[Signing] Oilers sign RNH to contract extension (7 yrs)

[trackercowe]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

The Oilers have actually drafted pretty poorly after the first pick.

FYP

Since taking Hemsky in 2001 they have drafted the following:
Jesse Niinimaki (15th overall) Bust
Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers (31st overall) Bust; might as well be a first rounder
Marc-Antoine Pouliot (22nd overall) Mega Bust
Devan Dubnyk (14th overall) Decent pick, but remains to be seen if he's actually starter material.
Rob Schremp (25th overall) lol
Andrew Cogliano (25th overall) Decent enough player for where he was picked, but still a fringe top six player at best.
Sam Gagner (6th overall) Solid pick, but hard to screw up drafting that early
Alex Plante (15th overall) Bust
Riley Nash (15th overall) Bust
Jordan Eberle (22nd overall) Great pick
Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson (10th overall) Jury is still out, but didn't work out in Edmonton.

That's a pretty miserable draft record. Really only one noteworthy pick outside the top ten in Eberle. A couple decent picks, but pretty reminiscent of the Flames poor drafting record under Sutter. The only thing is while Sutter left the Flames the Oilers promoted the main guy who failed at building their team. I think Katz watches Seinfeld too much, as obviously he was afraid of firing Lowe, so instead of taking the heat he just promoted him to put a stop to the madness.

[d_phaneuf]

this is a great deal, with MacT in charge it seems they might actually be competent

because in 2-3 years RNH is either going to be top 10 in scoring or on LTIR, so the Oilers are getting a huge steal (cap should be at least 10-12m higher than as well), or the cap isn't hurting them

[Walter Reed]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

The Oilers have actually drafted pretty poorly after the first round.

I don't necessarily disagree if you go back to the years you've indicated. Since the current scouting team has been assembled (2010 I think ...) there has been some improvement but I'll suggest Weisbrod has done a better job, particularly in 2011.
Players beyond the first round who IMO might yet develop into something ...

2010
Tyler Pitlick - round 2
Martin Marincin - round 2
Brandon Davidson - round 6
2011
Dillon Simpson - round 4
Martin Gernat - round 5
2012
Jujhar Khaira - round 3
2013
Too early to say ......

[CalgaryFan1988]

To the people saying this is a good deal, I simply don't get it.

Nugent-Hopkins is the exact type of player that should have a bridge deal. I hope this bites the Oilers in the butt, and honestly I can't see how it won't.

Even if he ends up being a 30 goal scorer in 4 or 5 seasons, that's still 3 or 4 seasons at 6 million wasted.

On the radio they were comparing it to Sutter when he signed Phaneuf. How well did that turn out? And Phaneuf accomplished a heck of a lot more than RNH did before getting the monster payout. Phaneuf probably had more goals and Points too.

[Ashasx]

Stauffer was just one 770 pumping his chest about this.

Said that Yakupov could score 40 goals next year but there's "no way" he's getting more than $6M and that $6M is the cap for the team.

Believes Schultz will sign for around ~$5M.

[CalgaryFan1988]

Originally Posted by Ashasx

Stauffer was just one 770 pumping his chest about this.

Said that Yakupov could score 40 goals next year but there's "no way" he's getting more than $6M and that $6M is the cap for the team.

Believes Schultz will sign for around ~$5M.

I heard that today too, they figured somewhere between 5 and 5.5 for him. what exactly did Shultz do to deserve that contract?

[Loyal and True]

I hope all those guys get 7 x $6M deals.

The last quarter of the season told me all I need to know about this group:

First 10 games with playoff spot on the line, and the Oilers go 1-9-0
Hall: 4 pts in 10 games
Yakupov: 6 pts in 10 games
Eberle: 4 pts in 10 games
J Schultz: 3 pts in 10 games
Gagner: 2 pts in 10 games
RNH: 1 pt in 7 games, then out for year

Last 2 games of the season (garbage time):
Hall: 5 pts in 2 games
Yakupov: 5 pts in 2 games
Eberle: 5 pts in 2 games
J Schultz: 4 pts in 2 games
Gagner: 3 pts in 2 games
RNH: did not play

[Ashasx]

I think the deal will be pretty bad for the first 2-3 years, but if he can stay healthy it'll probably be a good value deal.

I hope his injury problems continue though. I don't like these kind of signings straight out of an ELC.

[Ashasx]

Originally Posted by Loyal and True

I hope all those guys get 7 x $6M deals.

The last quarter of the season told me all I need to know about this group:

First 10 games with playoff spot on the line, and the Oilers go 1-9-0
Hall: 4 pts in 10 games
Yakupov: 6 pts in 10 games
Eberle: 4 pts in 10 games
J Schultz: 3 pts in 10 games
Gagner: 2 pts in 10 games
RNH: 1 pt in 7 games, then out for year

Last 2 games of the season (garbage time):
Hall: 5 pts in 2 games
Yakupov: 5 pts in 2 games
Eberle: 5 pts in 2 games
J Schultz: 4 pts in 2 games
Gagner: 3 pts in 2 games
RNH: did not play

Stauffer made sure Flames fans knew that Yakupov scored 5 goals in his last 2 games of the season.

Without those 2 games, Yakupov actually had a pretty poor season.

[trackercowe]

I wouldn't be all that shocked if Yakupov gets dealt eventually. They have to realize eventually that they need a top defenceman, and it's unlikely one will sign their out of their own free will. Yak seems like the odd man out imo, he just doesn't fit the organization or the city.

[Sidney Crosby's Hat]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Why are all the Oilers fans I've talked to today assuming that the NHL salary cap is going to advance so fast to these lofty heights? There seems to be a lot of assumption but no crystal balls to provide any evidence that this is set in stone. How exactly are teams like the Panthers, Coyotes, Stars, Avalanch, etc going to be able to ice competitive teams (without undergoing complete 180 in attendance figures) with an $80 million cap?

Consider expansion, more outdoor games, a new Sunday night national TV property in Canada, double the revenue (expected) for Saturday night broadcasts and regular expected growth and an $80 million cap will be here before you know it.

This year's cap is artificially low at $64 million also. There will be a big jump next season, probably to $70.

[Heavy Jack]

That's a bad contract for them IMO. Sign him to a Kadri type deal before you commit that much, let the player dictate his pay with a couple of good years of hockey then sign him, especially RNH and his injury plagued seasons he's had. He's a good top 6 player but he shouldn't be making that yet, the only deserving player is Eberle who went 22nd overall, the Hall contract and now this one basically gives Yakupov the same deal when it's his time to negotiate. These three 1st overalls could end up haunting this franchise lol.

[Vinny01]

No bridge deals in Edmonton. Must be nice for their fans to know they have 3 core Canadian forwards locked up. Injury is te only worry about this deal Nuge is the real deal. That 2011 draft is looking pretty deep

[Calgary4LIfe]

Looking like a good gamble for the Oilers.

Easy to see that they are trying to lock up their core long-term at a reasonable rate. Giving up some money now in order to be able to build around that core when they are competing. It is a sound strategy actually. A bridge contract would be better for them if they were on the cusp. Instead, they gamble on a long-term deal.

Is it worth it for RNH? If you think he is a solid 1st line center (or will be), then this will end up being a bargain, and there will be lots of cap room to add around him (and the rest of the core). They have young D coming up to fill in some huge holes in the next couple of years. They SHOULD start seeing some better results. Dubynk I don't think is too bad of a starter - still young and improving, but as history has shown with a few teams, you can just have 'good' rather than 'elite' goaltending and still win the cup.

Biggest odds against RNH is his health. With a team seemingly incompetent at diagnosing and treating issues, they better invest some of their future 'savings' into upgrading their medical staff. I think that is the only way that this deal will fall apart.

This upcoming season will be really interesting for them. Seems like Eberle had a very abnormally high shooting percentage, and came back down to earth last season. I think Yakupov will steal his spot, and they will end up trading Eberle away to fill holes. You keep Hall, RNH and Yakupov over Eberle, I would think.

[Walter Reed]

Actually I'd encourage fans to visit Hockeydb to view draft histories. If a team can draft more than one player per year who actually plays on their team or makes the NHL, they're doing very well.
The number of hits vs. misses is almost infinitesimal, .... interesting exercise ....

[CalgaryFan1988]

Originally Posted by Walter Reed

Actually I'd encourage fans to visit Hockeydb to view draft histories. If a team can draft more than one player per year who actually plays on their team or makes the NHL, they're doing very well.
The number of hits vs. misses is almost infinitesimal, .... interesting exercise ....

And I'm sure drafting 1st overall increases the odds of getting that 1 player per year......

[mac_82]

Spector on sportsnet was speculating on who in the next few years might make more than $6m per year on the Oilers. Did I hear him correctly in saying that the Oil offered Clarkson more than $6 per year?

[TKB]

Originally Posted by mac_82

Spector on sportsnet was speculating on who in the next few years might make more than $6m per year on the Oilers. Did I hear him correctly in saying that the Oil offered Clarkson more than $6 per year?

Yup that's what I heard as well, Thank F'ing god he didn't sign it!

[T@T]

Originally Posted by mac_82

Spector on sportsnet was speculating on who in the next few years might make more than $6m per year on the Oilers. Did I hear him correctly in saying that the Oil offered Clarkson more than $6 per year?

Wow,really? the guy is similar to Glencross and probably not as good, Toronto overpaid by at least $2m and the dummys up north offered a lot more...

[Enoch Root]

Most of the posts from Oiler fans and those supporting this contract are filled with "if" and "will".

This is a risky contract, based on the same thing that the entire franchise has been based on for years now: hope.

Giving a guy a contract because that's what two other guys got is not a good way to run a team. What happens now when (if) they attract a UFA and pay them more? Suddenly the 'all for one' thing doesn't hold water any more.

Each player should be paid, and negotiated with, on their own merits. And as far as merits go, RNH has simply not earned this kind of money. One good season, one not so good. Three times injured shoulder.

As for Stauffer talking about Yak... lol. If Yak scores 40 goals next year, there is no way he accepts $6m.

And the talk about Schultz getting $5 - $5.5m is also pretty funny. Talk about entitlement and not having accomplished anything.

Again, just keep selling the hope.