Spezza was what a no.2 or no.3 pick? If anyone wants to send us a no.2/3 pick, as "dumb" as any one of Lowe/Tambellini might be, I'd have a hard time seeing them turning that down. Mike Milbury is a moron.
Michalek is basically Hossa turned into Heatley turned into Michalek, which was a high pick.
Alfredsson for them is hopefully what Eberle can be to us for the next 10+ years, but really getting a player like that late in a 1st round is often times more fluke than most would like to admit.
Good point about the Spezza trade, but you have to give Ottawa credit for fleecing Milbury. Oilers were around too when Milbury was a GM.
Hossa was 12th overall. Oilers have had higher pics since then.
Alfredsson was a gem of a late pick. Like Eberle, but Ebs was still a first round pick.
How many late round gems have the OIiers had over the past 10-15 years?
Better drafting would help too.
Good point about the Spezza trade, but you have to give Ottawa credit for fleecing Milbury. Oilers were around too when Milbury was a GM.
Hossa was 12th overall. Oilers have had higher pics since then.
Alfredsson was a gem of a late pick. Like Eberle, but Ebs was still a first round pick.
How many late round gems have the OIiers had over the past 10-15 years?
Better drafting would help too.
Good point about the Spezza trade, but you have to give Ottawa credit for fleecing Milbury. Oilers were around too when Milbury was a GM.
Hossa was 12th overall. Oilers have had higher pics since then.
Alfredsson was a gem of a late pick. Like Eberle, but Ebs was still a first round pick.
How many late round gems have the OIiers had over the past 10-15 years?
Better drafting would help too.
We also fleeced Milbury, did we not?
Brewer + Torres + Salo for Some random guy? Mhinkov..?
What a crock. I guess we can call it good asset management if we ever decide to trade Taylor Hall.
It's not like they flipped some 7th rounder for Jason Spezza. Hell, if it wasn't for Yashin holding out, it's doubtful the trade ever happens.
Oilers had Gretzky, Messier, Kurri, Coffee etc.
Hall of Famers, Among the greatest players of all time.
What did they get for them?
I know that was a long time ago but...Yashin 10 years later is Spezza, and someday Spezza could be traded for another high pic....etc. etc.
New York Islanders traded Eric Brewer, Josh Green and 2nd round selection (Brad Winchester) in 2000 to the Edmonton Oilers for Roman Hamrlik.
and
Edmonton Oilers traded Janne Niinimaa and a 2nd round selection (previously acquired, NY Islanders selected Evgeni Tunik) in 2003 to the New York Islanders for Brad Isbister and Raffi Torres.
and
New York Islanders traded Tommy Salo to the Edmonton Oilers for Mats Lindgren and 8th round selection (Radek Martinek) in 1999.
New York Islanders traded Eric Brewer, Josh Green and 2nd round selection (Brad Winchester) in 2000 to the Edmonton Oilers for Roman Hamrlik.
and
Edmonton Oilers traded Janne Niinimaa and a 2nd round selection (previously acquired, NY Islanders selected Evgeni Tunik) in 2003 to the New York Islanders for Brad Isbister and Raffi Torres.
and
New York Islanders traded Tommy Salo to the Edmonton Oilers for Mats Lindgren and 8th round selection (Radek Martinek) in 1999.
The fans of this team are very very patient about the development of the team, no on expects the moon but at times people get confused with patience vs giving a free pass. Most of the people preaching patience after a game like last night are giving the team that free pass.
As for the free pass, what impact does a fan have. You can quit watching and going to games, that is it. But complaining is not going change anything, even when teams are in the playoffs their fans still complain. GM's, coaches, and players play almost no attention to it.
So let's just get our own Spezza in Grigorenko? Yeah?
that's why i wasn't all that upset i guess that we lost to the Habs last night....the Fail for Mikhail is alive and well. though, yes, we still need d-men, and this draft is stacked with them, we, and i may not be alone in this thinking, still need a center to compliment RNH, and to me, Sam Gagner isn't it. Greigorenko is, and would allow the Oil to move Sam plus out for a good d-man....just my opinion.
Question - did the Oilers try to lose last night? It makes sense to, #2 overall pick versus #3.
a) Oilers put Khabibulin in net instead of Dubnyk. By my eye, Dubnyk has been the better goalie since December (excluding Khabibulin's incredible hot start).
b) Oilers put Peckham on the ice. Three costly penalties, two of which Montreal scored on.
I think the last number of post have shown one thing... to get ahead you need to make some deals to shake up the team, change parts, and fill in needs. That is where the our current GM and management is losing. We are letting assets die and wilt away.
We have compiled a great stable of prospects as well as a young core at forward. Now start shuffling the decks to make things work.
Honestly, I was aboard the Tom Renney bandwagon at the start of the season but he needs to go IMO. I mean sure our defence is absolutely abysmal as a group but when you look at each individual defenceman, they are capable of playing so much better. IMO they are one defenceman off from being solid. Whitney, Schultz and Petry have all prove to be top 4 dmen and Sutton/Potter aren't terrible option as number 5-6's.
Yes the development of the younger players has occurred and our pp has been miles better but those are really the only 2 positives this team has. Tom Renneys 5 on 5 coaching style just doesn't work. Opposing players are allowed to be given all the room they want in the oilers zone.
Question - did the Oilers try to lose last night? It makes sense to, #2 overall pick versus #3.
a) Oilers put Khabibulin in net instead of Dubnyk. By my eye, Dubnyk has been the better goalie since December (excluding Khabibulin's incredible hot start).
b) Oilers put Peckham on the ice. Three costly penalties, two of which Montreal scored on.
Of course. they did. All that plus Potter-Whitney played more than Smid-Petry. In response to Montreal putting Gomez in and starting Budaj. lol.
Us loyal fans should not tolerate this crap any long. I've been a fan for as long as I remember and it's a shame that they repay us by slapping us in the face.
I'm sick of it. From now on, I'm not gonna spend anymore money on the Oilers either. And watching Oilers hockey won't be a priority for me anymore, being in college, school is more important.
First of all, school should always be more important.
Second, i have seen several posters this season say that they are sick of it and that they are done watching and are boycotting or whatever the case may be yet always come back and you will too so take a step back and relax.
However, i do understand the frustration. We're stuck with this regime whether we like it or not, might as well ride it out until it turns around. The team wasn't supposed to be that good this year anyway so posters shouldn't be so surprised that the team has some clunkers. It's all about managing expectations.
Us loyal fans should not tolerate this crap any long. I've been a fan for as long as I remember and it's a shame that they repay us by slapping us in the face.
I'm sick of it. From now on, I'm not gonna spend anymore money on the Oilers either. And watching Oilers hockey won't be a priority for me anymore, being in college, school is more important.
Don't let the door hit you on the way out...no loss here if that is your attitude as a "loyal fan".
It is my understanding that Hemsky was signed as a veteran RW to take on the heavy minutes while Ebs gained more experience playing easy minutes. As he was a UFA we had the option of attempting a trade, but the return that put on the table was not worth it, and would have hampered the team in the long run. On top of that, we would have had to spend even more money and or assets chasing after a veteran top 6 RW guy over the summer (we've got enough holes to plug, and we need players at this point not prospects - like the Schultz deal).
It was quite nice that he signed for the dollars and term that we did, as it is almost a certainty that he could have got a longer deal with slightly less cash elsewhere...especially after that Grabovski deal. Yes, he's had the worst season yet of his career (besides his first two), but i truly believe he will turn the corner and get back to form. The guy is a skilled player, and is coming off of some major surgery...it takes time to get back to form (this has been proven again, and again throughout the NHL). The term is perfect, and yes we paid a bit extra for him but that's what you get for a short term deal like that in these situations. On top of all that, there's no NTC or NMC's to deal with - pretty sweet overall.
So there's my answer. Care to answer my question now??
In case you forgot, it was:
Are you suggesting he was signed to score goals? If so, why?
Ales Hemsky was signed because a 10 million/2 year opportunity for Ales to recover from injuries and turn his game around was a small risk compared to losing him for peanuts in a trade at the deadline.
Would you please enlighten us as to why you think it would have been better management of assets to trade him at his lowest point of value in his career? We both know the Oilers arent going to need that cap room (and if they do, it's because they've made a TERRIBLE terrible decision overpaying for someone)
Don't let the door hit you on the way out...no loss here if that is your attitude as a "loyal fan". 
.
