Well with only 25 game played this past year, I think he would an upgrade over Campoli, Diaz, Weber and anyone in our AHL roster.
Also, the oilers's way of playing was pretty open and that uselly spells bad things for Defenders.
I wasn't including Campoli when I said he'd be 9th but Diaz is definitely ahead of Barker and I'd take Weber (though that's probably close). St. Denis is definitely ahead in my books. Barker has a good shot but every other aspect of his game is not NHL calibre.
If their play is pretty open that means the Oilers should be getting shots at the other end to make up for the ones they're giving up.
Schultz, Smid, Gilbert, Petry... even Sutton all managed better shots% with the Oilers than Cam Barker and they all face significantly better opposition (with Smid-Schultz/Gilbert taking the toughest minutes).
I guess I'll have to take your word on this one, Cause I was sure he was a ok 2 way Dman with some PP upside.
I think that's the draft pedigree driving most of his reputation - Jack Johnson's another guy still skirting by with some decent offensive numbers and his pedigree completely blinding people to how terrible he is abysmally. I don't watch a lot of Oilers games (they're blacked out here now with the Jets back) but he hasn't impressed me. I read more than a couple Oilers blogs and in every bit of analysis they do Barker comes out as one of the worst defencemen on the team, and visually he isn't very pretty either.
For whatever reason he just didn't develop into what he was supposed to be when he was drafted. This actually happens fairly often for defencemen drafted early, at least when compared to forwards - scouting seems to have nailed down how to project forwards early in the first round.
With only 6 Goals/82 games in his career the offensive upside doesn't seem to be there to make up for the defensive deficiencies.
Barker is a dud. As for trading to get the #1 pick, we would have to offer something like Kristo, Weber and our 3rd. I would do it. Never would I trade Subban for a 5' 10" forward that may and may not be a star.
You mean that a guy playing third pairing on a a defensively poor team that was worse than we were over the last 79 games of the season isn't the solution to out top pairing needs?
This from an idea from LyricalLyricist in another thread, and although I try to stay away from trade proposals, I do believe that there would be some merritt to this:
A trade between Colorado and Montreal where the center pieces would be the Habs' first round pick (3rd overall) and Matt Duchene...
Yeah, I know, Duchene is not the "big center" people want, but with big wingers, centers can still perform well (see Desharnais).
This from an idea from LyricalLyricist in another thread, and although I try to stay away from trade proposals, I do believe that there would be some merritt to this:
A trade between Colorado and Montreal where the center pieces would be the Habs' first round pick (3rd overall) and Matt Duchene...
Yeah, I know, Duchene is not the "big center" people want, but with big wingers, centers can still perform well (see Desharnais).
Ooh, that's an interesting idea...
Just looking at the stat sheets I'd probably roll the dice with the draft pick. Duchene's been facing the 3rd-toughest opposition among Avs centres over the past few years and his shot-metrices in those situations are okay but not great - if he were a true top-6 centre going into next season I'd expect him to do better against 3rd-line-ish opposition.
Also worrying is his shot rates not consistantly going up as he's gotten older. 180 shots in 81GP as a 19 year-old, 202 in 80 at age 20, and 182 per 82GP (pro-rated this year's rates) at age 21.
Edit: this season he also got a lot of offensive zone starts (57% of non-neutral) and didn't really increase is offensive or shot output. That's worrying.
Generally I prefer taking NHL-ready talent over futures because there's a lot of uncertainty. If Duchene had put up the goals, points, and shot-metrics he has against 2nd-line opposition the last two years I'd probably do that. Since he's only (on average) faced 3rd-line opposition I'd roll the dice with one of Grigorenko/Galchenyuk
Just looking at the stat sheets I'd probably roll the dice with the draft pick. Duchene's been facing the 3rd-toughest opposition among Avs centres over the past few years and his shot-metrices in those situations are okay but not great - if he were a true top-6 centre going into next season I'd expect him to do better against 3rd-line-ish opposition.
Also worrying is his shot rates not consistantly going up as he's gotten older. 180 shots in 81GP as a 19 year-old, 202 in 80 at age 20, and 182 per 82GP (pro-rated this year's rates) at age 21.
Edit: this season he also got a lot of offensive zone starts (57% of non-neutral) and didn't really increase is offensive or shot output. That's worrying.
Generally I prefer taking NHL-ready talent over futures because there's a lot of uncertainty. If Duchene had put up the goals, points, and shot-metrics he has against 2nd-line opposition the last two years I'd probably do that. Since he's only (on average) faced 3rd-line opposition I'd roll the dice with one of Grigorenko/Galchenyuk
I think that's the draft pedigree driving most of his reputation - Jack Johnson's another guy still skirting by with some decent offensive numbers and his pedigree completely blinding people to how terrible he is abysmally. I don't watch a lot of Oilers games (they're blacked out here now with the Jets back) but he hasn't impressed me. I read more than a couple Oilers blogs and in every bit of analysis they do Barker comes out as one of the worst defencemen on the team, and visually he isn't very pretty either.
For whatever reason he just didn't develop into what he was supposed to be when he was drafted. This actually happens fairly often for defencemen drafted early, at least when compared to forwards - scouting seems to have nailed down how to project forwards early in the first round.
With only 6 Goals/82 games in his career the offensive upside doesn't seem to be there to make up for the defensive deficiencies.
I watch way more Edmonton games than Roke and read the same stuff he does and concur whole heartily. Barker is so awful he would leave you pinning for Campoli.
This from an idea from LyricalLyricist in another thread, and although I try to stay away from trade proposals, I do believe that there would be some merritt to this:
A trade between Colorado and Montreal where the center pieces would be the Habs' first round pick (3rd overall) and Matt Duchene...
Yeah, I know, Duchene is not the "big center" people want, but with big wingers, centers can still perform well (see Desharnais).
Avs wouldn't be interestend in futures if they're dealing Duchene.
The prize UFA Zach Parise probably won't sign with us since there will be 10-15 better destination.
Thus I want Semin! He would be a perfect fit for our 2nd line winger with Plek and Gionta. He avg consistantly 50-60 pts a year with a potential to get 70-80. Hes relatively young to 27.
Whoever becomes GM must cut loose ties with some dead wood on this team. Starting with Gomez (pending on the new CBA) we need to demote him or buy him out. Tomas Kaberle isn't bad as long as he doesn't get top 4 minutes. He moves the puck well and should be a good second line powerplay qb. His buyout isnt as bad $1.5 mil each year for next 4 yrs. Gomez's buyout is costly, its better to demote him. I would love to sign Zach Parise and he fits our style very well. It all depends if management want him. $7-8 mil is a bit stretching but if Gomez is gone, we might squeeze that in. If we can move up to #1 and select Nail Yakupov our wingers would be dynamite.
Semin would be a complete failure here. First of all, we don't have anyone at his level of talent. Even AK is gone now. He's not the go to guy on any line. Not to mention he does the same coasting that AK and Kovalev did with us. He will not be a top player for us. We don't have the depth to give him the tools he needs to succeed.
I thought about this today, I know it's a childish NHL 12 type of scenario, but I don't see who would lose in such a context. It would constitute in three separate trades. I think every team has something to win out of this.
PK Subban for the 1st pick overall
Edmonton said they would like an established player who can help them now, and they also need a defenseman. PK is one of the best young defensemen in the league and in the perfect age range to be in their core for a long time.
3rd pick overall and René Bourque for the 2nd pick overall
Columbus gains a depth forward and they would also get to pick between Grigorenko, Forsberg or Murray, which are all almost equivalent to Galchenyuk anyways.
Predators trade negotiating rights of Shea Weber for a 48-hours time frame to the Habs, if he signs, we trade them Tomas Plekanec, if he don't, we give them a middle-round pick. Tomas Plekanec is a very good return value for a UFA negotiating rights and the Habs and Preds management seem pretty much in contact in the past few months.
So bottom line, leaving the Habs would be Subban, Plekanec, Bourque and our 3rd round pick and we would get Weber and the Yakupov/Galchenyuk tandem. I know a scenario like this would never happen, but wouldn't this be good for every team involved?
