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Multiple Reports: Ottawa Interested In Penner, Smid (Updated!)

Edmonton Oilers' Dustin Penner, middle, is congratulated by teammates after scoring a goal against the Anaheim Ducks during the second period of an NHL hockey game on Friday March 27, 2009, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Jeff Lewis)

More photos » Jeff Lewis - AP

10 months ago: Edmonton Oilers' Dustin Penner, middle, is congratulated by teammates after scoring a goal against the Anaheim Ducks during the second period of an NHL hockey game on Friday March 27, 2009, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Jeff Lewis)

This rather optimistic piece of news comes courtesy of TSN's Bob McKenzie:

Meanwhile, before free agency officially kicks in at noon eastern time on Wednesday, Ottawa's Dany Heatley could be on the move.

Edmonton is abuzz with rumors the deal is close and it's becoming obvious now there is a deal to be made between the Oilers and Senators.

Ottawa wants Dustin Penner as part of the package dating back to Sens' GM Bryan Murray's days in Anaheim with Penner and as much as Edmonton would like to move Penner and his $4.25 million cap hit, Heatley's $7.5 million is a tough nut to crack.

Throw in a young roster Defenceman - Ladislav Smid used to be in Anaheim, too - and a prospect or another young roster player and that's a deal that could fly.

 

 

Star-divide

It seems pretty clear that the team Steve Tambellini is competing against is the New York Rangers, who added some possible trade pieces (McDonaugh, Higgins) and cleared cap room with their earlier trade of Scott Gomez.  It also seems likely that one way or another, the answer will be known by tomorrow - because tomorrow is when Ottawa is slated to pay Dany Heatley a 4-million dollar signing bonus.

Penner and Smid is an interesting core to build a package around.  I like both players, and Edmonton has invested a lot in both of them, but at the end of the day neither is a vital component of the roster.  Let's make that third prospect a good one, for the sake of argument - we'll call him Jordan Eberle.  The cap hits don't quite match up, so to balance that side of things let's toss Steve Staios and Jason Smith into our hypothetical trade.  Would you make that deal?

UPDATE: David Staples isn't a fan of that move; he likes Smid a lot and thinks that Penner is a useful player.  Needless to say, I've agreed for a long time that Penner's useful (albeit probably not 4.25MM/yr useful) but you don't get quality players without sending away quality players, so this isn't a case of "good riddance to bad rubbish".

UPDATE II: This rumour has some legs to it.  Robin Brownlee just confirmed over at OilersNation that Ottawa is looking at a package including Penner and Smid in exchange for Heatley.  The details are still fuzzy, and the details matter a lot.

Poll
In Steve Tambellini's shoes, would you be willing to trade Dustin Penner, Ladislav Smid, Steve Staios and Jordan Eberle to Ottawa for Dany Heatley and Jason Smith?
Yes - Heatley's worth it.
100 votes
No - that package is too rich.
54 votes

154 votes | Poll has closed

0 recs  |  Comment 9 comments |

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Heatley

I wish this would just go away. It makes no sense to trade for Heatley instead of throwing 7.5 million at Havlat/Hossa/Gaborik.

by Derek Zona on Jun 30, 2009 4:48 PM PDT reply actions   0 recs

I disagree. The Oilers can’t afford anyone unless they dump some contracts back the other way – I can’t see them pursuing Havlat/Hossa/Gaborik without dumping at least 5MM in salary. That means that the simplest solution is to trade with Ottawa and dump salary when they acquire the player.

A posse ad esse.

Writer for The Copper & Blue and OilersNation.

by Jonathan Willis on Jun 30, 2009 5:04 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

But I do wish it would just get resolved.

A posse ad esse.

Writer for The Copper & Blue and OilersNation.

by Jonathan Willis on Jun 30, 2009 5:08 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

We need a goal scorer. I don’t know if it’s the best hockey decision but we’ve been dying for a LW sniper for Hemsky to play with forever. For that goofy reason as a fan (not as a GM) I would love to see any of these moves.

I’d personally love to see Gaborik in an Oiler Jersey at reasonable term and dollars, but I don’t see how we’d fit the salary…

Havlat doesn’t really appeal to me as judging by his historicals I think we’d be lucky to squeeze 30 goals out of him, although he’s a good player.

Hossa I’d take in a heartbeat but would prefer a true LW as opposed to playing someone in their off-position as we experimented with this year.

Trading for Heatley makes the most sense to me as he’s better imo than the aforementioned players and also we would be sending a decent chunk of salary back the other way (hopefully).

by GNikkles on Jun 30, 2009 5:23 PM PDT reply actions   0 recs

Agree with Willis. Free agency doesn’t work for us unless we make a parallel move to dump salary, and generally you’re not going to get good value on those trades (deals involving Bob Gainey aside).

There’s also the under-discussed issue of all the free agent forwards having huge question marks attached to them. Havlat and Gaborik are both excellent outscoring wingers but suffer from incredible injury concerns. Hossa’s effectiveness has been declining the past two seasons despite runs with two of the best teams in the NHL. His return on the short term is also going to be affected by two long playoff runs, in my opinion.

Heatley similarly has his concerns such as declining production, but I think he’s still the safest bet.

Even if Heatley isn’t the piece coming back, the current makeup of the team at forward screams for a quality for quantity swap.

by Jon Kerber on Jun 30, 2009 5:25 PM PDT reply actions   0 recs

Resigns

Oduya with a nice deal, Lehtinen with a nice deal, Guerin with a nice deal, Bouwmeester with a nice deal.

Edmonton will overpay someone for something.

by Derek Zona on Jun 30, 2009 5:49 PM PDT reply actions   0 recs

I dunno about Gator. I think we sold high on him the first time around; he was a healthy scratch a bunch for OTT this past year, and their defensive depth doesn’t exactly have me screaming.

Then again…change “Eberle” for “Schremp” or maybe “Nilsson”, even if I think he can rebound, and you have yourself a deal.

SNN Sports - A theoretical Oilers blog (i.e. theoretically, I write stuff there)

by Doogie2K on Jun 30, 2009 6:20 PM PDT reply actions   0 recs

Ruh roh rorge

Cogliano, Penner and stuff for Heatley now…

by Derek Zona on Jun 30, 2009 7:36 PM PDT reply actions   0 recs

Noooo

Cogliano, Penner and Smid….

nonononononono

by Derek Zona on Jun 30, 2009 7:37 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

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Northwest Standings

GP W L OTL PT
Vancouver 57 35 20 2 72
Colorado 58 33 19 6 72
Calgary 59 29 21 9 67
Minnesota 58 29 25 4 62
Edmonton 58 18 34 6 42

(updated 2.9.2010 at 6:00 AM PST)

18 - 34 - 6

Lost 3

Oilers Stats Leaders

Stat

Forwards

Defense

TOI/G:

Horcoff (19:37)

Souray (22:46)

ESTOI/G:

Horcoff (14:59)

Grebeshkov (17:23)

Points:

Penner (44)

Visnovsky (28)

Goals:

Penner (22)

Visnovsky (9)

Assists:

Penner (22)

Visnovsky (20)

EV+/- /15

Penner (.190)

Visnovsky(.137)

Shots:

Penner (153)

Souray(111)

Corsi/15:

Penner(1.26)

Visnovsky (.945)

SCF/15:

Penner (5.347)

Visnovsky (4.751)

SCA/15:

Stone (3.364)

Gilbert (4.284)

SCDiff/15:

Penner (.688)

Visnovsky (.405)


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