He arrived with so much promise, a free agent who wanted to play in copper and blue. He leaves today at his hockey crossroads, 25 and under enormous pressure to perform in his new city. I wish all the best for Justin Schultz, and hope he finds a home in Pittsburgh with the Penguins.
The #Oilers have acquired a third-round pick in the 2016 #NHLDraft from the @penguins in exchange for defenceman Justin Schultz.
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) February 27, 2016
No word on who the Oilers might call up, they currently have Andrej Sekera, Mark Fayne, Brandon Davidson, Darnell Nurse, Adam Clendening and Jordan Oesterle on the active roster—and could activate Oscar Klefbom from IR before tomorrow’s game.
The #Oilers have acquired a third-round pick in the 2016 #NHLDraft from the @FlaPanthers in exchange for forward Teddy Purcell.
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) February 27, 2016
Teddy Purcell played 143 games as an Edmonton Oiler, and I grew to appreciate his skills. He is a cerebral player, subtle if that is possible in hockey. I would be happy to see him return next season, and hope he enjoys a productive chapter of his career with the Florida Panthers.
No idea about who the Oilers will call up, there are plenty of candidates. As for who gets the cherry minutes, Zack Kassian would appear to be the obvious choice. Complete breakdown of the trades in tomorrow’s GDT, but for now here is a look at the current situation at the deadline:
- R Teddy Purcell—Traded for a third-round selection (I estimated a second).
- D Justin Schultz—Traded for a third round pick (I estimated a third).
- G Anders Nilsson—Traded for a low goalie prospect and a fifth-round selection in 2016.
- D Phil Larsen—Traded for a fifth-round pick in 2017.
- R Nail Yakupov—New to the list, Habs are following the Oilers closely and it feels like something could happen (now or at the draft). Lars Eller has been mentioned as a possible return, that would allow Edmonton to enter next season with an experienced (if pricey) 3C.
- F Matt Hendricks—Todd McLellan played him a lot last night, showcase? I will say a second-round pick, could be high.
- D Mark Fayne—No one is mentioning his name, suggesting to me that either the Oilers have no interest in dealing him, or the term is too dear for contending teams. Either way, he is the best defensemen the Oilers have who is potentially available, and I will guess second-round pick.
- D Eric Gryba—If they trade him, he should fetch a fourth-round selection, about what he cost the Oilers.
- L Lauri Korpikoski—There seems to be some rumbling about Korpikoski, showing that NHL GMs don’t really pay close attention to performance and famous names rule the day. Fifth-round pick.
- C Anton Lander—He played a lot again last night, after not playing much at all for a long time. Has to be a showcase. Sixth-round pick.
The current (estimated) Oilers picks for 2016:
- No. 1 overall
- No. 31 overall
- No. 61 overall
- No. 76 overall (Pittsburgh pick)
- No. 86 overall (Florida pick)
- No. 91 overall
- No. 121 overall
- No. 147 overall (St. Louis pick)
- No. 151 overall
- No. 181 overall
Oilers owe the Boston Bruins a second-round selection for Peter Chiarelli, it will be interesting to see if they pay it this season. If they do, perhaps we will see an offer sheet later in the summer. As for the deadline, I think Nail Yakupov is an interesting name to follow over the next 48 hours.
Yeah, it’s called the AHL.
Excellent — Fat Terry has finally thrown Yak right under the bus. And on we go.
In other news: could anyone possibly care less who we draft this year? It is quite incredible to be looking at possibly first overall again and people (me included) could not give a shit if it’s Mary or Joseph. No 18 year old, no matter who, will help next year. Please, please gords let us either trade the pick or let this be the year the next savior spends another year in junior.
Frank Seravalli @frank_seravalli 6m6 minutes ago
#FlaPanthers still pushing hard to move RFA F Brandon Pirri. Nothing close at the moment. Will take a player or a pick for him.
The team can compete quite decently next season with an addition of 2 X top 4 D men. 1 of which can be acquired via free agency I think that’s a reasonable assumption? The other can be acquired without giving up Hall, Eberle, Draisaitl, RNH, Nurse, Klefbom, or Davidson…. So why would we? To break up the so called rotten core? I just dont see it being rotten. Get these forwards and Young D 2 legitimate top 4 preferably RH D men and run that till next years trade deadline would be my choice. At the very least it will raise the value of any of these players if a trade is deemed necessary at that point.
WAS cute is the operative word….
http://survivorsucks.com/topic/110977
Oiler center depth next season…Mcdavid, Stamkos, Nuge, Drai, Matthews.
Think the league hates us now….Just you wait.
*Maniacal laughter*
I think a bigger problem than too many minutes is who he was playing them with.
Other than half a season with Klef last year he never played with a good partner that could effectively cover for him when he made mistakes. And Edmonton’s forwards have been consistently terrible at both covering when the D activate in the OZone and providing good passing outlets for DZone exits.
Basically the team around him exacerbated his biggest weaknesses, which made it that much harder for him to improve. That said, the team’s structure has been better this season, and Schultz has somehow been worse. The forwards aren’t shooting the Dzone early as much, and seem to be more available for an outlet pass. Schultz seems even more likely to send a weak backhand up the boards this year though. That can’t be what his coaches are teaching him- he’s either not listening or not understanding, four years into his NHL career.
It’s that kind of thing that makes me think he’ll never make it.
I agree with Virginia, he’s not going to become a good defender, but there’s still a place for him in the NHL.
Yeah, but it’s his head that is the problem, and that may be the result of being thrown into the deep end right away and sinking like a stone. He has defensive skills, but his ability to read plays, not just defensively, is what is causing the deadly hesitation that gets misinterpreted as “don’t give a shit”.
I wouldn’t bet on him to win the Norris trophy, but I think he’ll have a career after his salary is adjusted. Third pairing sheltered offensive spark plug or bust.
rickithebear,
It’s not at all clear to me from that list why RTB chose Yak, Nurse and Korp to single out.
Why not Ebs, Sekera, Letestu or Lander?
If he stands a chance.. no matter how small.. it will happen in the east on one of the better teams.
He better hope for good goaltending.
theres oil in virginia,
Schultz is 25 and one of the worst Dmen in his own zone I’ve ever seen.
It’s not going to change.
Marc,
Agreed. Although, expectations due to salary seem to factor in here pretty large. Mike Green was a tire fire in his own end during his early years too. Now he’s coveted. Schultz never should have been given 20+ minutes per night, but when you get paid, you’ve got to deliver.
I’ve been a pretty consistent Schultz defender over the years. I really did think he’d eventually put all the pieces together and become an effective top 4 D.
It’s become clear over the past few months though that if he is able to put it all together, it won’t be with the Oilers. He has really regressed. It’s like he’s lost, or doesn’t trust, the offensive instincts that made him so dangerous in college and the AHL. And if anything his defensive decision making seems to have gotten worse.
I hope he figures it out someday, but I have to say that I now doubt that he will.
This.
Nurse is the only risk there IMO. But he will get us value in a return. So maybe it is a great time to move him even if I think he has Number 1 potential.
Chia is getting very close to fixing this so he can’t stop now.
The one silver lining in all this is the chance of getting in the top three of the lottery hopefully for the last time.
The streets around Whyte Avenue are littered with young people who were blessed with unrealised talent that they only were able to show in flashes due to bad decisions accelerated by circumstance that finally caught up with them.
Someone would try to work with them, lift them up, they’d show initial promise, and down they’d go again. Rinse and repeat.
Schultz is obviously a sensitive, intelligent, talented young man who fell apart here. Who thinks this city, let alone NHL Hockey, is a place for a sensitive young man? We are certainly not a good place for a sensitive, non-combative defenseman. The fact of the matter is that he came with talent and then fell apart here.
I lived in the Bay area for several years. Their selection of things to do and see outside of work are probably a lot better suited to a person like Schultz than here, if one has the income that Schultz had to live in the rich places like Saratoga. But success here was not to be for Schultz, and this place does not have a lot of patience with gentle natured, nom-confrontational, cerebral players.
I’m of the belief that Schultz found his refuge in something that kept him unable to show anything but flashes of his potential, something that is np longer any of our concern, and as a person i wish him well.
I also think the type of team tha Chia builds is very well suited to the nature of this fan base. There is art and intellect and beauty to be found here, but there are, or were, a lot more pickup trucks and oilfield workers.
Let’s not forget the impact of two teenage centers and the absence of Klefbom. Perhaps the team will get better at some point, maybe not. We’ll see I suppose.
Hockey Buddha,
Very good post.
Northlands was one of the things that grew my love for the Oilers and Edmonton. The good ice surface was a bragging point. The name itself implies rugged individualism (who’s willing to brave the rugged north lands?) and I identify with that. However, currently the ice surface stinks and it hasn’t been called Northlands for some time.
Tambellini – Dither
MacT – Bluster
I like it.
As I have said before I can put up with a lot if I see the team compete. Up to the All Star break I was totally ok with the season. Two blow out wins got the play off talk going and I was quietly confident my prediction of 77 points was doable.
I do not know WTF then happened but everything fell apart. Ok, Nuge went down but CMcD was back. Oscar was still out but had been since November.
Now two gritty efforts in Disneyland. I really hope that they are not showcasing the recently back in action A Lander. There is a gritty team player in there. If he goes for a sixth some team will get a bargain.
There’s a lot of gold in that interview. We actually have someone sane at the helm of the ship finally. No dither, no bluster.
As opposed to the sweet talent he has had to work with the other way. Not sure I take your point.
Sensible moves by Chiarelli, so I’m alright with them. Reasonable asset management. Nothing Earth shattering. Larsen wasn’t on my radar at all; I’d completely lost track of him (impressive numbers in the KHL though).
Purcell was a whipping boy last season, so that’s a good outcome imo. The team stuck with him, and he had a bounce back season, so I’m reasonably satisfied with that deal. Good season on an under performing team. I really didn’t expect Purcell to bounce back. Kudos to him. At 30, there’s 11 years difference between him and the epicentre of the team, and the team has an over abundance of Teddy’s player type. The team needs more power in the mix to dominate.
As for Schultz, I get the fan frustration with him. I didn’t like the booing the other night, but I understand that it was the venting of a season of frustration. When all is said and done, Schultz is still a 25-year-old young man, who lost his confidence.
Schultz brought his services to our organization, and I thank him for that. He had suitors from across the NHL coming out of NCAA, so I can kind of understand MacT’s loyalty. Schultz looked like a good bet, and he was a coup for the organization at the time.
Losing has ground through a lot of good people this past decade. An increasingly large number of men, young and old, have bled out from being part of the perpetual-losing-machine. I hope that the change of scenery gives Schultz a new lease, and I hope that he is able to regain his footing in a sidetracked career. Losing sucks the life force out of everyone involved until they can’t see straight any longer.
Chiarelli’s point about the team being hampered by significant injury is well taken, as is his point that the sky isn’t falling. Like most fans, I’ve lost all reasonable perspective at this point. It’s been an all too familiar season of expectation followed by disappointment. As the end of the season closes out, we’ll see what this team is made of. It’s character on display from here on in.
Finally, I’ll say that I loved Rexall. I have many fond memories from my childhood emanating from that building and the team that graced it in the 80s, but as the page turns on the building after the last 10 years, I can’t say that I will be sad. A new building will help to repair the team’s psyche. McDavid and Eberle, Hall and Draisaitl have shown us promising glimpses of what could unfold in the new building. A new building brings the potential for a new lease on life–the team and fans need it.
I saw the clip and being a Simpsons fan, giggled my ass off.
Hi. Straigtht into the sun with Tanya Harding was a Simpsons Treehouse of Horror reference. And the joke was for a commenter who said he’d be over the moon if Yak was moved out.
The partners he had had when playing left haven’t been holding up their end though, have they? Isn’t it mostly with Nurse? Hard to get a fair read.
I’ve never heard of such a thing happening.
Gaudreau 2nd comp
Home 30gm 36 EVP 6 Ppp
Away 29gm 8evp 9 PPP
Hall top 15 toughest comp
Home 31gm 27 EVP 6 ppp
Away 32gm 10 EVP 3 Ppp
This is a point that is frequently made that bothers me in hockey.
Not sure it is fair to compare today to the past as the game has changed so drastically.
The speed of the game and style as well as systems IMO mean that the RHD LHD is a bigger issue than it ever had been.
Traditionally the NHL had a much higher Canadian content and though I have no data to back it up I would assume that would mean a much high overall percentage of LHS players.
The game has changed and as far as I can see the data ask points to balance being of greater importance than it ever had been.
People despised Tonya Harding because of her involvement in the Nancy Kerrigan/94 Olympics gong show, but the reality is she was talented. Not sure Jultz could be considered talented.
Not really whining but more of a frustration at watching a guy who came out of college with the braintrust’s notion that he was Norris Calibre. When we realized he was the Jiri Dopita of this century, combined with the guys “who KNEW a thing about winning” and their insistence to stubbornly play him time and agonizing time again, that frustration grew to outright hostility. There is a time to pull the chute on a player and just come to the conclusion that he does not have what it takes to play at this level. That call should have been made two years ago, but MacT gives him a huge deal that 29 other GM’s shook their heads at.
He never kicked my dog, but he was emblematic of the ineptness that has run this team for so long, and that is the most frustrating part.
Gaudreau has 9 more points than Hall in 3 less games. Not loving this stretch for #4.
I remember how excited I was when Edmonton signed Schultz and how in love I was after his first 7 games in the NHL. When will a bet work out well for the damned oilers. Oh well, good riddance that he is now gone. He did not fit and magnified the oilers problems.
To look at it even further, you’ve obtained an amazing job, you’re paid very well for that position. You’re given the tools and personnel to evaluate your performance on a NIGHTLY basis. That’s like one of us having an employee review every fucking day!
The big question mark for me is, what kind of shit show employee reviews was the previous coaching staff/management having? Is anyone actually shown video? Do they ever pull up Yaks and say hey Yaks, look at this tape. See how you’re not keeping speed entering the offensive zone and thus putting our guys offside for the 50th time? Ya, stop doing that.
Abso-fucking-lutely. Everything you said.
I had a much longer rant the other night. Every Oilers D man has been playing above his head since 2006, but no one has self-destructed quite like him. He had 50 games of AHL development after a college career. Eventually, you have to look at yourself in the mirror and if you are you can either cry like a Poti or persevere. Trying is just not in this kid’s vocabulary. I say kid because an adult learner takes responsibility for his training and education. He has been able to drink (responsibly) in Alberta for 7 years. An adult, this guy is not.
http://www.edmontonsun.com/2016/02/27/unafraid-to-trade-but-oilers-gm-chiarelli-says-it-has-to-be-the-right-onw
Have you guys read this? If you enjoyed the Chia presser, you’ll love this. Again, he strikes me a smart and reasonable man. How he ended up with Neely running the show in Boston and is dealing with MacT/Howson/Katz et al must be interesting.
Also the Flames just gave up three straight and are now down 5-4 in the third. Ha.
There hasn’t been a dynasty in over half a century that had more than 2 right shot D. Essentially every dynasty since the seventies had four or five lefties. Bruins, Canadiens, Oilers, Devils, Red Wings, Blackhawks.
Better to have good defensemen, regardless of handedness.
Woodguy,
I’ve been pretty detached this year, which sucks, cus it seems that there has been a lot of progress with high danger scoring chances among other things. I need to start going through it.
All I’m saying is we need D, preferably RH, but we can’t be turning down someone who helps just because they are LH. Sekera is probably better on the the left, but I don’t think the drop off is like yak on LW or hall at c.
Yes, absolutely. His best skill was skating the puck from behind the net to our blue line. Very high success rate at that.
I like this and I agree with giving Drai 3rd line comp. Nuge is our 1C right now, whether we want to believe it or not. He can handle the minutes against top competition.
The one thing that I’m waiting for Yaks to grow out of, is his baby lungs. He takes incredibly short shifts. Not because he is an unselfish player but he just doesn’t seem to have the conditioning yet. So when you look at his TOI and his usual line mates, is amazing he actually generates any scoring opportunities.
More real than I thought it would be.
I still don’t like the Marincin – Gryba deal, but it puts it in a different perspective for me.
It’s another reason why I don’t mind Nurse for Hamonic as the basis for a deal.
I think you can run 4 out of 6 lefties or, hell, even 6 out of 6 lefties, but it seems like you lose some efficiency doing it. The pairings won’t be as strong as if you got equally or near equally talented RHDs. So you run it if that’s what you got but it may not be ideal.
Of course, there may be exceptions. Some D regularly play the off-side. We’ll have to see if they’re actually better there or just play a lot there.
Nurse for Hamonic
Skilled winger for Vatanan
Bam!
Stanley Cup!
🙂
Listened to Chiarelli’s presser…
He sort of said that Schultz could transport the puck (skate with it) then noted that he couldn’t defend well and implied that he wasn’t elite at moving (passing) the puck.
Music to your ears?
So the first of the original Hall core is gone – there will be more – but I’m glad Chia wants to see the 3C together. We may have to, or want to, trade RNH, but you don’t do that until he plays a full year with Hall and Drai or another big RW. Nuge will kill it under those circumstances.
As for Yak – don’t really want to trade him as the last 2 games have shown that he can play when the going gets heavy. I might – maybe – would consider Yak and Korpse for McCaron and Eller. If Montreal doesn’t like it – screw em. Someone said they might not trade Yak because he’s the owners favorite – OK – but you can’t say he’s been gifted anything with respect to linemates, PP time or verbal from the coaching staff over the years. I think that pretty much discounts the owner pumping his tires – if anything – the way he’s been treated suggests he was a Tambo/Kruger pick.
But is it spectacular?
Hall/Nuge/Ebs
Pou/McD/Yak
JJ/Drai/Kass
Hen/Let/Pak
29 is worn out, would create a Large 3rd line.
If you go through the last few threads you’ll see that Wheatnoil has pulled out L-R, L-L, R-R combos for a lot of teams and has found that L-R is superior by a big enough factor to matter.
Its real.
For sure top two pairings, Sekera is better LH side and Klefbom works there and if they hire Hamonic that makes sense for a pairing. If you don’t have room for four lefties, one of Davidson or Nurse isn’t on the roster. I am fine with sending Nurse down, but am unsure the Oilers will make that move this fall.
Genjutsu,
True but how much of an impact does it make? Icing your top 6 d is important too. Having a surplus isn’t a bad thing.
I think we have enough evidence now to make it very clear to everyone that the LHD RHD deal is real and makes a noticeable difference.
I’m of the opinion that it does fit the forwards as well. Especially in the defensive zone.
Balance: it’s a thing.
linkfromhyrule,
This was my thought, and hope as well. I’d give up a late round pick or flip a b prospect as he doesn’t appear to be in the good books in Ottawa. Flipping him for a Tyler vesel type would be a dream
Sekera has been better LH side imo. I think they need to add two righthanders to the group
When the Jet got Dano in the Ladd deal, it gave them more bullets to get Hamonic this summer.
Careful what you wish for. If you want the premium minutes, be prepared for the fans to show their displeasure if you fail to produce anything with them.
Works both ways.