I Hope There's A Really Good Plan B

by Jonathan Willis on Mar 23, 2009 10:51 AM MDT

On March 21st, Dan Barnes of the Edmonton Journal gave us the following information:

Team sources confirm the Oilers will definitely chase younger offensive alternatives this summer and Marian Hossa is atop their list.

That line was a footnote in a tremendous article that explained the Jagr situation and gave the most plausible method the Oilers could have used for sneaking him through waivers. From that article, it would appear that Jaromir Jagr will be a player the Oilers will consider if they're shutout of the Hossa sweepstakes. (As a side-point, the work of Barnes and Matheson is the biggest reason why the Journal is the newspaper that's worth reading when it comes to the Oilers).

Speaking of Hossa, he made some recent comments about his thought process this summer:

"To be able to stay as a Red Wing, I am prepared to take less money, but a fair deal, so both sides are happy. That's what I'm looking for. I know if I go somewhere else, I could have more, but I'm willing to take less to stay here. Hopefully things work out."

I sure hope that Steve Tambellini is ready for Plan B, because I'm thinking that he's going to need it. Hossa had a rich offer last summer and turned it down, and there's little reason to think that the same reasons won't drive his decision this summer.

Jaromir Jagr isn't a great Plan B (he's old, he's a RW, etc.), but I suppose he's better than no plan at all. As a likely-unrelated side point, Jagr's good buddy Martin Straka is probably avialable this summer too.

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Comments

Do you think anyone's going to be surprised when:
a)player X is signed to an excessive long term contract.
b)said contract hampers the team when the cap drops.
c)management feigns ignorance about b.

by Bob Arctor on Mar 23, 2009 12:07 PM MDT reply actions

Bob: Well, that's the nice thing about Jagr - if he ends up signing, it probably won't be along-term deal.

by Jonathan Willis on Mar 23, 2009 12:09 PM MDT reply actions

younger offensive alternatives

Pardon! What!

Forwards over the age of 26 under contract next year:
Horcoff 31 5.5M
Pisani 33 2.5M
Moreau 33 2.0M

Dmen over the age of 26 under contract next year:
Vishnovsky 32 5.6M
Souray 32 5.4M
Staios 2.7M

13 forward under contract for 28.6M
5 Dmen under contract for 18.3M
1 Goalie for .63M
Total 47.54M

Brodziak, Reddox, Grebs, Smid all RFA.

Who is headed out?
Who we getting for one year or extended on the cheap?

by rickibear on Mar 23, 2009 12:14 PM MDT reply actions

RB: Pretty sure that Barnes meant that whoever the Oilers pursue over the summer should be a younger, more long-term fit than Jagr.

by Jonathan Willis on Mar 23, 2009 12:42 PM MDT reply actions

younger offensive alternatives

Barnes meant younger & more offensive than Jagr.
I'm sure of it.

Mats Sundin, Saku Koivu, Robert Lang, Mike Cammalleri, Henrik Sedin, Alex Tanguay, Daniel Sedin, Marian Gaborik, Marian Hossa, Martin Havlat, Alexei Kovalev

Who is headed out?

Dustin Penner 4,250,000
Ethan Moreau 2,000,000
Robert Nilsson 2,000,000
Steve Staios 2,700,000

The beauty of Jagr is that he'd be a one-year deal
At least he'd better be.

by Mr DeBakey on Mar 23, 2009 2:59 PM MDT reply actions

Good alternatives on short term deals?

Havlat, if Chicago doesn't extend him.

Gaborik, on a one-year deal to get his groove back.

Those would be two I'd look at long and hard. Havlat on LW with Horcoff and Hemsky could be downright scary - every time I've watched the Hawks this year, the guy has looked sick-good.

by HBomb on Mar 23, 2009 3:14 PM MDT reply actions

I'm pretty sure "young, cheap scoring options" means we're going to rush Eberle becuase we can't get anything else.

I think we already sewed up our cheap scoring option in the O'Sullivan trade. His acquisition was pure gold. Depending on whether or not we re-sign Kotalik (I say no) there'll be one spot available in the top-6 with Penner, Cogliano an AHL guy like Potulny or Brule, and an expensive free agent signing in the running for said position.

I hope they stay in-house for the position, and throw their money at a goaltender.

by doritogrande on Mar 23, 2009 4:27 PM MDT reply actions

Just throwing this out there...would anyone consider Marian Gaborik?

by Jon on Mar 23, 2009 11:59 PM MDT reply actions

Jon: Depends on the scenario. Gaborik would be just fine, but I'd need to know money/term before considering someone so high-risk.

Havlat and Gaborik are both just too injury-prone for my taste, despite their obvious ability.

by Jonathan Willis on Mar 24, 2009 12:40 AM MDT reply actions

I agree that term and money matters when signing free agents, but I do not see any other free agent that you can buy so low.

Gaborik played lw in junior and has mainly been rw for the Wild.

What about this scenario...would you be interested
At or before the draft

Edm Gaborik and Harding

Wild Penner Nillson 1st

Now Gaborik's agent knows that the sky is falling on the economy for the next couple year and that gaborik is at an all time low in terms of value so I am sure that they would want a short deal.

What about 2-3 years at 4.5-5 million

Plausable?

by Jon on Mar 24, 2009 9:16 AM MDT reply actions

Jon: I'm hardly an expert on Gaborik, so take it for what it's worth, but I can't imagine him accepting anything less than 6-million a season.

And I think there are still G.M.s willing to accomodate.

by Jonathan Willis on Mar 24, 2009 9:39 AM MDT reply actions

Your probably right. There are GM's that even in the face of a dropping cap, massive recession, and NHL uncertainty in many markets, would still be willing to overpay for a free agent as risky as Gaborik...which makes me sad for the future of the NHL

by Jon on Mar 24, 2009 10:52 AM MDT reply actions

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