Grading Tambellini (free agent signings)
A couple days ago I made a post giving my take on Tambi's trades since he took over, today I want to focus on his free agent signings. Again this is only my opinion and in no way am I insisting I'm right in my scores. Im going to use the same scale (1-5) for ranking these signings/re-signings, total up the scores and give a percentage grade. Give your take on the poll at the end and please leave comments below. If you see an error please point it out and I will correct it ASAP. Again I'm only looking at impact signings and not spending time on AHL signings (while some has been important for the most part they have no real impact on the big club).
1. July 1, 2009
Nikolia Khabibulin 4 Years 3.75mil Cap Hit Score 2
Eeek... this one is just plain bad. He was old when we signed him and he's even older now. First season here so was solid for about 5 games then got hurt. The next season IMO he was surpassed by Devan Dubnyk based on poor play all the while fighting an appeal for an extreme DUI from the past year. This season Khabby was the best in the league for about a month posting a ridiculous 0.965S% before coming down to reality since then. He's been better than Dubnyk this season and only has a handful of awful games but I struggle with the idea we couldn't have found a cheaper/younger option until Dubnyk was ready to take over.
2. September 10, 2009
Mike Comrie 1 Year 1.25mil Cap Hit Score3
Say what you want about Comrie's first stay here in Edmonton the fact that this was a player that wanted to come back to Edmonton to make amends with his home town is impressive. He came here well bellow his market price and played above his contract when healthy. Only played 43 games but got 21pts, more than you expect for a guy of his cap hit. PS he brought Hilary Duff to town, bonus points.
3. July 1, 2010
Kurtis Foster 2 Years 1.8mil Cap Hit Score 2.5
He came cheap, and he was a solid offensive defense men hitting the 40pt plateau twice in his career, one year being the one prior to the signing. Foster was a giant let down here in Edmonton but that isn't Tambi's fault. He was big, puck moving dman, with an absolute cannon for a shot (unfortunately not an accurate one). He played 74 games and only recorded 22pts. Again this a case of player drastically underachieving here but can't be pinned entirely on Tambi.
4. August 6, 2010
Martin Gerber 1 Year 500K Cap Hit Score 3.5
He was brilliant in his 3 game stint with the big club and that is the only reason this makes the cut for this list, great signing for OKC. Score would be higher if he played more games in the NHL (as most fans wanted after those 3 games)
5. March 8, 2011
Taylor Fedun 2 Years 900K Cap Hit Score 3
This kid would have been an Oiler over guys like Corey Potter, Jeff Petry, and IMO Theo Peckham. If he didnt break his femur in freak incident in Mini in the preseason we could have seen more of what he has to offer. Hopefully he can recover fully. I love this kid (maybe the reason i score this so high for a guy who hasnt played an NHL game)
6. June 15, 2011
Lennart Petrell 1 Year 900K Capt Hit Score 2.5
He may never be an NHL regular but he killed penalties, hit, fought once, and put up a few points in his days with the Oilers. He likely will bounce around between OKC and the Oilers depending on injuries, trades, etc. I like Lennart but his NHL future is unsure.
7. July 1, 2011
Corey Potter 1 Year 525K Cap Hit Score 4
Might have originated as an AHL signing but he has stuck with the big club and thrived, with the exception being maiming Taylor Hall a week ago in St. Louis. He's calm, poise, has a cannon, and is a major cog in the powerplay. 16pts in 35 game this season for the low cost of half million? yes please. I'll address the re-signing later on but expect high scores there as well.
8. July 1, 2011
Eric Belanger 3 Years 1.75mil Cap Hit Score 4
Now before I get chewed out for the high score, how many of you liked this signing in July? My guess is in the +90% range. He has been abysmal as a 3rd line center and even worse on the power play. I personally blame his for MPS's slump and lack of confidence as well as Omark starting down in OKC this season but hey that has nothing to do with the signing. He belongs on the fourth line but again in July this looked like a terrific signing. Tambi can;t be blamed for the failure on the part of the player (or coach if you see it that way).
9. July 1, 2011
Cam Barker 1 Yeark 2.25mil Cap Hit Score 2
Now this was basically a hail mary signing with not a lot to lose expect for 2.25mil out of Katz's rather deep pockets. Barker hasn't been good IMO and I have yet to see the offensive flare that got him taken 3rd over all. He's a 3rd pairing dman on the Oilers which translates to an AHL dman on any other team, well maybe not CLM. We got pretty well what we sign him for, I dont like the high cap hit for a dman recently waived.
10. July 1, 2011
Darcy Hordichuk 1 Year 825K Cap Hit Score 3
He's cheap, he hit, he fights (well), and he hates the Canucks. He doesnt play a lot of games and doesnt get a lot of ice-time but thats more attributed to coaching philosophy than anything. We got what we paid for and he did increase the toughness on the team. Bonus: he hasnt done anything stupid/crazy yet.
11. July 1, 2011
Ben Eager 3 Years 1.1mil Cap Hit Score 2.5
He seems to be injury plagued this season and is often a healthy scratch. He's fast enough to keep up with on the first line but doesnt bring the toughness we was signed for. He hasnt snapped yet which is nice (or maybe not) and at least we know he can get in the Canucks heads.
So as of right now we have 11 signings (noteworthy ones) since July 31, 2008 when Mr. Tambellini took over as GM. Out of the possible 5pts possible Tambi (IMO) has scored a 32/55 for a grade of 58%. Drastically lower than the 75% Tambi received on my previous post on trades. This will be an interesting summer for Mr.Tambi if he is indeed re-signed (please no!) where he has Smid, Gilbert, Gagner all to re-sign and the possibility of Hemsky as well. Its going to be an interesting Trade Deadline and summer for the franchise and whoever sits in the GM chair.
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The 2 that I liked right away, and still like despite the numbers, are Belanger and Eager. I understand that they haven’t lived up to the hopes we all had for them, but at the same time they’ve both shown flashes of what they can do.
In Belanger’s case, it’s nice to win some faceoffs now and then. I think that the offense will come, but no more than 40 points a season, which would be great for a 3rd/4th line center.
Eager is quick. I think that he’s still getting comfortable after the concussion. After a while I think that he’ll start to engage people a little more. I hope that the coaches can be patient with him, even if he’s not patient with them.
The thing is that we’ve got these guys for 2+ more years. If it all works out, then they can play on the 4th line together, and that’s not a bad thing.
I hate the Hordichuck is on this team. I dislike goons so much. I dislike the role they play, that they have to play that role, that that they play it for 3 minutes, 30 times a year. It’s a waste of space in the best league in the world.
As far as Barker goes, I’d really like to see him play the rest of the season injury free. We still haven’t had a good look at him. Sure, he seems to not be what they hoped he would be, but now is a good time to see exactly what he can do on a crappy team that needs someone to step up.
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Nikolia Khabibulin – my score 2.5
because he just get 3.75 mi / y. and his games are so on.
Mike Comrie – my score 2.5
Salary was ok, but he was done with hockey
"PS he brought Hilary Duff to town, bonus points!"
Kurtis Foster – my score 1
Good guy, bad signing, must get traded or buy out in the end of season.
Martin Gerber – my score 4
Good goalie with possibility to back up at NHL for some (more) games
Taylor Fedun – my score 3.5
Good player with potential to grow, bad accident, you never know what happens on ice.
Lennart Petrell – my score 3
He’s ok if you accept to get an AHLer with some call up potential
Corey Potter – done ok
Eric Belanger – well goanna see what will later on
Cam Barker – my score 2
I had no idea of him, but the GM should have before he pay 2.25 out of the budget
Hordi / Eager …..
bring Sheldon Souray back!
Can you explain how the Oilers got tougher with Hordichuk.
In theory, there is little difference between practice and theory, but in practice there is!
Tactical contributor to the Copper & Blue and just as boring on the twitters... @dawgbone98
by dawgbone98 on Jan 29, 2012 9:05 PM MST reply actions 2 recs
He uses so much of the trainer’s time, the other guys have to suck it up and play?
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