Quote:
Originally Posted by the-rasta-masta
I still don't think the Oilers can be considered a classic rebuild. What depreciating assets did they trade away? Smyth? As recently as 2009 we saw the Oilers trade a 2nd round pick for a 31 year old Ales Kotalik. What about signing Khabibulin? Accidental rebuild maybe, but I think they were just bad enough for consecutive years that people are starting to think it was their plan all along.
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The Oilers' current rebuild is in no way accidental. They tried to retool for years and tried acquiring a big name to help them much in the same way Feaster tried to sign Richards, until reality hit them. I only looked up Tambellini's moves and the Oilers did make the Visnovsky for Whitney trade, Erik Cole netted a 2nd, Grebeshkov netted a 2nd, Staios got them our 3rd
, draft bust Riley Nash for a 2nd, Penner for Theubert, a 1st round, and a 3rd, Cogliano for a 2nd. At the end of the day, they had three 2nd round picks the year they drafted Taylor Hall, two 1st round picks the year they drafted RNH along with multiple 3rds and 4ths. That's not to mention a willingness to give their young players prime offensive roles.
I don't believe that a rebuild necessitates the trading of Iginla or Kipper. It would certainly speed up a rebuild. The guys the team should look towards trading are 2nd and 3rd tier veterans who can net a decent prospect or draft pick in return and players with expensive long-term contracts. If the team needs to fill a hole with a veteran, the team can easily acquire or sign a veteran on a bad short-term contract to help with the rebuild. It's really more in the mindset. If the Flames are rebuilding you slot Sven into your top 6 and have him learn through trial by fire. You accept the fact that the team will suffer growing pains.