In what has to be the most shockingly positive move the Oilers have made since...well, signing Ales Hemsky to a beautiful six-year, $24 million deal, the Oilers signed Ales Hemsky to a two-year, $10 million deal. The reaction in our article on the topic was overwhelmingly positive. Tyler was so giddy that he was unable to construct a longform story on the topic, rather he went the bullet point route:
What a day. What a great day for the Oilers.
There aren’t a lot of UFA signings in which you can say that the team signing the player has some upside to the deal. This is pretty damned close. If Hemsky is healthy…the Oilers are paying a guy who probably puts up 70 points just $5MM. The odds of them finding someone else with that kind of potential, for so little money are awfully low.
So the signing brought around by the words of Taylor Hall was outstanding because it was the first time in forever that the Oilers kept a good player, rather than selling them off for trinkets and the future. The Oilers might actually be interested in building a winner. As a wise man once said of winning teams:
And the key is simple. They get good players and they keep them.
So for once, things are looking up in Edmonton, right? Not according to a large segment of Oilers fans on Twitter who reacted to the news in a less than cheerful manner. A selection of those tweets, with media reaction interspersed is up after the jump. To be fair, the medium lends itself to quick takes, so there may be some very well-thought, logical and cogent arguments behind these Tweets. I doubt it, but it's possible.
acurrins So do any #oilers fans or anyone else actually think #hemsky is worth 5mil a year? 3mil perhaps? #nhl
cheaward The $10mil / 2 yr extension for Ales Hemsky might be the worst #NHL contract since the deal Scott Gomez signed in 07. Unbelievable. #Oilers
KenneyMo27 #oilers sign hemsky for 5 mill a year? #isthisajoke #overrated #bandaid
apuddicombe Hemsky. Ugh. Was hoping the #Oilers would leverage him for ANY bit of help they could get on D. Back into the hole.
a_mcbain
call me out on a parasite, dont argue with me about @aleshemsky. Not f-ing worth 10 mil. #yeg #oilers #wasteofmoney
sunterryjones Hate to sound like the Calgary Flames official Twitter account but ... five million a year is a lot for a guy who right now has five goals.
dogmatix09 So #oilers sign Hemsky. I Do not get it. I DO NOT FUCKING GET IT!!! $5 mill per? I do not understand this signing at all. #totalbullshit
kbellnurse Tambellini is high. #nuffsaid #oilers #iftheytradejonesyillcheerforcalgary
JohnnieOil what will #oilers have to pay Ebs, Hall, RNH? Oh wait @dantencer said 'cause Hemsky gave oil a "deal" so will the kids, yeah sure
OilersFan_14 Who the hell's idea was it for the #Oilers to re-sign ales hemsky...He's crap he does nothing he has 5 goals in 50 game's he's #TheProblem
mulbycrad don't get me wrong, he is a good player. But that is lots and lots of money. Perhaps too much. Put $ towards good defense. #Oilers
BK_DobberNation i think the worst part about Hemsky signing isn't the money, but that it makes #Oilers look aimless as a franchise.
GrantSellsRadio I actually thought this was a joke. Fire Tambellinii.
Piehl77 regardless of other trades and deals hemsky just screwed the oilers.
kausatoday Ales Hemsky gets $10 million over two seasons from Oilers...for those who have lost track he has 5 goals and 26 points in 47 games.
RussianRocket10 1 yr ever w/ pt/per game avg. & it was only 50 games. #Hemsky deal isn't great but cud b worse
RussianRocket10 2 years isn't terrible. When he's on, he's a 4+ mil guy. Horc is a 3+ mil guy at best. We need $ for NUGE, Hall & Eberle
DennisTFP @DennisTFP Still scratching my head over the 10M Hemsky signing." Rightfully so.
Evan_Pepper Some people just don't deserve $5 million a year (until they prove it) #oilers #baddecision
stukehrig The sentiment that #Hemsky believes in the #oilers rebuild is BS. He believes that no one else is dumb enough to pay him that much. #yeg
BillCooney Why good #NHL teams improve and bad ones don't part 1: #Pens sign Neal 6 years, $30 M - 57 PTS #Oilers sign Hemsky 2 years, $10 M - 26 PTS
askkevanything Thank U #Oilers I no longer feel as bad about the Gretzky trade now. 5M for injury prone Hemsky worst deal ever
DoubleTAP49 "@Boosbag: I can't be the only one who thinks this Ales signing is terrible for the #oilers ? #sameoldsameold" You're not.
msccust On his pace this year, we've signed Hemsky to a little under a million/goal. But it's okay. He wants to stay in #yeg. #oilers
ajnorris Hemsky isn't worth 1 million, let alone 10! Ridiculous deal! ...Ben Eager has more goals. #oilers #wasteofmoney
Paul_DeCock Hahaha why?? Any pick in the draft would of sufficed RT @NHL_Oilers: #Oilers have agreed to terms with RW Ales Hemsky. 2 years $10 million.
markkrysko Hemsky needs to get his head right and earn this ridiculous pay.
markkrysko Oilers resign Hemsky to 2 years,10 million! Absolutely insane! Betrayal on the rest of the team. Biggest joke in sport. ...
JohnnieOil oh well couple more years of missing the playoffs, bad deal IMO #oilers
etmogul I agree with your assessment of Hemsky @Zeisberger The #oilers would have been better off taking what they could get at the deadline.
ChrisKindraka Now that Hemsky has a new contract, the Oilers can still trade him right? #Oilers #hemsky
hockeyfanatics Like Hemsky, but he did not deserve a raise. #oilers can sure make poor decisions. Like why is Horcoff on the first PP unit and not Smyth?
ruethless77 10mill for 2 yrs!!!!!!!! You've got to be fisting me #oilers.
DiehardOil Titantic needed more lifeboats like the #Oilers need defense yet they spend 11millon on a forward that don't even backcheck #defenseless
UPSerMatt the Oilers like overpaying for unproducing players like Hemsky hoping that they will produce see: #DustinPenner #Oilers #Kings
booooryan Can anyone tell me the upside of the #Oilers signing Ales Hemsky?
Czubko #Oilers give $10 million 2 year contract for Hemsky, might as well of signed that Joey that signs along with the anthem #JoeyMatters
rlukedavis Once again the #Oilers get great value for their $! Alice has averaged almost 13 goals a season in his career. #loweforlife #hedesrvedaraise
And finally, the most despicable thing anyone wrote about the signing:
KLewis_09 Didn't know Joey was making the #oilers contracts. Hemmer and horcs combine for 11 mill a season, -33 combined +/-. #amillionagoal