor here. The offer was tabled back before the season began, so Sundin could have taken it then, but he didn't. He wanted to weigh his options and get the best deal possible for him, while considering his health and team performance I'm sure. Sundin obviously gave the NYR every opportunity to make their salary cap and roster fit into Sundin's liking, but just couldn't pull it off in the end. Also, the rumors going around is that the other teams that were in the hunt (Montreal, Ottawa, Phili etc.) had offers on the table NO LESS then $7.5 million per year. In contrast, Vancouver is going to lose zero roster players from this signing and what do the Sedins, Ohlund, Edler and Sundin all have in common? Swedish roots. It should also be noted that the deal is only for ONE year and not the original two-year deal that Vancouver offered at the beginning of the year and its $10 million PRO RATED deal, which means (minus the games hes missed) it works out to about $5.6 million-ish.
The 'Nucks – Wow. They have a top-six of Sundin, D. Sedin, H. Sedin, Demitra, Wellwood and Kesler not to mention Pyatt, Burrows, Bernier and young star Mason Raymond. That's a pretty deep line-up for a team that is already tied for the division lead. Personally, how could this not make them the favorites for the Northwest title? The Canucks have always found trouble trying to find a true center to play with the Sedins and Sundin seems like a perfect fit; although, its reported Sundin will play with Wellwood and Raymond on the 2nd line. Vancouver is already 9th in the league in goals-per-game with 3.03 and have a total of 97. If Sundin had been with them all year long and had, let's say 10 goals, they would have been 2nd only to San Jose's 110. Earlier on TSN, Darren Dreger stated that 'for a team to be a legitimate Stanley Cup contender they need: a #1 goalie, a Norris-trophy-type candidate dman, and a pure scorer. Well, we all know about Luongo, the 'nucks don't have a true Norris candidate, but they do have a solid core (Ohlund, Salo, Edler, Bieksa, Mitchell) and of course, now Sundin. It seems like Vancouver has quickly gone from under-the-radar to the immediate fore-front.
On a side note, there is also speculation that Vancouver has enough cap room (once the Sundin deal is complete) to add ANOTHER top-six forward before the trade deadline. Oh my.
On a down note for the club, they will have several top UFAs this off-season including: the Sedins, Mats & Ohlund with Luongo, Demitra & Kesler as UFAs the following season. This all leads me to believe that Vancouver only has a one or two year window to make a cup run.
Oilers – Yikes. It just seems like every team in the Northwest has been gearing up and bolstering their rosters, except the Oilers. Kipper, Iginla & Phaneuf all re-signed in Calgary, Sakic was brought back to play with Stastney and Wolski in Colorado, Minnesota has locked up young talent Mikko Koivu, Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Brent Burns for the next three years and will surely re-up for Backstrom in goal, Vancouver has brought in Luongo, Demitra and now Sundin for a Stanley Cup run, but what has Edmonton done? We brought in Pronger, Peca and Spacek for our playoff run, but none are with the team now. Penner, Cole and Garon have all been disappointing signings and, frankly, just not the same talent-level as the other big names in the Northwest.
Honestly, I'm just finding it tough to be optimistic in Oil Country. We watch our arch-rivals lock-up franchise players Iginla and Kipper long-term while we trade ours away. Now, I know Smyth isn't in the same talent level as those two, but where is our stability? Ovechkin, 13 years. Lundqvist, 6 years. Heatley, 6 years. Spezza, 7 years. Lecavalier, 12 years. Malkin, 5 years. Gomez, 6 years. Kopitar, 8 years. Stastney, 6 years. Staal, 8 years. Horcoff is our big prize 'till 2015 at around $5million per-year average. Shawn is a good 2-way player, but clearly not in the class of the elite locked-up, so then ill ask... Why isn't our franchise/long-term player at that level? Obviously, that's a discussion for another day. But where is the light at the end of the tunnel? Where is our savior? Where is our big signing or trade? Gaborik, Gionta, Havlat, Antropov, Bouwmeester, a pair of Wings (Hossa, Zetterberg) and a quartet of Habs (Lang, Kovalev, Koivu, Tanguay) are all UFA's come July 1st and I'd like to see at least one, if not two, of those names in copper and blue for 09/10.
Cheers.
-Smith
For one, use spellcheck before you do another post, and spell your player names right. Second, Hemsky is locked up til 11/12, thats your franchise player. everyone is all up in arms over the Oilers these days, and they have a right to be. But truly its because many of the Oilers players are underperforming. Erik Cole has been a gargantuous dissapointment. Gagner and Nilsson arent the same as they were last year (sophomore slump, sure)and the Oilers 4th line hasnt brought the same energy it did last year (Stortini, Glencross, Brodziak). Meanwhile Garon has not regained his brick wall form, and Roloson is aging. Dustin Penner has picked his game up as of late, same with Horcoff. Souray and Hemsky continue to be the star players we need them to be. Whats wrong with the Oilers? Its the fact they are underperforing, it must be real hard to be Steve Tambellini these days knowing that your team hassss the talent, but isnt performing. The Oilers have been a frustrating team to watch in the past, but i have to say that this year they have probably cause more grey hair, and heart attacks then ever before.
ReplyDeleteHemsky IS NOT A FRANCHISE PLAYER!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteand wheres this talent you speak of? i must be missing something, because the oil only have one top 6 forward, Hemsky (by is no means a franchise player) oilers have alot of rebuilding to do and theres no time like the present, they are underperforming tho, and one way to get a team going is to FIRE THE COACH!!!!!
lol your hate for Craig Mactavish is foggin your judgement buddy. Ales Hemsky is going to put up 84+ points this year, while scoring almost 30 goals. Just imagine if he had a quality scorer beside him. The Oilers have tons of talent, Sam Gagner and Andrew Cogliano are both blue chip prospects (not that Calgary knows anything abou those), and Shawn Horcoff is a quality 2-way center, who puts up 60+ points. He isnt a 1st line center ok, but he is a good hockey player, better then Daymond Langkow anyways. Sheldon Souray is gonna put up 60+ points while scoring 20+ goals. Tom Gilbert and Lubomir Visnovsky are both going to put up 40+ points. No talent?! Drew, all i have to say is, go F*$% Iggy in the bum.
ReplyDeletenothing about blue chip propects? lol phaneuf and Iginla? ring any bells?
ReplyDeletei do hate MacT no question, ive always hated bad coaches always even in minor hockey hated bad coaches, i just know them when i see them, and hes definatly one of them, and like i said i dont hate the oilers its easier for me to judge them here because theres people that will listen, no one in edmonton wants to hear me bitch about the flames, but if i bitch about the oilers i get a rise out of people...hahaha its fun, so please dont compare the oilers to the flames because, because the agruement is lame and doesnt get any point across
btw i have that hockey card of mats
ReplyDeleteIm just pointing out that your bitching of the Oilers doesnt get you anywhere.
ReplyDelete