Return of Nilsson

I love Liam Reddox and all... but right now he's not cut out for top two line duty. Obviously MacTavish did it as a bandage, and not because he thought that Reddox was ready. His hope was that Horcoff and Penner, or Gagner and Cole, could milk some offense out of him. Turns out what they needed was a Baptism by Hemsky to turn their game around. It makes much more sense to have Nilsson on the 2nd line.

I think it's a mistake not to start Jeff DesLauriers against Columbus. Yes, it's a big game. But this would be a great chance to give Roloson a rest and give DesLauriers a big game to strut his stuff since he sucked it up and went down to Springfield for a handful of games.

Nilsson in the Dog House

Look at this man. This Bobby Nilsson character. Does he deserve to be in the dog house?

Maybe.

I can name 3 other players who would find the ticket to the press box more deserving than Robert Nilsson:

a) Erik Cole
b) Mathieu Garon *
c) Sam Gagner **

* This season is pretty much a loss for Mathieu Garon. I love the guy and love his style of play but I think it's time for the Oilers to realise their handling of this valuable asset means he's not going to return in the off season. Time to maximize on return and trade him.

** He doesn't deserve a ticket to the press box. He deserves a ticket to Springfield.

P.S. All flights to the West Coast have been cancelled. Looks like I'll be in Edmonton for Christmas after all. 1st intermission, 2-0 Oilers over Coyotes as I write this.

GOILERS!

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.

The Fate of the Kid Line

Predictions

Will Robbie Schremp keep up his scoring pace? Will Gilbert Brule be a factor in upcoming games? Will Sam Gagner and Robert Nilsson come back from injury and take their roster spots back with a vengeance?

The game in San Jose was a big win but let's be honest -- the Oilers were chasing pucks and not defending players. Back-to-back games or not, it's simple hockey not to chase the puck but to play the man. I was surprised at the poise of some of the younger players in the last game.

Please leave your comments and predictions.

Prospect, Player, or Trade Bait? Vol. 1

There you have it folks: Robert Nilsson your most trade-able Oilers asset.

Prospect, Player, or Trade Bait rules are here.

Prospect, Player or Trade Bait?

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

* Sam Gagner: has the age advantage on everyone except Jordan Eberle, who is, lucky for Sam, without any NHL experience. Otherwise, Sam might've been placed the NHL prospects category because he is only slightly outplaying Marc Pouliot thus far in the NHL season...

** Robert Nilsson: It was really, really hard to find a photo of Nilsson doing something. If that's not an indicator of how invisible he is, then I don't know what is. The edge on value that Nilsson has to this team is a proven ability to backcheck and an awareness in the defensive zone. The only guy on the kid line who performs game-in and game-out is Andrew Cogliano, and Sam Gagner still has the age advantage on the other two. So Nilsson is the odd man out because Schremp's improvement, along with Penner and Moreau picking up their offensive games, has lowered his value to the organization.

*** Rob Schremp: This depends on how he performs on his call up duty. Playing at Nilsson's level will be enough to join MAP in the buffer zone. Playing above expectations will push him up to the NHL Prospect zone. The reason he doesn't replace Nilsson in the NHL Prospect category (should Nilsson be traded) is because he lacks the NHL experience that Nilsson has.

**** Mathieu Roy: is an NHL player but he no longer fits properly on the Oilers depth chart. Thus, he deserves a chance somewhere else in the NHL.

Game 2 - Oilers @ Ducks : 3-2 Win

This is the bottom half of the net. It belongs to a man named Mathieu Garon. Seen here in this photo, Mathieu Garon is sending the message: B^^ch please, MY NET!

I got home just in time to watch the 3rd period, and apparently I was just in time to watch the Oilers turn it on. Great goal by Visnovsky.

A couple of thoughts tonight:

1) Robert Nilsson - pretty dandy, showing that he can play on almost any line and surprised me with his versatility; also very useful on the back-check, breaking up some Ducks chances in the final minutes

2) Marc Pouliot - proved my guess right that he would be more than capable of playing the more physical game required against the Ducks

3) Mathieu Garon - somebody deserves a contract extension...

4) Jeff DesLauriers - is MacT taking turns dressing the backups, or is this a positive nod in JDD's direciton?

5) Denis Grebeshkov - continues to look better and better, if he keeps going at this rate, Ladislav Smid could very well be dealt for a bag of pucks

And remember hockey fans...

Oilers Training Camp Update

After watching much of the Oilers' training camp, including rookie games and Joey Moss Cup, I thought it would be appropriate to think about some fun ways to refer to our players. Thus, I have some Oilers' jokes and nicknames.

Newest Oiler jokes:

1. What did the coach say when he wanted the rookie to be a better team player?
Answer: Make like the Cogs in the machine!

2. What did the coach say to the player heading to the press box?
Answer: Don't make me Paukovich!!!

3. Who in the Oilers' organization has the least funny name?
Answer: Phillipe Cornet

I have come up with some nicknames for some of the Oilers and Oilers' hopefuls:

David Rohlfs - Rohlfcopter (or ROFLcopter, for those of you familiar with Internet Lingo)
Erik Cole - The Slaw (as in Cole Slaw)
Geoff Paukovich - The Headhunter, or Highlander
Marc-Andre Bernier - A.L.I.A.B (At Least I Aint Bergeron!)
Toby LaFrance - The Revolution, or Viva Toby, or Wine and Cheese, or Cup of T, or French Fry
Phillipe Cornet - The Comedian (see Oilers' joke #3)
Glenn Fisher - The Apostle (refer to the gospel)
Ales Hemsky - Hemmertime
Shawn Horcoff - Tuberculosis (I don't want to explain this one... but jesting and jokes aside, I believe Horcoff is the future captain after Ethan Moreau)
Sheldon Souray - S-squared
Lubomir Visnovsky - V-Nov

...

I'm out of ideas.

Just a thought: If Gilbert Brule were female, and he married Tom Gilbert, wouldn't his name be Gilbert Gilbert?