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

[colbym72]

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 analytics people hate him and that wagon just kinda filled up

[Johnny Makarov]

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.

He's an Oiler...

[KootenayFlamesFan]

I don't hate him at all. Just hope the Oilers pay way, way, way too much for him.

[Beninho]

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.

Cuz he's highly overvalued for what he actually does. He's not a top4 Dman but a no.5 or no.6. He blocks lots of shots which is admirable but he often is out of position and pushed around due to his size. He has terrible underlying numbers, which obviously don't tell the whole story but give a good indication that he is not a top4 guy.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

Kris Russell WAS Edmonton's penalty kill last year.

Sekera played more SH minutes and had a better goals against rate on the PK, not that either of them was particularly good. Russell was 46th in the league among d-men playing more than 100 shorthanded minutes in allowing goals. More damningly, of 118 defensement who played that much PK, he is 111th in pucks towards the net by the opposing power play.

Kris Russell is bad at literally everything except blocking a higher than usual proportion of the huge volume of shots he allows the other team to throw at his goalie.

[Textcritic]

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.

Russell is good when cast properly, but the problem here is that he is almost certain to be overplayed because the Oilers defensemen are not very good as a group. Having him under contract into his mid-thirties at a premium is not a good deal for Edmonton.

[FanIn80]

Originally Posted by Hockeyguy15

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

These aren't talking about contract terms; they're talking about the fact the Oilers are even signing him at all.

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

lol Oilers.

Originally Posted by Beninho

Thank god, was worried the flames would go down that road again

Originally Posted by memphusk

This is great news.

Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist

The best really

Originally Posted by Vinny01

Good to hear

I mean, people are more than welcome to their own opinions; I'm just curious about why it's "good news" and "lol Oilers" for re-signing him.

[Ashasx]

Today has not been a good day for Oilers' fans

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by FanIn80

These aren't talking about contract terms; they're talking about the fact the Oilers are even signing him at all.











I mean, whatever, people are more than welcome to their opinions; I'm just curious about why it's "good news" and "lol Oilers" for re-signing him.

Because they're going to be tied to a negative asset for multiple years which both makes them worse on ice and inhibits their ability to sign guys

[bubbsy]

Depends on the $/term, but if they are looking at this year as a big cup window year, the team better today.

[Manhattanboy]

If true, good for him. I always liked Russell on the Flames.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by FanIn80

...people are more than welcome to their own opinions; I'm just curious about why it's "good news" and "lol Oilers" for re-signing him.

Because his contract will almost certainly be multiple years and for more than $3.1 m, which is what he earned this year. At $3.1 m for two years Russell is probably providing equitable value, but he is not a good enough defenesman to be taking up more than that cap space, and it is worse that he will be on the books into his mid-thirties.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

Because his contract will almost certainly be multiple years and for more than $3.1 m, which is what he earned this year. At $3.1 m for two years Russell is probably providing equitable value, but he is not a good enough defenesman to be taking up more than that cap space, and it is worse that he will be on the books into his mid-thirties.

pretty much nailed it, they traded their 3rd leading scorer (say what you will) to make this deal happen

[dash_pinched]

I can't be the only one hitting <F5> to hopefully see [RUMOUR] replaced by [SIGNING], am I?

[Locke]

Originally Posted by dino7c

pretty much nailed it, they traded their 3rd leading scorer (say what you will) to make this deal happen

Which is even more hilarious if you think about it.

Now the Oilers have only McDavid and Draisaitl to carry the load.

That is a thin team.

[Hockeyguy15]

Originally Posted by FanIn80

These aren't talking about contract terms; they're talking about the fact the Oilers are even signing him at all.

I mean, people are more than welcome to their own opinions; I'm just curious about why it's "good news" and "lol Oilers" for re-signing him.

I feel like you need some coffee, you're the only one reading it as hate for Russell.

They clearly were laughing because it's assumed that they will be paying Russell a large sum of money, possibly more than he is worth.

[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.

[FanIn80]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

Because his contract will almost certainly be multiple years and for more than $3.1 m, which is what he earned this year. At $3.1 m for two years Russell is probably providing equitable value, but he is not a good enough defenesman to be taking up more than that cap space, and it is worse that he will be on the books into his mid-thirties.

That's fair.

I thought he was their best (at least, most reliable) D in the playoffs, but that may speak more to the rest of their D than it does Russell himself.

[Beninho]

If this deal ends up being 4X4 or in that range then it's a pretty big contract for a player who doesn't do anything great besides block shots, Russell in the top 4 is no good. Think of the difference between when Stone played with Brodie and when Russell got chances in the top4. Night and day really.

[Blarg]

I hope he gets the money that was allotted for Eberle. He deserves it