The Value Of An NHL Goon
by Derek Zona on Jul 29, 2010 5:30 AM PDT
in Statistical Analysis
10 comments
For some unfathomable reason, NHL general managers have seen fit to go gaga for goons this off-season. It's a position with only thirty job openings worldwide and about 250 applicants, yet general managers are treating goons like a commodity in short supply.
The Flyers started the crazy by signing Jody Shelley to a three-year $1.1 million per year deal in the first three hours of free agency. Apparently, Riley Cote, Darroll Powe and Dan Carcillo weren't enough - it was the fourth fighter that was going to get Philadelphia over the hump. Not to be outdone by their rivals, the Rangers stepped up to the plate. Glen Sather's annual off-season crazy centered around Derek Boogaard. Boogaard, the man that costs the Wild about two points per year in the standings, despite playing only five minutes per night, was given an insane four-year contract worth $1.65 million annually.
The cap-stressed Blackhawks thought that defenseman John Scott, a pair of knuckles that dresses every once in awhile, was a worthwhile investment, so Stan Bowman signed him...to a two-year contract, because one year wouldn't have been enough for a goon to sign a guaranteed contract. Darryl Sutter, not one to be outdone when it comes to poor decisions, threw two years at Raitis Ivanans, the worst player in the league at giving away power plays, because one year just wasn't enough for a player of his ilk. Not content with just one goon to make the Flames a three line team, Sutter also signed Tim Jackman...to a two-year deal.
Steve Tambellini jumped into the fray and brought back Steve MacIntyre, a nice guy that punches hard but isn't much of a hockey player. Tambellini gave MacIntyre his first-ever one-way contract, and though he was well liked by the Oilers during his previous stint here, there is a reason that this was his first one-way contract.
Yesterday, George McPhee thought enough of D.J. King to pull off the always-rare sign-and-trade with the Blues, sending away middling prospect Stefan Della Rovere. But at least the Capitals have that very difficult-to-fill goon position taken care of for...two years.
Why the rest of the league followed and escalated the stupidity arms race started by the Flyers and Rangers is a mystery. Is there some hidden value to goons that we aren't aware of? After the jump, I look at the value that a goon brings to the bottom line in the NHL.
Gilbert Brule - Number Eight With a Bullet In The Oilers Top 25 Under 25
by Derek Zona on Jul 28, 2010 12:00 PM PDT
in Prospects
6 comments
Welcome to Opposite Day here at The Copper & Blue. The crew here thought it would be a great idea if I wrote the overview for Gilbert Brule's entry in our Top 25 Under 25, and thought it especially amusing because I've ranked him lower than anyone here. For once, Ben likes a player not from the St. Albert Saints, thinks he's a good guy, and he doesn't do the writeup.
Gilbert Brule is a great person, that much is clear. He went above and beyond for little Maddox Flynn, not only donating $10,000 to go towards the kid's surgery, but he flew to New York to be with the family prior to his second surgery. Most professional athletes are just regular guys, some athletes are jerks, and a few are something much worse, but Gilbert Brule is something else - he's an outstanding person with a willingness to make a difference in his community. Players like that don't turn up every day, and his value to the team should increase when his value to the community, the fans and the organization is considered.
The Blotter Heads To Russia
Denis Grebeshkov has signed in Russia, according to TSN. The NHL bids farewell to the man with the sine wave consistency model. We will miss his sublime passing skills and effortless skating. We will also miss him handling the puck like it was made of nitroglycerin and staring off into the crowd rather than covering the man in front. His troughs became more fun to watch than his peaks.
Tambellini's Work Is Never Done
by Derek Zona on Jul 28, 2010 5:30 AM PDT
in Opinion
26 comments
Steve Tambellini talked Gilbert Brule into signing a contract with a $1,850,000 cap hit over the next two years, and in doing so, proved that he's no Kevin Lowe. Lowe's propensity for over-paying everyone that had the word "free agent" mentioned in the same breath left many Oiler fans believing that Tambellini would also overpay his restricted free agents this summer. Though I, and a great many of our regular readers, believe that $1,850,000 is still an overpay, it's not $2,500,000 per year, which is what I thought Brule would walk away with. Adding to the situation was the ridiculous arbitration award given to Clarke MacArthur and the crazy Mason Raymond contract.
I'm sure at some point we'll conduct an in-depth review of Tambellini's off-season, but to this point, he's been quiet, ticking the low-hanging fruit from his to-do list.
He listened to The Copper & Blue at the draft table by taking Tyler Pitlick thirty-first overall and Martin Marincin with the Riley Nash pick. He used some sort of Haitian mind control on Scott Howson and got rid of Ethan Moreau for nothing. He swiped Colin Fraser from the Chicago Blackhawks to fix Kevin Lowe's Kyle Brodziak faux pas. He signed Kurtis Foster. He got useful one-year asset, Jim Vandermeer, for allowing the Phoenix Coyotes to buy out Patrick O'Sullivan.
There are some nice moves here, and there may be a glimmer of hope coming from Rexall, but as I said above, this was all low-hanging fruit. Some difficult decisions loom ahead and Tambellini will show his true skills through August and September. We've already talked about the Sheldon Souray situation, kerfuffle, happening, etc. That situation and Nikolai Khabibulin's September 29th trial, remain the elephants in the dressing room. But there is other work to to be done, after the jump we'll look at what lies ahead for Steve Tambellini and the organization.
Linus Omark - Ninth On The Oilers Top 25 Under 25 List
by Derek Zona on Jul 27, 2010 10:30 AM PDT
in Prospects
12 comments
When it comes to shootouts, Linus Omark makes Rob Schremp look like Jason Strudwick. He's a highlight reel superstar with an entire bag of dipsys and doodles, stops and goes, heres and theres and now-you-see-it-now-you-don'ts. When NHL players need a new move, they steal from Omark. Unlike Schremp, however, Omark has already established himself as a player, at least in Europe.
The problem with expecting too much out of Omark is the same that plagues seemingly every Oiler drafted from 2006 - 2009 - he's small, extremely small. Omark is 5'9" on his toes and 176 lbs soaking wet after participating in a pie-eating contest. His size hasn't been a detriment on the larger ice surfaces of the Swedish Elite League and the Kontinental Hockey League, but the smaller surfaces of North America might neutralize his skill game completely.
His scouting reports call him "feisty", but is a little bit of pest combined with a lot of skill enough to survive against much larger players in a much smaller space? It's a bet that me, Bruce and Scott are all making.
Remembering the Magic Man
by Bruce McCurdy on Jul 27, 2010 5:30 AM PDT
in History
6 comments
That there, that's not me
I go where I please
I walk through walls, I float down the Liffee
I'm not here, this isn't happening
I'm not here, I'm not here
In a little while, I'll be gone
The moment's already passed, yeah it's gone
And I'm not here, this isn't happening
I'm not here, I'm not here
-- Radiohead, "How To Disappear Completely"
And now, the final act of the Magic Men, Père et Fils : a simultaneous disappearing act! I suppose it's fair to say that Robert got disappeared - as they used to say in Argentina - when the Oilers chose to buy out the last year of his contract. Given the ignominious nature of his son's departure, it's not surprising that his dad Kent has chosen to cut ties with the Oilers after 15 years of continuous service as a scout and before that, two stints as a player. Scott has done a terrific job assessing the scouting years, but it was as a player that Kent entertained hockey fans across Western Canada. Before he disappears completely from the scene let's take a look back at the player Kent Nilsson was.
In a weird way Kenta and I broke in on the exact same night: October 12, 1977. Kent was a 21-year-old rookie phenom playing his first WHA game withthe Winnipeg Jets, while I was a 21-year-old "rookie" fan, attending my first Opening Night with my brand new season tickets. I had attended numerous individual games over the years, but this was the year I jumped to the "bigs" as a hockey fan and bought all the way in. I had quit smoking the previous winter, and rewarded myself by spending the money I saved from cutting out a pack a day on a lower bowl seat. (The commensurability held for many years as the price of ducats and smokes both skyrocketed ahead of inflation, although nowadays a live hockey habit is much the more expensive of the two addictions.)
Anyway, the first game was against the Oilers geographic rivals, the Jets. Among such luminaries as Ulf Nilsson, Anders Hedberg, Willy Lindstrom, and Lars-Erik Sjoberg, Kenta was just another Swede. Just another Swede kicking our butts; Winnipeg walked out of the Coliseum with a routine 7-3 stomping of the overmatched Oil. The Jets owned our asses back in the day. Memory's a little hazy but I seem to recall Kent lighting the lamp at least once in that game, I just remember wincing at the new Nilsson being introduced on the PA as the latest Oiler Killer.
Teemu Hartikainen Cracks The Top Ten - Oilers Top 25 Under 25
by Derek Zona on Jul 26, 2010 10:30 AM PDT
in Prospects
8 comments
The Sheldon Souray Mess
by Derek Zona on Jul 26, 2010 5:30 AM PDT
in Analysis
25 comments
It's July 26th and Steve Tambellini has wrapped up his vacation and has one major item left to check off of his "to do" list: find a new home for Sheldon Souray. Like Tyler has said repeatedly, Tambellini has done an above-average job on the easy stuff thus far during the off-season, but there is difficult work still to be done. Tambellini chose to waive Souray, but even if a contending team wanted Souray, they weren't going to bite at the waivers bait. The only contending team that could add Souray without needing to dump salary is the Capitals, and the only other playoff threat that could add a $5,400,000 cap hit is the Kings, but at the time of the waivers transaction, they were waiting for Godot.
Does the possibility remain that Souray may yet be traded? I think so, but it's going to look a bit worse than the return for Simon Gagne. Gagne, when healthy, is a terrific player, but injury concerns plague him. Combine that with his no-trade clause and the Flyers cap problems and the best that Paul Holmgren could do was a 4th round pick and $1,700,000 in dead cap space that goes by the name of Matt Walker. Don't expect much more for Souray.
Complicating matters for Tambellini is the fact that Willie Mitchell remains unsigned and Kevin Bieksa needs a new home. If a team is in the market for a mean, physical rearguard, Mitchell fits the bill. If it's offensive upside with a bit of scrappiness that's needed, Bieksa is your man.
After the jump we'll look at some possible destinations for Souray, and the ins, outs and what-have-yous of each:
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