The idea is to Sam Pollock the opposition, and at the deadline that means acquiring a key piece for the future without surrendering too much of said future. Today, we’ll start with 1999, Glen Sather’s last big roster shuffle via trades, and see how far we get into this century.
1999—GLEN SATHER
March 11: Oilers trade G Mikhail Shtalenkov to the Phoenix Coyotes for a fifth round selection (Matt Koalska) in 2000 draft.
The Oilers had been running Shtalenkov and Bob Essensa as a tandem for 1998-99, but had Steve Passmore ready and would add the next starter just a few days after this deal. Little long-term impact for either team from this deal.
March 20: Oilers trade D Boris Mironov, F Dean McAmmond, D Jonas Elofsson to Chicago Blackhawks for F’s Ethan Moreau, Daniel Cleary and Chad Kilger plus defenseman Christian Laflamme. The deal also included a swap of second round picks, Edmonton landing Alexei Semenov and the ‘Hawks selecting Dmitri Levinsky.
No one made big trades like Slats. I loved Bo Mironov, he was fantastic. Dean McAmmond was fast as lightning, I interviewed him a few years ago at Hockey for the Homeless and he could still wheel. Sather acquired a quality checking winger (Moreau), another who would grow into that role (Cleary), a center Craig MacTavish spent hours on trying to coach him up, and the pick that fetched Semenov. I think it was a good trade, but suspect Blackhawks fans would regale you with stories about BoBo.
March 20, 1999: Traded C Mats Lindgren and a 1999 eighth-round pick (Radek Martinek) to the New York Islanders for G Tommy Salo.
The Oilers picked up Salo in a period where the goalie was taking extreme heat from (I think it was) Islanders GM Mike Milbury about shoddy goalering. Salo came to Edmonton and found a home here, playing as a regular for five seasons. Lindgren was a solid center over most of three seasons for the Oilers.
March 23, 1999: Edmonton sends a 2000 second-round pick (Kris Vernasky) and a 1999 fourth-round pick (Jonathan Zion) for D Jason Smith.
A final fleecing by Sather to send the Oilers on their way. Toronto wore their ass for a hat for a decade over this deal. What a great trade by Sather. Holy hell. Jason Smith was a splendid Oiler and when the team dealt him, his trade value remained significant.
2000—GLEN SATHER
March 9: Oilers deal D’s Christian Laflamme and Matthieu Descoteaux to the Montreal Canadiens for D’s Igor Ulanov and Alain Nasreddine.
All four blue played at least a little after this deal, but all I can remember is Igor Ulanov and his unusual “someone is going to end up with a broken neck” style. Ask Bruce McCurdy to tell you about him in the comments section. Ulanov is one of the unique players to ever play for Edmonton.
March 14: Oilers trade F Josef Beranek to the Pittsburgh Penguins for F German Titov.
German Titov only spent 12 games with the Oilers (including playoffs) but he played well for the team. Beranek was an Edmonton draft pick, and this was his second time through YEG. Both forwards were skilled and enjoyed significant careers, but neither was a key player for Edmonton at any time.
2001—KEVIN LOWE
March 13: Oilers trade LW Dan Lacouture to the Pittsburgh Penguins for D Sven Butenschon.
I liked Dan Lacouture very much, my first discussion at hfboards was about him. Redtwilight (Kim Gernack) suggested Daniel Cleary would have the stronger career and I held firm on Lacouture. Gernack was correct. The blog’s goal was always to have great discussions that required work to prove or disprove an idea, and that discussion was to have been performed in a gentlemanly manner. That was Gernack, who passed away a couple of decades ago but was a class act for sure.
2002—KEVIN LOWE
March 19: Oilers trade D Tom Poti and F Rem Murray for F Mike York and a 2002 fourth-round pick (D Ivan Koltsov).
I didn’t like this trade because trading young blue is not a good idea. Poti had enough chaos in his game to be wildly unpopular at times with Oilers fans, but he had a decade more of solid hockey in him at the time of the deal. Mike York was an undersized skill C-W, and he had a couple of good seasons in Edmonton. Rem Murray was a solid C-W, whose best seasons were behind him when this deal went down. He returned for the 2006 SC run in Edmonton. If you ever get a job as an NHL GM, don’t trade a young defenseman. Ever.
March 19: Oilers trade D Sean Brown to the Boston Bruins for D Bobby Allen.
The Poti trade happened early morning 2002, Ryan Rishaug outside Oilers offices on a snowbank delivering the news. The ‘at the deadline’ deal of Brown left Edmonton one man short on defense for that night’s game. I always liked Brown, he was tough as nails and gave no quarter. We didn’t really get to know Bobby Allen, he played just one game with the Oilers.
2003—KEVIN LOWE
March 11: Oilers trade RW Anson Carter and D Ales Pisa to the New York Rangers for RW Radek Dvorak and D Cory Cross.
Carter was a slick, established goal scorer and that wasn’t easy to give up, but for me Lowe did well here. Radek Dvorak was an early darling of the emerging Oilogosphere due to his hella-responsible two-way play. Cory Cross helped a little too, but Dvorak was a revelation for this team.
March 11: Oilers trade D Janne Niinimaa and a 2003 second-round pick (Evgeny Tunik to the New York Islanders for F Brad Isbister and LW Raffi Torres.
My friend Jouni Nieminen has recalled the day Niinimaa was traded to the Islanders for me, and his description is of a man devastated by the turn of events. Niinimaa was a brilliant player, wonderful passer, and had a big personality like all Finns do. I hated seeing him go. On the other hand, the Islanders tended to give up too soon on their talent, and Raffi Torres was a unique agitator who could score. Looking back, this trade worked out for the Oilers but both men (Torres and Niinimaa) had shorter than expected careers.
2004—KEVIN LOWE
March 3: Oilers trade G Steve Valiquette, F Dwight Helminen and a 2004 second-round pick (Dane Byers) to the New York Rangers for F Petr Nedved and G Jussi Markkanen.
The Oilers were retrieving Markkanen (who was sent away for Brian Leetch so the Oilers could acquire a compensatory draft pick) and grabbed the brilliant Nedved along the way. I was thrilled, Nedved was a fun player who owned a legendary teenage bravery story. He played little but well for Edmonton that season, and would return in 2006-07 for another cup of coffee.
March 8: Oilers trade G Tommy Salo to the Colorado Avalanche for D Tom Gilbert.
One of Lowe’s best trades, Gilbert would emerge as a highly useful puck mover who played a feature role on Edmonton’s defense for five seasons. Salo was a good goalie, but was not a great one. The Oilers needed a great one in the years he would play for the team.
2006—KEVIN LOWE
January 26: Oilers trade D Cory Cross and F Jani Rita to the Pittsburgh Penguins for D Dick Tarnstrom.
Kevin Lowe had a deadline to remember in 2006, and this deal got the ball rolling. Tarnstrom gave the Oilers more speed and puck-moving ability, and he was four years younger than Cross. An early indication of what was to come was the public disappointment expressed by Cross. He wanted to stay for the playoffs, he knew how good this team was and how far they could go.
January 26: Oilers trade F Tony Salmelainen to the Chicago Blackhawks for D Jaroslav Spacek.
This was a monster deal for Edmonton, as Spacek played a key role in the spring of 2006. He had the full range of skills and completed a formidable top-four defense for the Oilers. That summer, I felt the Oilers needed to sign Spacek before they traded Chris Pronger, but both men were gone by fall. Blackhawks gave a full season to Salmelainen as an audition but he didn’t post enough offense to stay.
March 8: Oilers trade a 2006 first-round pick (Trevor Lewis) and a 2007 third-round pick (Spencer Machacek) to the Minnesota Wild for G Dwayne Roloson.
The key trade that spring. The Oilers were a legit SC contender but didn’t have the goaltending. Roloson settled everything down and was brilliant through the regular season and the first three rounds of the playoffs. He wasn’t sharp in Game 1 SCF, and then of course he was injured in that game, but full credit to Lowe for getting the exact piece required for a memorable spring and summer.
March 9: Oilers trade C Marty Reasoner, F Yan Stastny and a 2006 second-round selection (Milan Lucic) to the Boston Bruins for W Sergei Samsonov.
I could write a book about this trade. Samsonov had a real impact on the Oilers success that spring, such a smart and skilled player. I loved watching him play, such an imaginative hockey player. Of course, the pick turned into Milan Lucic because of course it did, and Marty Reasoner was a player who could have helped the SC run (Marc Pouliot got mono).
The strongest trade deadline in team history by many miles. Kevin Lowe delivered a mountain of talent to an already brilliant team, and they finished just shy. The truth is, and I knew it at the time, Edmonton lost the series in Game 1. Damnable Game 1.
A busy day on the Lowdown, we get cracking at high noon and then assault the public were two hours of verbal. We’ll chat Super Bowl (Eagles!), Oilers at the deadline, the 4-Nations Shootout and pitchers and catchers reporting this week. Rachel Doerrie (CTO of Betalytics and Host of Puck Social) will chat with us about the Oilers and the timing of the break, the 4-Nations and the deadline. Jason Gregor will pop in to talk Super Bowl, Edmonton’s priority at the deadline and the Friday night effort versus the Avalanche. I’m at Lowetide on twitter, in the comments section here and on the Sports 1440 text line at 1.833.401.1440 directly. We can be heard at sports1440.ca; iHeartRadio, Radioplayer Canada, it’s available post-show on apple and spotify, and we tweet it out on X.
New for The Athletic: Why Edmonton Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch has shuffled the lines since January
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6123375/2025/02/10/edmonton-oilers-lines-stats-2025/
Seeing the math/underlying numbers re: McDavid post-Jan. 1 is very stark. Also didn’t appreciate that despite the trade deadline being almost a month away, the Oilers only have 7 games – that’s a pretty short period of time for Bowman to finish evaluating internal solutions for 1LW and find a trade partner if necessary.
I think you’re right that 19 is probably among the best internal solutions at the moment (I love Corey Perry but he can’t be a full-time first line winger at this stage of his career), but I hope that Arvidsson can return to his 20-30 goal form after the 4N tournament.
Understand experimenting and seeing what might work when they go nuclear but, for me, enough is enough.
Let’s get back to two things, McDavid/Hyman as a duo and Leon as a center.
I do think that’s where we are headed, although the article is about searching for a non-draisatl.solution at 1LW given the bad results/declining play of 93 as 1LW against elites.
I would love to see them add another “utility forward” type who can slide up and down the lineup, play C or W. I think Donato from CHI wouldn’t look out of place if they wanted to try him as 1LW, or further down the depth chart offering some depth scoring.
Acquisition cost shouldn’t be too dear.
A TDL with Donato, Jokiharjhu, and Vemelka without giving up Savoie or a 1st would earn Bowman a statue outside of the arena (not holding my breath however)
Donato is a good target, though he’ll probably cost a lot given his career year.
Joker is relatively soft and losing ground on a weak team depraved of RHD. Considering the lack of LHD depth after Kulak it would probably be smarter to get a rugged LHD who isn’t puck optional (a Dumoulin or Martinez, for example).
Vejmelka is hot right now and unproven in the playoffs. High salary relative to his peers who would also cost less to acquire. Reimer would cost less to acquire, and has a strong playoff record (one game for SJS aside), for instance.
Donato’s on a shooting % heater, so he isn’t what you think you are buying
Yeah it’s tough to pay full freight for a career high.
Is it a blip? Or solid progression?
I’d rather get a guy like Perron or Maroon (when we acquired them) and pay less than full price for an appreciating asset. Then flip them before other GMs realize they’ve peaked and restock the pipeline.
The article speaks about trying to find a 1LW for McDavid when not with Drai but reality is that, since Jan 1, McDavid has played half his time with Drai so I don’t agree that the intent of this experimentation and blender is all about McDavid’s non-Drai winger.
The article isn’t about McDavid-Draisaitl at five-on-five, it’s about the minutes the two men are not together.
No matter what the McDavid-Drai minutes add up to, there is going to be time away. You can’t ignore those minutes and say they don’t matter.
That is the subject of the article.
https://www.naturalstattrick.com/linestats.php?fromseason=20242025&thruseason=20242025&stype=2&sit=5v5&score=all&rate=n&team=EDM&vteam=ALL&view=wowy&loc=B&gpfilt=gpdate&fd=2025-01-01&td=2025-02-09&tgp=2000&strict=incl&p1=8478402&p2=8477934&p3=0&p4=0&p5=0
I understand that, I was simply saying that, since Jan 1, Knob has loaded up half the time when McDavid has been in the lineup so, in my opinion, his experimenting in the last while has more to do than McDavid’s non-Drai winger.
It’s Hyman and stuff that doesn’t work. This is the point of the article. They ARE casting about, OP. They are NOT staying with Nuge but will ALWAYS need another winger for the Draisaitl away minutes.
https://www.naturalstattrick.com/linestats.php?fromseason=20242025&thruseason=20242025&stype=2&sit=5v5&score=all&rate=n&team=EDM&vteam=ALL&view=wowy&loc=B&gpfilt=gpdate&fd=2025-01-01&td=2025-02-09&tgp=2000&strict=incl&p1=8478402&p2=8477934&p3=8475786&p4=0&p5=0
This. Some of McDavid’s numbers can be explained by Hyman coming back to earth this year.
But teams are defending him better, making him go through layers and there are nights where you can see the frustration. Nothing is coming easy for him right now.
Perhaps. But teams have been trying to solve McD for years. They didn’t just figure it out in Oct 2024, or Jan 2025.
The experimentation now, and w the team winning, makes all kinds of sense to me.
The biggest question for me is: What effect will Four Nations have on him? Will it inspire another level of play (as Pronger suggests in an article today)? Will it add wear & tear on an already over-worked (IMO) body?
In those 33 minutes with Henrique McDavid has had his highest 5v5 points per 60 production of the last two seasons. However, one has to wonder if these miracle minutes were the product of 11 & 7 deployments against bottom-six competition. I don’t remember too many minutes where 19 was elevated to the top-six, although I recall it happening for a game or two.
P.S. There is a typo in one of the tables “Draisaitl Goal share w/o 29”
Of those 33 minutes of 9.13 P/60 production for McDavid, Henrique and McDavid combined on two goals, one scored by Henrique, and one where they both assisted for another player. During that time on ice together, McDavid produced three other points where Henrique did not receive an assist or goal.
Hello friendly Oiler journos! I would love for the team to hedge our bets in net, either to add a goalie or push Stu to become his best self and the next Fuhr! Would love your thoughts on the data below, as I know his play against top teams has been concerning to some this season.
Stu and John Gibson vs Top Teams:
Gibson vs Dallas .963 (Stu was .870 vs them)
Gibson vs Winnipeg .900 (Stu was .615)
Gibson vs Washington .880 (Stu had a .786)
Gibson’s worst game was against Colorado with an .864 (last game Stu had a .750)
Gibson vs Florida .955 (Stu had a .786)
Stu and Karel Vejmelka vs Top Teams:
Vejmelka vs Winnipeg .926 (Stu was .615)
vs Dallas; Last Game: .897 & First Game: 905 (Stu was .870 vs them)
vs Washington; Last Game: .938 & First Game: .818 (Stu had a .786)
vs Colorado; Last Two Games:.958 & .943 & First Game: .808 (Stu’s last game vs COL: .750, Game previous: .880, First Game: .964)
Vejmelka vs Florida .935 (Stu vs Florida .786)
Vejmelka vs Toronto .914 (Stu vs Toronto .857)
I appreciate the deep dive, but this post reeks of recency bias.
Vej has never outplayed his own counterpart even on a weak team in ARI until this year.
Gibson hasn’t been good for six (!!) years and costs the moon with two more full seasons to go on his gordawful contract.
So many of the best/worst trades involved youngish dmen coming/going before the team moving them out knew what they had. Mironov, Niinimaa, Gator, Gilbert all came to Edmonton in such a trade. Tom Poti was an example of one who got dealt too soon.
i remember Niinimaa’s first game as an Islander was here in Edmonton, he looked so weird in one of their clown suits they were wearing at the time. Isles spanked the Oil 5-2 but Janne did not look happy.
How have you forgotten Jan Hejda so soon?
Still chapped they let him go.
Summarizing!
The bad news: neither Copponi nor Lachance earned soup this night.
The good news: they did earn a pot of beans as BU upset BC 4-1 to claim the Beanpot title.
Prospecting takes a break until Wodin’s Day.
Both Copponi and Lachance were ‘also in photo’ on the goal against. However, Lachance had some good moments and had at least 8 or 9 SOG.
I hear a lot of angst re this team.
Having personally suffered through the Lowe+MacT era of absolute bottom of the barrel level management, I offer my humble thoughts re the current state of this team.
Paul Coffey has made the defense dynamic. All that they need is another Ekholm, because in case he gets hurt that’s the end of any playoff hope.
Knoblauch has proven himself to be an excellent NHL coach.
And going from Holland to Bowman shows stability that in turn gets reflected on the ice.
When the team is firing on all cylinders the goalies seem perfectly adequate if not much more. Sure it forces the team to play more defence style hockey but that’s not a bad thing either.
McDavid is a problem!? I pity anyone who thinks McDavid is anything less than the current best player in the world.
Pity Ryan Dixon from Sportsnet then. I’m with you.
Saying all they need is another Ekholm is saying all they need is another top 20 d-man in the world.
/hīˈpərbəlē/
While a fine defender, you could quite easily find 20 better just by looking at the top pairings in the 32 team league.
Most teams have one…some have two…even three.
And that is not counting the best D in the KHL.
Not according the many rankings heading in to the season: DFO 20th, NHL.com 16th – so take your anti-everything Oilers BS out of here.
surely Rafferty is one of the 20 better players right ?
Puljujarvi going to the Charlotte Chekers (AHL) on a tryout.
@FriedgeHNIC
SWEDEN
Nylander-Zibanejad-Rakell
Kempe-Pettersson-Forsberg
Bratt-Eriksson Ek-Raymond
Nyquist-Lindholm-Arvidsson
Carlsson
Hedman-Brodin
Ekholm-Karlsson
Dahlin-Andersson
Forsling is sick today and not practising
CANADA
Reinhart – McDavid – Marner
Stone – Crosby – MacKinnon
Marchand – Point – Jarvis
Hagel – Cirelli – Bennett
Toews – Makar
Morrissey – Parayko
Theodore – Doughty
Konecny (illness) is not practicing.
Sanheim skating as 7D
USA
Guentzel – Matthews – Hughes
Connor – Eichel – M. Tkachuk
Boldy – Miller – B. Tkachuk
Nelson – Trocheck – Larkin
Slavin – Fox
Werenski – McAvoy
Hanifin – Faber
Sanderson & Kreider skating as extras
Its the second lines for usa and canada that are just scary. Like you roll line one over to line 2, and they might be even better than line 1!
Pretty sure there will be little difference in ice time between lines one and two on those teams.
Worth noting Canada’s fourth line of Hagel (26 goals 62 points) Cirelli (20 goals 42 points and Bennett (18 goals 35 points) are an all Florida affair who should be very familiar with one another and could be a bitch to play against.
Correct me if I’m wrong but weren’t Canada Cups — as with the Summit Series before then — in September?
Fans eagerly awaiting hockey; players fresh and then able to recoup during training camp / early season; a season uninterrupted by insisting teammates take seriously playing against each other right before the stretch drive…
It makes sense! Obviously too simple for the NHL.
Honestly I hope everyone Kucherovs it out there.
True but this is also the exact same time they’ll be breaking next year for the Olympics…..
The First Canada Russia Series (Summit Series), all the Canada Cups and all the World Cups have been held pre-season. However all of the NHL’s participation in the Olympics has occurred mid season with the NHL shutting down to accommodate the games.
Prior to 1991 there were a lot of mid-winter ‘Exhibition games between the NHL and the Soviets:
The NHL hosted the USSR at the all star break for 3 games in the 1979 Challenge Cup and for 2 games for Rendez-vous 87.
The Super Series ran from 1976 to 1991 where Soviet club teams would come over to the North America mid-winter and play exhibition games against NHL teams. The first of these series included the famous 3-3 Canadiens Red Army games New Years Eve 1975.
This occurred in 9 of the 16 years in that span and included some times as few as games and as many as 21 games in 1991.
There was so much here I had to open two windows and go through making sure I got to it all.
Hated that Mironov trade. Hated it. Too many magic beans and McAmmond had already established himself so didn’t need to go.
Salo honestly had one of the more fascinating arcs of any Oiler – but what gets lost in the history is that there were years that team should have won in the playoffs and didn’t get the goaltending.
Ulanov was a fun player to watch.
Everyone wanted Lacouture to be good for some reason. I never understood it.
Dvorak was one of the first truly divisive players to discuss on HF way back when. It was maddening that a shooter of that calibre didn’t score goals. People loved him or were really, really disappointed in him. I was #2. He wasn’t brought in to defend. He was brought in to rip goalies to shreds. He didn’t do it. Pisa was an interesting player. One of the ones Sather could have turned into something way back when.
The Brad Isbisters of the world drive me nuts. Not because of what they do or don’t do for the team, but because there are literally thousands of people out there who would kill for that size, skill and opportunity – then do more with it.
Nedved was so good. The smarty-pants-asshole types of that day claimed this trade was stupid because the Oilers should just be trying to lose. It is annoying that some of those people are still treated as though they’re “smart”. That was a deep and very interesting hockey team. They needed a franchise defenceman – so Lowe went and got them one for the next full season. Fun fact – I have a signed Stephen Valiquette hat somewhere from the mystery signature hat fundraisers they used to do.
I remember exactly where I was when they traded Salo. Eating a piece of pizza, listening to coverage on the radio, smiling ear to ear. And he’d lost it before Belarus, got it back, then started flubbing pucks again. People forget that rollercoaster.
Tarnstrom was past it and didn’t work. Bergeron was better at his job.
Salmelainen sure could skate. Another that would have gotten the Sather magic. Him and Chimera on the ice at the same time was CRAZY. Spacek will always have a place in my memory. Awesome player.
Was always sad that Marty didn’t get to go on the Cup run. Everyone remember that Lowe tried and missed the deadline on reacquiring McAmmond that same day?
Samsonov was magic. He, Hemsky and a giant C would’ve made a wonderful line for a few years.
Listening to Ekholm get interview in Montral and he still sounds awful.
Lets not discount how sick these guys have been, as a group, for weeks now.
Yup. I’d rather they were all resting. That this Four N nonsense was happening in July or August.
If it was the whole team would be olaying 4 games this week.
I was lucky enough to meet Kevin Lowe about 6 years ago after watching the Oilers beat the Coyotes 7-4 (i think)
We sat the table next to him & his party during a time when most fans were calling for his job.
I read a-lot of “Worst President & GM in the history of hockey” posts.
And honestly I’m not proud to say that I joined in a few times as well.
I leaned over to introduced myself &
all I could think of to say was:
Thank you for all the amazing moves you made in 2006. I told him it was the most fun I had as an Oiler fan in my life.
He was a very nice man & a class act, he introduced himself to my Dad & my brother & shook their hands.
After the dinner his friend stopped for a sec on his way out & said thank you to our table for letting them just quietly enjoy their supper.
Never posted a single bad word about him again.
I’m too young to remember him as a player but It makes me happy that the Oilers honored him by retiring his #4
Salo was a good goaler until he got Belarussian’d. Picking up Gilbert for Salo’s ghost was a sneaky good move, underrated in my opinion.
Having said that, Gilbert was (IMO) frequently the best player on the other team. He was a pastry chef, specializing in turnovers. But thing about the eye test and memory is, you go back and look at the numbers and they suggest otherwise. I wonder how much of it was prominent because it led to bad outcomes, versus just a turnover and no harm came of it.
I actually try to reconcile this fairly often, as I think it similarly pertains to Bouchard today.
Sometimes you just don’t like a player, and that’s fine too. I was a big fan of Poti, sad to see him go. Same for Niinimaa. Similar players, with the visible gaffes, but man were they good with the puck on their stick.
Small nit to pick here, but trading Samorukov for Kostin was an inspired trade. I was one of
manyseveral around here who really thought he’d take the next step and become an every day player on the roster.Instead it was Kostin who’d blossom with his second opinion.
Old Dutch absolutely fleeced Armstrong in that trade.
and the bloom fell off as quick as it came for Kostin when he priced himself out of Edmonton – culminating with 1G/4P in 26 games this season.
Of course, none of his production away from EDM matters.
He worked out marvellously while he was here, and enticed Yzerman to attain his rights (leading to a subsequent overpay which itself probably had a deleterious effect on his production) for the price of buying out Yamamoto (also burdened by the responsibility of producing in line with too large of a contract).
Put simply, every bit of his time here was beneficial and he did more for the team that Samorukov ever managed. Which stinks. I wanted him to succeed.
Kostin had injuries in Detroit and he has been injured this season with San Jose as well including the last 12 games, he just got taken off of IR 2 days ago. He is at 182 games in the NHL and probably still counting. Samorukov’s career in the NHL ended at 3.
I’m not sure what your point is.
The trade, in fact, both trades worked out wonderfully for the Oilers.
Kostin has had no impact in the league since he left the Oilers.
Maybe McD returns from the 4 nations with a new winger in tow!!
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6122877/2025/02/10/oilers-roster-stan-bowman-decisions/
Bowman said that he’ll look at any opportunity to improve the team but, nope, not exploring the goalie market, its not a priority. Goalies have been good since November.
The team is really good, likely looking at adding depth but not ruling out a bigger move.
No consideration is being given to asking J. Skinner to waiver his NMC.
Lots and lots of other topics – a great read.
Interesting to see Lowe’s moves in this context. He bleeds talent early but proves a quick study and absolutely kills it in 06 when the salary cap comes onstream.
I wonder if this summary changes the narrative somewhat on Lowe? Along side George Burnett and Sheldon Souray, he remains of the most vilified and polarizing figures in Oilers history. Eakins gets an honorable mention in that category as well.
Peter Pocklington says hello.
And Tambellini for good measure.
Good call. Peter Puck was on a whole other level of vilification after the Gretzky sale. Imagine if social media had existed back then!
Kevin Lowe had a hard row to hoe.
The Edmonton investors group consisted of 37 investors when they bought the Oilers in 1998 for 107 million dollars.
There is no doubt that they saved the Oilers from moving or folding. There were no deep pockets in the group which is why it took 37 investors, an average of less than $3 million per investor. They stepped up and invested what they could afford and some more than they could afford.
That resulted in two issues:
1. The team was undercapitalized, and
2. There were over 30 independent alpha personalities in meetings trying to come to decisions; not a recipe for success.
Undercapitalization makes it impossible to spend money to make money, which resulted in Kevin Lowe having to manage with one hand tied behind his back, including:
Having to trade players when their salaries wouldn’t fit in the tight budget;
Not being able to trade for players out of budget range;
Not being able to compete in the free agent market; and
I believe, situations like negotiating a trade of Mike Comrie for Corey Perry then being told, after the fact, that he had to ask for the bonus money back.
Lowe never blamed the EIG, but I wonder how his record as the general manager would have fared with greater financial resources at his disposal.
We will never know but I thank the EIG for saving my beloved Oilers and I thank Kevin Lowe for 2006 and doing the job, which wasn’t a walk in the park.
Can’t mention George Burnett without mentioning Shayne Corson.
Friedman on his pod talking about Gibson’s desire early in the season was Carolina or Edmonton.
He thinks there may have been a somewhat recent conversation.
He also thinks that Gibson wants to go somewhere where he would be “the guy” on a good team with a chance to show he can carry a contending team. In that regard Friedman isn’t sure Edmonton is a fit.
There was zero mention of Skinner going the other way.
To be clear, it did not sound like there were any serious talks or that this has long legs right now but it was a mention.
Both Ferraro and Dreger think Drai reaches 60. 27 team games left for 20 goals.
He is pretty much exactly on pace at what passes for the 2/3 mark.
2006 was the best deadline managing I have experienced. The fact that was on the heels of acquiring Pronger and Peca the prior off-season and Kevin Lowe had a historic season.
Those early 2000s teams are some my first memories as an Oilers fan, and Ulanov was one of my favorite Oilers in my early childhood. Mean, filthy, but I always remembered him as an effective defender (and not just because he made you pay for getting within 5 feet of the Oilers net).
Looking at 2006 makes me want a goalie and a dman. In that order. I am the OG Skinner fan, defender. We need to get a goalie, while keeping skinner somehow. If the new guy can’t pull his weight, well, we’d put skinner in.
Skinner > Conklin/Markstrom/”shootout-specialist”.
I feel the D-man though. Can we go get us a 06′ model Spacek?
Not sure he’d be available, but I think that guy this year is probably Alex Romanov.
Prospectocious!
The 8th-ranked Terriers of BU square off against the rival BC Eagles for the Beanpot Tournament title. It will be a stiff test for Lachance, Copponi & Co. as BC is the top-ranked team in NCAA hockey.
Puck drops @ 5:30 p.m. Lymburn time.
“Tommy Salo was a good goalie, not a great one”. I agree, but someone disagrees as he made the 2nd team for the quarter century oilers, behind Roloson. Or, perhaps we could say that in the last 25 years we have not had a great goalie. Heck i would probably say Roli was a good goalie who had a great run.
I don’t think we’ve had a great goalie since Cujo.
I feel the same and it is such a fine line. We have had good goalies play great – Ranford, Roloson,Talbot, Dub, Smith, Skinner – but consistency has been lacking.
I agree
The 90 Cup win was the first that really meant something to me — I was finally old enough to understand how damned hard it is to win and living in Vancouver surrounded by bitter Canuck fans — so Bill Ranford will always be a great goalie in my eyes.
Even when the team was stripped down for parts in the early 90’s, the Oilers didn’t lose due to goaltending when Ranford was playing.
Of course, Cujo was simply absurd so utterly overwhelmed Oiler teams always had a chance to win — he was probably our last “special” goaltender. One other teams feared to play against.
I would say we have 1 possibly 2 Cups with Devan Dubynk over the last 6 years. I think Devan is on a short list for the most underrated backstopper we’ve had since we were called the Alberta Oilers.
Duby was trending up when Craig asked (rhetorically) the question.
I never understood the vocal crowd decrying anyone who defended Duby as a goalie apologist.
The d-corpse in that era was populated with renowned stalwarts such as Marincin, Smid, Mark Fraser, Belov, Larsen, Ference, Fistric, Potter, Teubert, Peckham, etc.
That stunning lack of depth, and a forward group not known for commitment to playing without the puck, really didn’t do him any favours. Yet all he did was improve year over year until MacT kneecapped him in the media.
I followed Devan from his Kamloops days he was brought along properly until they threw him under the bus because they needed a fall guy. People whine about the development of Jesse-Yakapov-Paajarvi-etc but of all the mistakes excluding Souray which was downright evil Devan was the biggest blunder as starting top 6 goalie doesn’t come your way often.
I still remember his first game. Defense was AWOL. Welcome to the NHL, kid.
I attended his first start. 2009 Dec 21, against the Ken Hitchcock Blues which was a great name for that team. They beat the Oilers for fun, & did on this night 7-2. Poor DD didn’t stand a chance.