[Signing] Oilers re-sign Kris Russell (4 yrs, $4 mil AAV)

[Fan in Exile]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

It's been well established that Russell brings some leadership intangibles, is a warrior, and a useful player when used properly. He's hard to quantify as ideally you would want him in your 3rd pairing but teams lie the Flames and Oilers over played him in their 2nd pairings which means the man basically turns himself into a backboard blocking shots and while he's good at it and it can be useful it's also leads to poor possession and puck time in his own end. What's worse is that he really doesn't have any offensive upside (Engelland had a better season offensively for comparison) which is what you hope for as a tradeoff with undersized defensemen. Oilers really need to tread carefully on this extension as he's not good enough to lock up long term in the range of $4 million/season.

Fair assessment. The reality is that most teams have guys that most of us think are not properly top 4 in their top 4 and we are looking to sign guys like that to equivalent salary - guys like Stone or Franson; dreaming of getting a guy like Hamonic.

So no the Oilers haven't upgraded but looking pretty solid for next season. I'll agree that the Oilers appear to have some salary cap and defensive issues on the horizon. But I don't think it makes this board look good to gloat with glee at every move the Oilers make as though it automatically is a bad move. In the meantime, we talk ourselves into believing everything Treliving does is gold.

[sempuki]

Good person, decent player, bad team. Hope he takes them to the cleaners.

[Locke]

Come on big money!

Kris is a great guy, hes earned his 6x6!

Do it!

[Beninho]

Originally Posted by Fan in Exile

Fair assessment. The reality is that most teams have guys that most of us think are not properly top 4 in their top 4 and we are looking to sign guys like that to equivalent salary - guys like Stone or Franson; dreaming of getting a guy like Hamonic.

So no the Oilers haven't upgraded but looking pretty solid for next season. I'll agree that the Oilers appear to have some salary cap and defensive issues on the horizon. But I don't think it makes this board look good to gloat with glee at every move the Oilers make as though it automatically is a bad move. In the meantime, we talk ourselves into believing everything Treliving does is gold.

Lots of people here don't agree with every move Treliving has made. That's definitely a false narrative. Treliving has pulled some great moves which have been applauded but not all of his moves are treated like gold. Commentebting on what the Oilers do is what rival fans do, every team is aware of their fiercest rival. None of the comments here have been petty but just acknowledging that paying Russell 4 mill for 4 years would not be a good deal and not one I would want the Flames to make.

[FanIn80]

Originally Posted by Locke

Come on big money!

Kris is a great guy, hes earned his 6x6!

Do it!

No whammies?

[activeStick]

So anything under 3.1 will make this a good deal but anything over is "lol".

Got it!

[BigFlameDog]

Originally Posted by Hockeyguy15

Not sure people are hating on him, more along the lines of hoping the Oilers overpaid.

Originally Posted by colbym72

The analytics people hate him and that wagon just kinda filled up

I'll bite...don't look at analytics but my eyes told me he is not a very good defenseman. Ok, he had a reasonable year last year but he loses possession and board battles constantly, when he was a Flame he led the team in blocked shots because he lost almost every board battle and consistently turned the puck over in his own end.

Again, that was from watching...don't really care what the stats say.

And I am not one to pile on players....probably the opposite but something about Russel sits wrong with me.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Fan in Exile

Fair assessment. The reality is that most teams have guys that most of us think are not properly top 4 in their top 4 and we are looking to sign guys like that to equivalent salary - guys like Stone or Franson; dreaming of getting a guy like Hamonic...

If you are making this evaluation in comparison to the Flames's current situation on defence, then context is important: 1) The fact that the Flames top-three defensemen are all better than every Oilers blue liner makes an important and huge difference. Russell does not look good on the Flames's second pairing, but he arguably does look better there than on the Oilers's. 2) The likely addition of the Flames to their second pairing is very likely to be a better player than Russell. Stone and arguably Franson are both at least viable to adequate options for a second pairing—especially so with a team like the Flames who have three very good top-three defensemen.

[killer_carlson]

Really like Russell. Had hoped we'd get him here on a good contract for our bottom pairing.

Now that we can't, I hope he gets paid a large sum for a long term contract.

[CaptainCrunch]

So with Russell's resigning I would guess the Oilers Blueline is going to be

Klefbom - Larsson
Nurse - Russell
Benning - ?????


Sekeras injured.

They're going to have to pray that one of their blueline prospects is ready to go, or bring Fayne back into the fold on that bottom pair.

But a Russell Nurse second pairing has the potential to be really really awful.

[Fan in Exile]

I prefer our top three and I agree that Russell wouldn't be an ideal fit here. But taking salary and age and potential into account, I don't think the Oilers are in a bad situation at all with Larsson and Klefbom on very good contracts, together with Sekera who is a decent #3. I think there's potential for Nurse and Benning to grow too. I think where they may have trouble is after next season when McDavid cashes in.

I guess we all have to wait and see the cap hit and the length of contract. But I doubt signing Russell will cripple the Oilers this season or in the long run. For what it's worth I think it is was worth it for them to move Eberle's salary too. Perhaps a net loss on the day for them but nothing to get excited about as a fan for a rival team.

[Hockeyguy15]

Originally Posted by Fan in Exile

I prefer our top three and I agree that Russell wouldn't be an ideal fit here. But taking salary and age and potential into account, I don't think the Oilers are in a bad situation at all with Larsson and Hamonic on very good contracts, together with Sekera who is a decent #3. I think there's potential for Nurse and Benning to grow too. I think where they may have trouble is after next season when McDavid cashes in.

I guess we all have to wait and see the cap hit and the length of contract. But I doubt signing Russell will cripple the Oilers this season or in the long run. For what it's worth I think it is was worth it for them to move Eberle's salary too. Perhaps a net loss on the day for them but nothing to get excited about as a fan for a rival team.

That never happened.

[CampbellsTransgressions]

Originally Posted by FanIn80

What's the deal with the Kris Russel hate? He was one of their best D-men last season, and would get snatched up by any number of teams if he hit the market again this year.

The posters on this board, in addition to Treliving, have a hard time with evaluating players. Colborne, Byron, Russell. Three guys that the majority of the posters on here were absolutely 100% wrong about.

[Insane_Flame]

Deal is for 4X3.8 mil

[Robbob]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

So with Russell's resigning I would guess the Oilers Blueline is going to be

Klefbom - Larsson
Nurse - Russell
Benning - ?????


Sekeras injured.

They're going to have to pray that one of their blueline prospects is ready to go, or bring Fayne back into the fold on that bottom pair.

But a Russell Nurse second pairing has the potential to be really really awful.

Fayne was buried last year and still has a year left. I'd imagine he plays until Sekeras returns.

[Azhouse]

In the end, the bottom line about Russell — no matter how ardently some Oilers fans and bloggers will deny this fact — is he was a solid second-pairing dman on a team in close contention for the Stanley Cup.

-Staples

http://edmontonjournal.com/sports/ho...ys-nhl-insider

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Insane_Flame

Deal is for 4X3.8 mil

So that puts them at 62 with Draisaitl and Nurse needing contracts. so lets say 7.5 and 3 so 73.5 leaves them 1.5 to find another blueliner whether internally or externally.

The Oilers are probably going to have to move another contract out this off season.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Azhouse

-Staples

http://edmontonjournal.com/sports/ho...ys-nhl-insider

They pretty much got their a$$es kicked in round two. They're not even close to cup contenders.

The actually cup contenders will chew them up and spit them out, and poop out the rest.

Staples continues to lead the league in ISPT (idiotic statements per tweet)

[The Yen Man]

As much as I want them to overpay, I'm guessing Russell will take a hometown discount, but for longer term. So I can see a $3M x 5 year deal.

There's no way Chiarelli is going to give him more money than what Larsson and Klefbom are making IMO.

[united]

Chris Nichols‏ @NicholsOnHockey
Friedman: "My guess is that Russell comes in around four years, between 4 and 4.5." #Oilers


This day keeps getting better!