Joni Pitkanen Update #328

by Jonathan Willis on May 14, 2008 3:44 PM MDT

The Fourth Period is reporting that negotiations are set to begin with Joni Pitkanen on a long-term contract. From the story:

The Oilers would like to give Pitkanen locked up to a long-term agreement, in and around the five-year range, which could see the Finnish defenseman earn around $4 million to $5 million per season.

I, as you might expect, am a big fan of this idea, despite the various questions surrounding Pitkanen's health and character. Wow, that sounds harsh.

The fact of the matter is that Pitkanen is coming off the worst season of his career, and any such contract would be of the pay-for-potential variety. A 5-year, 4.5M/season contract would look really nice in my opinion. Pitkanen is the Oilers defenseman with the greatest physical abilities, the greatest upside, and the only guy I can see emerging as a legitimate number one defenseman out of the current group.

And for those of you who don't like those contract numbers- do you really see Pitkanen as a lower tier guy than Tom Gilbert?

Tweet Comment 3 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

I'm a Pitkanen guy but the thing I always struggle with about signing him is that you don't know if he'll ever be a guy who can be healthy for 70 games a season and if we don't need him on the PP -- and 'don't need' can also be filed under "we already have to put Souray there" then we're paying him for PK and EV play.

In any case, Oilers are paying Souray and Gilbert so if 25 gets inked longterm, I guess that means Grebs isn't gonna get his big payday from the Oil.

Finally, are these guys at the 4th Period plugged in? Have they broken anything like this before?

by Dennis on May 14, 2008 8:29 PM MDT reply actions

I actually do put Gilbert ahead of him, for two reasons:

1. Health is a concern with Pitkanen, even putting aside his character questions that's an issue

2. He's so much more chaos than Gilbert. His offensive potential seems higher, but in most situations I'd rather have Gilbert out there. If Pitkanen's big advantage is a 20-25pt output, let's get a cheap PP specialist instead.

by Kyle on May 14, 2008 9:54 PM MDT reply actions

Finally, are these guys at the 4th Period plugged in? Have they broken anything like this before?

Unfortunately, I have no idea. I've been to the sight before, and what I've read was legit, but I don't know what they're contacts are like.

He's so much more chaos than Gilbert. His offensive potential seems higher, but in most situations I'd rather have Gilbert out there.

Going from the first 40 games of the season, I would agree. Going by the last 40, I am not so sure.

by Jonathan Willis on May 14, 2008 10:53 PM MDT reply actions

Comments For This Post Are Closed

Northwest Standings

	GP	W	L	OTL	PT
Vancouver Nucks Misconduct	54	34	15	5	73
Colorado Mile High Hockey	56	28	25	3	59
Minnesota Hockey Wilderness	54	25	21	8	58
Calgary Matchsticks and Gasoline	55	25	22	8	58
Edmonton The Copper & Blue	54	21	28	5	47

(updated 2.11.2012 at 1:04 AM MST)

21 - 28 - 5

Streak: Lost 2

Oilers Schedule

Next 5 Games

@ Ottawa Silver Seven	Sat 02/11	12:00 PM MST
Toronto Pension Plan Puppets	Wed 02/15	8:00 PM MST
Colorado Mile High Hockey	Fri 02/17	7:30 PM MST
Vancouver Nucks Misconduct	Sun 02/19	7:00 PM MST
@ Calgary Matchsticks and Gasoline	Tue 02/21	7:00 PM MST

Last 5 Games

@ Detroit Winging It In Motown	Wed 02/08	L 2 - 4
@ Toronto Pension Plan Puppets	Mon 02/06	L 3 - 6
Detroit Winging It In Motown	Sat 02/04	SO - W 5 - 4
Chicago Second City Hockey	Thu 02/02	W 8 - 4
Colorado Mile High Hockey	Tue 01/31	W 3 - 2