[News] Philip Larson leaves Oilers for KHL

[FireGilbert]

Haha stupid Oilers. Larson was one of their few D showing potential.

Who is going to play defence for them next year? If they don't make a big few trades at the draft they are going to have to attempt to sign every free agent who will play in Edmonton and rush their young D like Nurse.

[codynw]

So if he doesn't re-sign right away, the Oilers are 100% going to submit an offer sheet for Subban, right?

[Monahan23]

Originally Posted by FireGilbert

Haha stupid Oilers. Larson was one of their few D showing potential.

Who is going to play defence for them next year? If they don't make a big few trades at the draft they are going to have to attempt to sign every free agent who will play in Edmonton and rush their young D like Nurse.

Doubt they can get Weber, not too many good trade targets. Maybe Christian Ehrhoff. Brooks Orpik as an FA?

[FlameZilla]

If they were to pass on Ekblad they should have their franchise licence revoked.
They need any D they can get.

They could go all-in for Shea Weber I suppose, but that would cost them dearly.

What the hell have they been up to these last few years?

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Ashasx

I still don't understand why Edmonton traded Smid.

Bold Moves.

[codynw]

Originally Posted by FlameZilla

What the hell have they been up to these last few years?

Building something special.

[ForeverFlameFan]

Originally Posted by FlameZilla

What the hell have they been up to these last few years?

Give them a break, they've only claimed to be rebuilding for 3 years now... Only 3 years.

[calumniate]

Has Edmonton become a KHL farm team?

The KHL must be loving Edmonton these days! 'Hey Russia, sign me.. any price.. get me outta here!'

[devo22]

Originally Posted by FlameZilla

What the hell have they been up to these last few years?

the sad thing is that when you look at their prospect pool, their defense is what is considered best. They don't have any good forward prospects (best ones are probably Khajra, Moroz and Slepyshev) and in goal ... let's just say that Laurent Brossoit IS their goaltending prospect depth. They just suck at drafting and/or developing ... I can't put my finger on which one of the two it is, but it's astonishing that a team can just be so bad. Outside of the 1st round, they have to be the worst franchise in the league when it comes to drafting and developing.

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by devo22

They just suck at drafting and/or developing ... I can't put my finger on which one of the two it is

Why does it have to be just one?

[JiriHrdina]

Originally Posted by devo22

the sad thing is that when you look at their prospect pool, their defense is what is considered best. They don't have any good forward prospects (best ones are probably Khajra, Moroz and Slepyshev) and in goal ... let's just say that Laurent Brossoit IS their goaltending prospect depth. They just suck at drafting and/or developing ... I can't put my finger on which one of the two it is, but it's astonishing that a team can just be so bad. Outside of the 1st round, they have to be the worst franchise in the league when it comes to drafting and developing.

What's funny though is how over the years how many guys we've heard are great picks from the Oilers, how they "won the draft".

Now to a certain point all fan bases get hot n' bothered about the shiny new draftees - but no fan base has the arrogant optimism that Oil fans do.

Here's a quick laundry list of the guys we heard a ton about in recent years:
- Dragon Umicevic
- Taylor Chorney
- Danny Syvret
- Chris Vandevelde
- Vyachaslev Truhko
- Frederik Pettersson
- Alex Bumagin
- Linus Omark
- Teemu Hartikanenen (sic)
- Toni Rajala
- Oliver Roy
- Anton Lander
- Tyler Bunz
- Ryan Martindale
- Curtis Hamilton
- Tobias Rieder
- Martin Gernat
- Samu Perhonen

Those are all non 1st round guys that I bet many have heard about. Not b/c they are good but because they were the latest over-hyped Oiler draftee.

Or to sum up - Edmonton is no good.

[DazzlinDino]

Originally Posted by The Swedish Flame

All in for McDavid.

If they needed an excuse this may be one, however you have to wonder how much more, the players, or the fans can take. Even if they get McDavid a lot of people are going to be pissed that the Oilers have done nothing much outside collecting draft picks.

[OzSome]

Originally Posted by FlameZilla

If they were to pass on Ekblad they should have their franchise licence revoked.
They need any D they can get.

They could go all-in for Shea Weber I suppose, but that would cost them dearly.

What the hell have they been up to these last few years?

The Oilers will need to give up their first round pick, maybe Yakupov plus a roster player like Eberle/Gagner or something to get Shea Weber. Is the Oilers willing to give them up? Another question is, does Nashville wants to get Yakupov and plus? Biggest question is : Does Shea Weber wants to be traded or wants to go To Edmonton? I don't think it will happen though.

[Plett25]

Originally Posted by OzSome

Is the Oilers willing to give them up?

I seen MacT say Yak is here to stay

[Clever_Iggy]

Originally Posted by OzSome

The Oilers will need to give up their first round pick, maybe Yakupov plus a roster player like Eberle/Gagner or something to get Shea Weber. Is the Oilers willing to give them up? Another question is, does Nashville wants to get Yakupov and plus? Biggest question is : Does Shea Weber wants to be traded or wants to go To Edmonton? I don't think it will happen though.

First, Weber doesn't have a NTC/NMC so he can be traded at Nashville's will.

Honestly, I don't think that gets it done and if that's all it took, plenty of teams could match that offering. The way Weber's contract is structured puts so much of his total salary on the front end of his contract. To date, something like 28% of the entire salary has already been paid out. That's worth something when it comes to trading him because while the cap hit doesn't change, the money out of the organization is reduced dramatically.

The Oilers would have to start with the 2014 1st, Eberle/RNH and Nurse/Klefbom. An additional 1st would likely be added in 2015/2016 and perhaps a B-level prospect or 2nd/3rd round pick in 2015. Nashville had the chance to get 4 1sts for Weber. What about Yakupov and Gagner would make them change their position (and the money they've already paid Weber) on a top 2-3 defenseman in the entire league?

The Oilers should offer sheet Subban, if the Canadiens can't get it done. $66.5M/7 years. That would give them a defensive star to market, would actually address a need (although subban's defense isn't going to be confused with Webers) and would likely buy Lowe/MacTavish a reprieve for a couple seasons from the fanbase. Plus this wouldn't gut the team (don't know if that's a positive) like acquiring Weber, IMO, would.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

Originally Posted by Clever_Iggy

The Oilers should offer sheet Subban, if the Canadiens can't get it done. $66.5M/7 years. That would give them a defensive star to market, would actually address a need (although subban's defense isn't going to be confused with Webers) and would likely buy Lowe/MacTavish a reprieve for a couple seasons from the fanbase. Plus this wouldn't gut the team (don't know if that's a positive) like acquiring Weber, IMO, would.

Two things:

1) Montreal and Edmonton's cap space heading into the summer are basically identical. Montreal can afford to give Subban a monster, long-term deal.
2) Why would Subban want to go to Edmonton?

[Clever_Iggy]

Originally Posted by KootenayFlamesFan

Two things:

1) Montreal and Edmonton's cap space heading into the summer are basically identical. Montreal can afford to give Subban a monster, long-term deal.
2) Why would Subban want to go to Edmonton?

Montreal can definitely give him a monster deal, but if they're thinking $8M and Subban is thinking $10M (round numbers), Subban might see an offer sheet as leverage.

It all comes down to what Subban wants. He crushed the bridge contract and knows that Montreal basically has no choice but to match an offer if he signs an offer sheet. If I was his agent, I'd be asking for $72M/8 years, knowing that teams like the Oilers are going to be waiting in the wings.

It's a risk that he may actually end up in Edmonton (if Montreal simply passes). But if Subban has the stomach and actually could handle a couple years in Edmonton before asking for a trade, he could put Montreal over a barrel.

[Da_Chief]

Larsen is no loss at all. Hes not an NHL dman.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

I can't see him screwing over any hopes of a Stanley Cup for years just to get a bit more money in Edmonton. I could be wrong, but he seems like a competitive guy that wants to win. Signing an offer sheet with the Oilers would just be a waste of a few years (at least) of his career. Montreal has the space, it's not like the Oilers have any advantage in that regard.

[Resolute 14]

Not to mention that if you take away the Oilers next four first rounders, that team would be sunk for a decade. They suck at drafting if they aren't picking top ten.

As far as Weber goes, start with their first rounder and Taylor Hall or the first plus Eberle and RNH if you want to propose trades.