What you see is what you'll get

[Deathsdoorstep]

Re: What you see is what you'll get

People forget that with Bergeron, Greene, Smid, Gilbert and Syvret they Oilers have a nice crop of good young defensemen coming up. Of course they need to be supplemented with veteran defensemen like Smith, Staios and Tjarnqvist.

The problem with the Oilers defense isn't that they suck. They don't. They're just young. How long has Shaggy been out?

Lowe knows this, and he knows that one guy isn't likely to make all the difference, so no need to trade away a valuable player like Torres or Lupul, both of whom have talent, but have struggled this year. I doubt that 06-07 will be indicative of either of their careers.

[Sectionq]

Re: What you see is what you'll get

Bergeron is a 26 yr old defenceman that has had NHL experience since 02-03 season. He has been playing pro hockey since 01 and he still is one of the stupidest defenceman I have ever seen. He should be better than he is. Having him as an everyday d-man is scary.

[Deathsdoorstep]

Re: What you see is what you'll get

This is Bergeron's 3rd full NHL campaign and only his 2nd full one.

Look at some of these guys:

Bergeron: 2nd full yr.
Torres: 3rd full yr.
Lupul: 3rd full yr.
Greene: 1st full yr.
Smid: 1st full yr.
on and on it goes.

This is a young team.

[PDO]

Re: What you see is what you'll get

This is Bergeron's 3rd full NHL campaign and only his 2nd full one.

Look at some of these guys:

Bergeron: 2nd full yr.
Torres: 3rd full yr.
Lupul: 3rd full yr.
Greene: 1st full yr.
Smid: 1st full yr.
on and on it goes.

This is a young team.

... on the backend.

We have playoff forwards and goaltending. Great asset management.

As for Kevin... it's not like this cheap, top 4 defenseman was traded twice for nothing or anything silly like that...

Including by Anaheim days after the Pronger trade.

[Deathsdoorstep]

Re: What you see is what you'll get

Some playoff forwards. An ageing Sykora who started hot but has been mediocre the last 30 games, a useless Nedved, and a great Ryan Smyth. Other than that most of the team is pretty young. And injuries have played a huge role on the Oilers this year. Doesn't help that some players are having an off year at the same time.

[PDO]

Re: What you see is what you'll get

Some playoff forwards. An ageing Sykora who started hot but has been mediocre the last 30 games, a useless Nedved, and a great Ryan Smyth. Other than that most of the team is pretty young. And injuries have played a huge role on the Oilers this year. Doesn't help that some players are having an off year at the same time.

I'd agree on the injuries - we've been absolutely decimated.

Off year though? Raffi Torres I suppose qualifies for that (pst, Kevin, sign him to a long, cheap deal ), outside of him though? Horcoff started off slow the first 20 games, but has been a 70 point player since then, Hemsky gets the injury tag, Stoll has been better than last year (albeit only for 20 games, but he was damn golden for those 20 games), Smyth is having a great year, Pisani is having his usual 20-20 and amazing defense year, Smith started slow but has been great since the 20 game mark, Staios great year, Roli great year...

I'd chalk this year thus far up to a few things.. lack of depth on D, too many rookies, too many rookies in situations where they can't succeed (see: Smid, Ladislav. He could've had a very good year on the bottom pairing with an Ulanov type - I'm not so sure that throwing him into the fire hasn't really hurt his development), 40 too many games for Hejda to become a regular, a ridiculous amount of injuries, and not enough depth on defense to begin with.

And Craig Simpson for being bloody possessed with the point shot. Bah.

I'm also starting to think that trading Matt Greene is probably a really good idea. Not for a rental, obviously, but he's a UFA in 3 years time - are we really going to get a lot out of him if he decides to leave once he's a UFA? How far away is he from being a top 4 defenseman? How much value does he have? How much would a team like Philly value him in a Pitkanen deal?

Things to ponder...

[Deathsdoorstep]

Re: What you see is what you'll get

I dunno, mate. The Oilers record is too crappy for so many guys to have been having the good years you say they are. As far as I'm concerned, outside of Ryan Smyth there isn't a vet on this team that hasn't underperformed all year. Be it yet another bonehead Horcoff pass that results in a scoring chance for the other team, be it yet another attempt by Hemsky to beat 6 guys by using the force, or be it yet another Nedved shot to the chest of a goalie....most of our vets have had a lousy year.