Quote:
Originally Posted by Security Guard Chang
2nd line centers are easier to acquire than number 1 dmen
I swear sometimes it feels like oilers DONT want to get better
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Isn't Grigerenko supposed to be a 1st line guy?
And is Gagner pigeonholed as a 2nd line center? Every season other than perhaps one Gagner has been top 60 in center scoring, if you consider the fact this has all happened prior to his 23rd birthday maybe there is more of a ceiling there than HFbards has previously anticipated. If he's already a 2nd line center at his age there might be more there than your letting on. He should have clearly bucked the "stagnation" label after this season, in fact if you consider the fact that he started slow coming back from a bad high ankle sprain and played his first 14 games all over the place (bottom 6, both wings) he has been very very god this year. In those first 14 games he had 2 points, in the
43 since he has 39.
Lets look at this season, this year he is 32nd in center scoring, and thats despite missing 7 games. Thats a better rate than Statsny, Roy, and M. Richards, all bonafide 1st liners who have been relatively healthy. The only centers with more points who are younger are Stepan (only 6 months younger, 1 more point in 7 more games on a top team, i.e. doing worse), O'Reilly (only 6 months younger, has been unreal), and Tavares (yeah that guy who went 1st overall), Henrique (see edit). Couture has more points but is a few months older and nevermind on a much better team. Basically my point is he is a much better player than the "2nd line center" tag insinuates. Only three of the top 30 scoring center in the league have a better ppg and are younger, thats some very good company, especially considering Gagner is a clear 2nd line center in edmonton who still has to share those minutes with Horcoff, and has played out of position for a good chuck of his season with mediocre results. His performace this year in the middle has been outstanding, and he's still very likely to be 3 years away from his prime. If he's this close to being a 1st liner at 22 maybe we shouldn't be discounting the possibility of a few years as a number 1 guy down the road...]
Larsson is a nice piece and for Grigerenko o think thats fair, but i woudn't move Gagner for Rundbad. Gagner is IMO a superior asset to Turris and Ottawa had to add to Rundbad to get Turris iirc.
Edit: I missed Henrique who is about 6 months younger. I believe he has played in the middle with Kovalchuck and Parise quite a bit, but has it been mostley on the wing with Parise in the middle? I'm not sure. Either way he is in a prime position to succede, relatively the same age and is still scoring at almost the same rate (a little better). So i will correct it to say 3 players younger and with a better ppg, still very impressive IMO.
