Last year he scored 23 goals that would have put him 1st on the Oil, (Hall and Ebs hurt though) still he could teach the young guys what it "means to be an Oiler" work ethic and to never quit on a play great mentor
He's not the player that he used to be BUT he would be the perfect mentor for our youngsters and we're at a point in the rebuild where we desperately need a vet of his stature and work eithic to mentor the youngsters.
Also, we can afford to take on a big contract considering the recent raising of the cap floor and we won't need to give up any significant assets to acquire him.
Lets do this Tambo, lets bring Smytty back to where he belongs. It just makes sense.
I don't know about you guys, but if say, Whitney said to Oilers management he'd prefer to play for Anaheim again, it's a polite way of saying, "I want out and the only place I go is X".
Even if Lombardi wants to keep him, how do you keep a guy who wants out, it'd look pretty bad on your part.
I think he'll be an Oiler, I just hope that we take them behind the proverbial woodshed on this one.
He's asked for a trade basically, and has a NMC, so LA basically has 2 options:
1.) Trade him to Edmonton
2.) Keep him and hope he will play out his last year honorably rather than being disinterested.
I'd never thought that this type of thing would happen to Edmonton. Ever.
I'm still wrapping my head around the idea that someone ASKED FOR A TRADE TO EDMONTON
I really want this to happen, but I can't, for the life of me, think of a deal that makes sense for both teams.
Like Bobby Mac says, the Kings are looking for offense, so giving it away doesn't make much sense, and the Oilers I think are very much interested in keeping their young offensive players.
It makes total sense if Kings management has as much of a hard-on for Richards as their HF fanbase does.
Assuming of course we don't have to jettison too much of our future, this seems like a no-brainer to me. He's the exact kind of mentor who can still play. His salary, unlike what TSN reports shouldn't be an issue as the Oil need to increase salary just to get to the floor.
I moved to LA back in 2005, and I could only stand it for about 2 years.
I needed to move back to Canada. I definitely feel his pain. Living in LA is so incredibly shallow, and I'm very surprised SoCal has been a bit of a UFA hotspot.
Why don't we give them back Teubert, and give them a 3rd?
Depending on what LA would want I can't see why you wouldn't make a play for him. Smyth has been known to lineup at all 3 forward positions at times, so if you need to shuffle him around I'd think he'd be okay playing on the right side or at center at times.
I like the idea of reuniting 94-10-83, but I also like the idea of Gagner having two capable wingers who aren't rookies (nothing against Paajarvi and Omark, but two rookie linemates didn't do Gagner any favours).
Hall - Horcoff - Eberle
Smyth - Gagner - Hemsky
That's not a bad top 6 if you ask me. ANd if RNH is ready to go, then even better.
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Last year he scored 23 goals that would have put him 1st on the Oil, (Hall and Ebs hurt though) still he could teach the young guys what it "means to be an Oiler" work ethic and to never quit on a play great mentor
I remember reading other things. That he isn't that good for the young players and stay more in their way.
before IATL says it, it would break Ryan's curse! I'm all for this if we don't have to give up too much (meaning let's give them something like Fraser) or JFJ
It makes total sense if Kings management has as much of a hard-on for Richards as their HF fanbase does.
I suppose, that's a big what-if though. Smyth is still a very serviceable player for them, you don't just give those kinds of players away for nothing. That he's in the last year of his contract certainly helps the price, but I can't help but think Lombardi would want a young player back in return.
I moved to LA back in 2005, and I could only stand it for about 2 years.
I needed to move back to Canada. I definitely feel his pain. Living in LA is so incredibly shallow, and I'm very surprised SoCal has been a bit of a UFA hotspot.
Why don't we give them back Teubert, and give them a 3rd?
Now that its gone public...I can tell you...based on a conversation I had early this year: It sounds like Smitty feels the same way as you about LA.
