Smid is Ready for the NHL; Prospect, Player, or Trade Bait? Vol. 2

Bryan Young is an underrated defensive option who is seen hammering some guy to the ice. I think Bryan Young is the kind of player we need to call up to the team. More on that later.

The Oilers won 3-0 with Vancouver in town tonight in what was a bit of an unorganized game. What counts though is the 2 points in the standings, not the way you win the game. Though the puck movement was a bit off tonight, two things were noticeably improved tonight:

a) defensive zone coverage
b) intensity

With the exception of our lacklustre 5-on-3 powerplays, our intensity was consistent throughout the game with perhaps the end of the 1st period as the opposite. However, watching puck movement by defensive guys like Smid has made one thing apparent to me: if Strudwick and Staios could be considered expendable before, they pretty much don't contribute anything now. Souray can play defensively and offensively; Gilbert has held his own; Visnovsky and Grebeskhov are smooth puck movers. What does Staios bring to this team? He doesn't even lead the team in blocked shots or ice time. The warrior has been on this team a long time and is a leader in the dressing room.

But his time has come.

Bryan Young is a stay-at-home defenseman who might be described as a cross between Scott Ferguson and Colin White. If MacTavish is going to play anyone who does't contribute on the scoreboard (Staios), it might as well be someone who hits people and hits them in a devastating way. Bryan Young is well known for his open-ice hits.

As for Theo "the Sean Brown comparable" Peckham, who is either NHL ready or almost NHL ready, he too would be a useful addition to this team. But with all the offense being exhibited by the top 3, I would argue that Young is more needed at this moment.

Plus, we would save a ton of cash playing Young over Staios and Strudwick. Smid has shown he's ready in my opinion The organization gave up on Greene and if it was because they felt they had enough D depth in the system, then its time to hand Smid the reigns.

As a result of Nilsson reasserting the lock on his job against Vancouver tonight, he has proved that he is more valuable on this team than not. I don't think that Sam Gagner has done that yet, not the way that guys like Andrew Cogliano or Ladislav Smid play like NHL regulars. He still needs to show that he can do the job better than AHL callups like Schremp or Brule. The kid line experiment may not be over but the fact that the components are so replaceable means bad things for job security. At least it should in a fair world. Even poster boys like Sam Gagner should need to prove their worth once in a while.

Movement in the ranks...

Prospect, Player or Trade Bait?

None	Franchise Player
Andrew Cogliano Denis Grebeskhov Jeff Drouin-DesLauriers	NHL Regular
Ladislav Smid Robert Nilsson Sam Gagner *	NHL Project
Rob Schremp Gilbert Brule	Questionable Roster Spot Zone
Marc-Antoine Pouliot Kyle Brodziak Zack Stortini **	Prime Trade Bait
Liam Reddox Theo Peckham Bryan Young Steve MacIntyre	Questionable Roster Spot Zone
Ryan Potulny Carl Corazzini Sebastien Bisaillon Tim Sestito Guillaume Lefebvre	AHL Prospect
Mathieu Roy **	Dump Zone

* Sam Gagner - he's a clever one this Samwise and he makes all sorts of smart plays, sure. But he's still a work in progress.
** Zack Stortini - there are guys who can do his job on this team. His trade value might be low, but his value to this team is lower.
*** Mathieu Roy - I still think he's a great player but he is an NHL ready player who deserves a chance in another NHL city.

Note: for anyone unfamiliar with the rules of the list, listed players must have at least one game of NHL experience.

Full rules and notes here.

Goaltending Prospects + Garon/Roloson

Oilers prospects update here, here and here.

Suneil Parmar ran some stats on the league vs. Oilers goaltending stats here.

Devan Dubnyk (not shown) is finally starting to round out in the AHL and is showing the same turnaround that DesLauriers did in his debut as Falcons #1 goalie - arguably better, thus far. Having our own farm team really helps.

Will Mathieu Garon extend? If so, I think 2 years will be ideal. One season to gauge his usefulness as a tutor or protector of DesLauriers, and one season to evaluate whether DesLauriers is ready for full time action with Garon, Dubnyk or someone else as backup. If not, further extension or looking for goaltending help from elsewhere at that time will be options. Locking down goaltenders to super long deals is not such a great idea in a league such as our NHL - given the nature of their injuries and their fluctuations in performance.

There is talk among fans that Garon will be peeved over this latest goaltending fiasco and will want out of Edmonton. Who knows? He's still in his prime and he could be a valuable asset for Edmonton. But anything longer than 3 year deal in any subsequent extension could end up being in the range of the "how-will-we-trade-him-now" situation experienced with Roloson due to his fluctuating degrees of usefulness to the team.

I'm starting to think it's not impossible to see the Oilers move forward without either Roloson or Garon and pick up a temporary goalie until DesLauriers or Dubnyk are ready to step in for themselves. Either that or Garon will be resigned but to a shorter term deal than most people feel he will be extended for.

Yes, Roloson is old. And yes, he can't play forever. But his performance has shown that he's still got it and that's not something anyone can deny easily.

The truth is though, neither Roloson or Garon is getting younger and at least one of them will eventually get the heeve-ho this season. And not because they're playing poorly, by any measure. It may be because Tambellini/Lowe are slowpokes at these kinds of matters and the fact that all of the goalies are playing so well that is making this decision even harder.

Speaking of goaltenders, after DesLauriers and Dubnyk have both made their debuts into the NHL (of course DesLauriers has that impressive head start), it could mean that the Oilers will soon draft some competition for Pitton and Perugini on the farms.

I would suggest drafting Jonathan Roy or Mike Lee.

Here's Dean Millard's description of Mike Lee:

Mike Lee-Fargo-USHL
The only goalie from the US version of Junior A, Lee was brilliant for team USA at the World Junior A Challenge in Camrose earlier this month. He was 4-0, with a minuscule 1.75 goals against average and a .933 save percentage. Lee used his 6.01, 185 pound frame well and bailed out his D-man anytime they got in trouble. While Canada West didn't mount a massive attack in the gold medal game, Lee was there at key times to snuff out any momentum. Lee follows the puck through traffic really well and for his efforts was named a tournament all star.

I don't know about you, but that sounds a lot like Dwayne Roloson, that traffic part. And critical of Roloson you may be, but that is one of the things he does do very well.

As for Jonathan Roy, I would argue anybody who was raised in the mold of Patrick himself has more of a good foundation in goaltending than most people do, though it doesn't guarantee that he'll be any good. It would help to get a guy like Patrick Roy involved in the organization though - and say what you will about his role on the Remparts and his reputation as a blockhead.

Genius is genius.

But regardless of the elder Roy's reputation and the younger's own as a ruffian, if it came down to picking between two skilled goalies and one of them fights while the other doesn't - I would take the figher. A competitive fire is hard to develop. Just ask Ron Hextall.

Fire is fire.