Erik Cole, we miss you already

Erik Cole is 1-4-5 and +2 in 2 games since going back to Carolina.

Since rejoining the Hurricanes, the team has gone 2-0 outscoring their opponents 15-4, one team being the lowly Lightning and the other team being the might Flames.

Cole, we miss you already.

Big win by the Oil today - but they're going to have to win more of the gimme's like the games against Ottawa and Toronto if they even deserve a shot at playing the Sharks and the Red Wings in the post-season dance.

The Other Ales

The Oilers haven't had an Ales not named "Hemsky" since the days of Ales Pisa, who departed to New York and subsequently Europe. Steve Tambellini has finally made his mark as a GM by making two seperate big deals on his first trade deadline. Seen above is Ales Kotalik, one of the new additions to the Edmonton Oilers team.

In comparison to today's deals, his acquisition of Dany Sabourin, Ryan Stone, and Steve MacIntyre were minuscule in influence. I was at first impressed that he could pawn off Mathieu Garon for more than the (at the time) market price of a 7th round pick established by Vancouver's acquisition of Jason LaBarbera. Heck, I didn't think Tambellini had the tenacity in him required to pull off some ballsy trades.

Boy was I wrong.

Sure, he didn't go the the extent of the New York Rangers and Calgary Flames, but boy, did Tambellini ever rip off the Los Angeles Kings in his trade deadline "coming out party." Maybe O'Sullivan is of little value to a team stocked full of young talent - maybe. But Justin Williams is a poor replacement for one of the leading shooters on the Los Angeles team. At age 24, he can still get much, much better. The best part is he plays both C and LW. I expect MacTavish to slot him alongside Horcoff and Hemsky. Further yet, the Oilers gave up pending UFA Erik Cole to get O'Sullivan who is signed for two more years at a contract similar to Robert Nilsson's.

It is now also clear why the Oilers didn't bite on Tuomo Ruutu, Vladimir Sobotka, and Miroslav Satan: with Patrick O'Sullivan in play, the others become secondary concerns. It could be possible that Carolina didn't want to give up on Ruutu (I know the Oilers love him) and it's also possible the Bruins didn't want to give up on Sobotka (who was not involved in deadline trade involving Matt Lashoff for Mark Recchi). With all things considered, the Oilers got the best man available from those four choices.

As for Kotalik, we got fair price for him. Early indications are that Kotalik is nothing like the European stereotype of a winger. In fact, he is often seen driving the net. We have to take it with a grain of salt, of course. He probably is a poor comparable for Erik Cole, I don't imagine he throws hits with the same regularity as the departed American winger. But can he create chances on the revamped 2nd line?

It will be interesting to see whether MacTavish keeps Penner on the Cogliano/Pisani line or whether or not he moves Penner up to 2nd line to play with the newly acquired Kotalik. I don't imagine Nilsson in a checking role, but stranger things have happened (see Liam Reddox).

I will be glad if Kotalik can keep playing his net-crashing style in Edmonton and hopefully it translates well from the Eastern Conference to the Western Conference. The last experiment (Cole) ended with limited success and hopefully Kotalik will find himself reborn in the Edmonton lineup. He is a rental player as of right now, but if things go right maybe he'll stick around.

Goaltending

One thing I felt that needed to be addressed at the deadline was goaltending and it didn't happen. Maybe the Oilers feel that DesLauriers, Sabourin, or Dubnyk are ready to take over should an injury occur to Dwayne Roloson.

I think this is ill-advised.

In 2005-06 we had Jussi Markkanen bringing in the rear, and he did an amiable job against the Carolina Hurricanes. We can only pray that one of the above have it in them to do the same.

Defense

With the quick recovery of Denis Grebeshkov the Oilers aren't in as dire a situation as would have originally been the case if he hadn't done so. Some may argue the Oilers D-core is too soft and I somewhat agree. But, we do have a couple sandpaper guys waiting in the wings in the form of AHL veteran Bryan Young, top-prospect Theo Peckham, and "give-me-one-more-chance" Mathieu Roy. My hope is that Steve Staios regains his former playoff form.

Trade Deadline - TODAY!!!!!

Boy do I feel bad for anyone with an Erik Cole jersey: no matter what happens today, all signs indicate he won't be back next year in an Oilers uniform.

Some prevalent Cole rumours:

• Boston with interest :Lashoff and Sobotka (pending RFA) in the mix
• Carolina with interest: Ruutu (pending RFA) being offered
  

If there is a team willing to give up exactly the kind of player(s) the Oilers organization is looking for, don't expect them to sit on a potential Cole trade. Whether or not a Cole trade happens depends on a couple of things. If the Oilers plan to make a push for the playoffs, somebody will have to take over that 2nd line RW spot. If the Oilers don't replace Cole, it is a good indication that the Oilers have packed up for the 18 holes already. If the Oilers don't trade him at all, they are set on making a playoff run. I wouldn't blame them, we're so close we can smell it.

Does Penner have trade value?

• Why Penner wouldn't be traded: He has a couple years sitting on his contract. He has a history of not showing up 100%, though his Corsi numbers or other stats of that variety indicate he is not among the worst of the Oilers in on-ice performance (don't quote me, go check with Jonathan Willis and David Staples). That being said, he's not our best either - so why is he on the 1st line? MacT is somewhat justified in demoting him.
  
• Why Penner would be traded: Penner has won it all before as a complementary player to Getzlaf and Perry. He has shown he has that ability to play on a high skill line if given the right line mates. If there is a team with a hole on LW that needs a Penner type player, he could be a commodity. His salary and point production comparables are guys like Scott Hartnell and Ryan Malone (though Hartnell is outperforming him by leaps and bounds in 2008-09). The difference between Hartnell/Malone and Penner is that the Oilers got the unmotivated version. That being said, there is gotta be someone out there who thinks that Penner is a good enough comparable for those two guys - isn't there? Please take him - please?!
  

Who's on the block?

• Robert Nilsson
• Rob Schremp
• If Wayne Gretzky can be traded anyone can be traded ...
  
• Correction, anyone who doesn't have a NTC or NMC ...
  

Reasons why the Oilers would make big move(s):

The Oilers see gaping holes at all positions except RW and move to rectify this by acquiring LW help on the 1st line (long term or temporary fix, who cares), acquiring a bonafide checking C to take the pressure off of Kyle Brodziak and also to get a veteran backup to Roloson. This would be the Mike Peca/Bobby Holik/Marty Reasoner type. It wouldn't hurt to add a veteran energy forward, since we have 3 bruisers playing on the bottom 2 lines (Jacques, Stortini, MacIntyre). This would be the Todd Harvey/Kris Draper/Darcy Tucker type of player. Also, Strudwick is a good depth D-man but questions surround Staios and Smid. Staios - does he still got what it takes to go through a few playoff rounds? Smid - he's been playing like a real defensive D-man, but is he ready for the big show? Acquiring a Derek Morris type may eat away some of that doubt and allow Gilbert to pair back up with Souray.

Reasons why the Oilers wouldn't make a big move:

The Oilers are happy with the team chemistry (or have deluded visions of a chemistry that doesn't exist). They decide to sit on potential trades to improve the team because they don't want to give up on the kids (who underperformed this year). And for some reason, the Oilers are happy to start the playoffs with Strudwick, Stortini, and MacIntyre bringing in the rear, with Reddox on the 1st line.

I shudder at the thought.

This day on Hockeybuzz ...

Eklund is suggesting the Oilers are trying to beat other teams to the punch by pulling a "Chris Pronger" and acquiring and signing Jay Bo long term. I think this is easily disproved:

Jay Bo would only sign long term after being acquired (if acquired) only if the Edmonton Oilers (and the City of Edmonton) can offer him the best possible deal on the market (pending whether he wants to play here at all). If the Oilers could be the team and Edmonton the city to offer that perfect deal - why try to beat other teams to the punch? That's just throwing away prospects and picks for someone who you can throw cash at on the UFA market.

Furhermore, Souray and Visnovsky have not been accounted for. If Jay Bo resigns his salary will be in their ball park or higher. That would effectively be a one way ticket out of town for either one of Gilbert or Grebeskhov or potentially even both, because of the NMC and NTC involved with Souray/Visnovsky. If the Toronto situation is any indication, these contract clauses are really blue balling a lot of potential trades.

Beyond that, would the Oilers really, really do this in the midst of a playoff push? The Panthers themselves are in the thick of their own playoff push. Jay Bo is central to the Panthers and is inconceivably important to their team right now, moreso than Cole (another pending UFA) is to the Oilers right now.

It's the same logic as with the Cole rumours: it's only going to happen if what the trading team gets back is more valuable and accounts for what they give up on the team. You know this. I know this. If not, why pull the trigger on the trade at all?

Eklund says he reports every thing he hears, however improbable the rumour. This cushions him from the blame of reporting something stupid. That's fine though, he wants to be an unbiased observer and listen in on discussion of his trade rumours. But if he's going to put out rumours, he has to have some input on the teams involved, as they do over at the rumour web site The Fourth Period, where editor Pagnotta chimes in on all his rumours.

Good on Pagnotta.

Do you want Cole-slaw with that?

On the right there is Erik Cole recieving an award from Clarkson University for playing at Clarkson University from 1997-2000. Recently an Boston Herald article has surfaced saying that Erik Cole expects to be a Boston Bruin in the immediate future. Since the Clarkson jersey looks pretty close to the Bruins jersey, I felt the picture was needed.

Cole has had a pretty terrible season in Edmonton so far. His numbers in previous seasons could easily be reflective of the piss poor Southeast Division. This year he currently has 22 Points and is on pace for a substandard total of 31. This includes having 9 points in his first 33 games, 12 in the next 11, and a total of 1 point in his last 12 games or 0 points in his last 9. What Cole has done consistently all season is hit. He currently leads the Oilers with 112 hits with Ethan Moreau in 2nd with 96 hits. This is where the dilemna comes in: do we dish out Cole for Sobotka and defenseman Matt Lashoff or keep him around for his physical play come playoff time? Also I believe that Cole will 100% not be an Oiler next season, so do we try to salvage whatever we can out of him before we lose him to free agency?

Personally I think trading Cole hinges on the decision for the Oilers to make that playoff push or not. Trading Cole could ultimately mean that we are not planning to make a push for the cup or the playoffs. Either that or Tambolowe has a preset deal in place for another gritty power forward. I would really hate to see us get into a 1st round playoff matchup with the Calgary Flames having the least physical team in the league, which would probably lead to the Oilers getting bent over and me having to deal with Flames fans for the next 3-4 months. In that case Cole becomes obselete here and trying to salvage the Pronger/Lupul/Pitkanen trades should be ideal for the Oilers organization.

How about them Oilers

Erik Cole earns his hat trick - the hard way. The nose to the grindstone, blood sweat and tears way. What a heckuva player.

Speaking of great performances, how about Brule and Brodziak, the latter of the pair was +4 on the night and I wish he would play like this more often. If Brodziak could be a defensively reliable centerman who won faceoffs, scored at a reasonable rate and chipped in the occasional offensive night such as he did against Washington, we would make the trading of Jarret Stoll and Matt Greene a no-lose situation.

As great as I thought Rob Schremp, Ryan Potulny, and Liam Reddox looked when coming up to Edmonton from the Falcons, it pales by comparison to my new found likening to Gilbert Brule's hockey tenacity.

He may be around for a while, fellas.

P.S. Congratulations, Steve MacIntyre!

Welcome back, Gagner and Cole

Oilers Grades for David Staples' Cult of Hockey

Dustin Penner 6 - Played a simple but solid game tonight and was willing to drive the net. He was a bit slow on puck retrieval and was beat repeatedly along the boards. He did display some finesse tonight which is a part of his game we barely get to see.
Shawn Horcoff 6 - Worked hard at puck retrieval and was willing to take punishment along the boards. Almost converted on a Hemsky set up but his 10th goal of the season will have to wait for another day.
Ales Hemsky 7 - Displayed some great heart by taking the big hit and coming back into the game right away without letting off the gas pedal. Was not rewarded for his hard work but was an important part of a relentless Oilers attack tonight.
Robert Nilsson 6 - Similar to Hemsky, Bobby was not rewarded for his hard work tonight but his unyielding attack forced turnovers and intercepted passes. He didn't react to being benched in any comparable manner to Dustin Penner but he looks as if he should be coming around some time soon.
Sam Gagner 8 - Sam fricken Gagner. Tonight, Sam Gagner really showed why he was the 6th overall pick in the 2007 NHL entry draft. It's been anywhere from a fan's worst nightmare to a slick playmaker this year. It's required a love-hate understanding so far this year. I've criticized him for being too weak on puck retrieval and on the attack. I've also berated him for his frequent turnovers at the opposition blue line. On this night, however, he worked hard on the boards, forcing turnovers, converting on his chances, and not backing down from anybody. He showed some spark tonight with both Pouliot and Cole (but moreso Cole) and it will be interesting to see what MacTavish does about that line for even strength. He also showed that he was willing to simply dump and chase when the blue line was covered and it shows that he is willing to make the safe play too. His defensive zone coverage was on par as well. I hope Sam Gagner keeps it up and proves me wrong some more.
Erik Cole 8 - Boy oh boy. He keeps playing hard and leaving everything out on the ice. But tonight, the difference was he was actually rewarded for it and perhaps MacBlender has finally fund the right linemates for the Cole-train. All aboard!
Ethan Moreau 6 - Stood up for his teammates without hesitation and was not afraid to enter the opposition zone with a head full of steam. He may have gave up the puck in a few vulnerable spots but otherwise was remarkably solid.
Andrew Cogliano 7 - May not have been as flashy as Sam Gagner or Ales Hemsky but he gets the job done. Took the puck hard to the net and was accurate with his passes gaining the zone. Worked hard and was rewarded for it.
Marc Pouliot 7 - Some guys don't get awarded offensively for their hard work. Hemsky and Nilsson, along with Pouliot, made important contributions to the team tonight and it shows in the final score, not on the statistics sheet. Pouliot adapted well despite playing on a few different lines and drove the net hard and was reliable in both the offensive and defensive zones. Solid game.
Jason Strudwick 5 - Was great in the Nashville zone tying up pucks along the boards and making the Predators' D work overtime to get the puck out of the zone. Nothing special, and another day on the job.
Kyle Brodziak 6 - Was tenacious and had a little extra jump that we didn't see in either Strudwick or Stortini, but nonetheless was an important part of stifling the Predators puck movement.
Zach Stortini 6 - Did not let up on his forecheck and actually looked up to speed tonight as he chased down forwards and D-men in the Nashville zone. Did not do anything dangerous in his own zone and landed some timely hits.
Tom Gilbert 5 - Played an intense game in the first period, and was an important part of nullifying the Predator's offense. Didn't do anything special and was caught making some dangerous passes out of the zone. Good game overall.
Sheldon Souray 6 - Was a calming presence on the blue line tonight and was never caught making any bad passes or dangerous plays. Scored a goal and he allowed the Roloson's and the Gagner's to press the attack.
Lubomir Visnovsky 8 - Great puck movement and cool under pressure. The Nashville forwards love to punish opposition D and he was able to move the puck unscathed. Stellar play tonight and he continues to earn his paycheque.
Denis Grebeskhov 8 - Like Pouliot, he did not get awarded offensively for his work tonight but don't be fooled. He was taking hits left and right to make the play and he was never caught out of position at the wrong times. His crisp passes and well-timed rushes and pinches allowed the Oilers to maintain their momentum throughout the game.
Steve Staios 5 - Made dangerous plays and blind-sighted passes that handcuffed Ladislav Smid more than a couple of itmes. However, he more than made up for it with his work on puck retrieval for the pass to Nilsson which drew the penalty that led to the Souray goal, and the pass that led to the Cogliano goal.
Ladislav Smid 5 - Played a solid, defensive game tonight. Good complement to Steve Staios.
Dwayne Roloson 6 - Made 28 saves and for once, he didn't have to win one for the Oilers as the whole team won it for themselves. Rebound control was great though he needs to work on choosing better times to play the puck as a few times during the game he almost forced some Oilers turnovers though the Oilers D recovered amiably.

Now all we need is someone to take care of Jordin Tootoo and wipe the smug smirk off his face. One of these days he's actually going to harm someone with his cheap shot style of hitting and he will not be the only one to pay dearly.

The Desire Element

So the team and its depth is supposedly the most solid at all positions that it's been in years. Probably at the defensive and goaltending situations, though we could improve our goaltending by moving a guy. But all these questions about intensity, consistency and desire. Was it a good move letting Smyth walk and taking Nilsson, O'Marra, and Plante in return? Did we ever replace that grit and desire element that Smytty brought to this team?

The only players truly answering the bell in the intensity department: Hemsky, Penner (at times), Visnovsky, Souray, Gilbert, Grebeshkov, Smid, Cogliano, Moreau, Roloson

We've seen starts and spurts from the other players but its coupled neither with offensive production or prolonged consistency, injury or otherwise.

And furthermore - don't you think its time to make this JDD's team? We have two starters playing like backups. They might as well be backups.

And damn, what happened to the bull in a china shop we were supposed to be getting in Erik Cole? He showed up for half a game against the Vancouver Canucks in October and that was it.