The Oilers are currently stacked with prospects. Reading The Copper and Blue’s top 25 under 25, you get a good picture of how many good young players the Oilers have already on the big club, toiling in the minors, or steeping in junior or overseas[1]. The Oilers also have what should be a top 5 pick in the next draft, netting the team another good prospect. It almost seems like there isn’t even enough room for lots of the players coming down the pipe. Of course, most of them won’t make it, even some of the guys playing in the NHL right now might turn out to be nothing much. But the sheer amount of quality prospects means that some should end up being pretty good.
What the Oilers lack are real NHL players, which is why I don’t understand why a large portion of fans want to trade Hemsky or Penner. Right now it seems that our only legitimate NHLers are Horcoff, Hemsky, Penner, Gilbert, and Whitney. Five players! I had to look up the roster just to make sure I had that clear. Five players! No wonder the Oilers might not win 25 games!
If we trade Hemsky or Penner then the Oilers will be moving forward with one or two of their best players gone, not only for the rest of this year but next season as well. Can Oiler fans bear to finish DFL three years in a row?
Hockey fans (maybe fans in all sports) have this delusion that potential always becomes something, but I think that usually it doesn’t. Right now Hall, Eberle, Paajarvi, Omark seem to be tracking well. Will they get better next year? Who knows? Gagner and Cogliano put up their best numbers as rookies. Oiler fans are still waiting. St. Louis just traded Erik Johnson, a guy with a ton of potential who just couldn’t put it together as everyone hoped. Colorado sent Chris Stewart back who had a great year last year, started out with a bang this year, and has all but disappeared lately.
The question in my mind is: will the return we get for Hemsky or Penner turn out to be better than them? I doubt it. Tambellini should try and re-sign both of them. Of course, maybe they don’t want to be in Edmonton. Why would anybody want to play for a loser?
Jordan
Now THAT is a blog post! Aaron, did you read this? "fans have this delusion that potential always becomes reality." You see - I'm not the only one. A goal in the hand is worth a goal in the hand. A potential goal is worth a percentage shot at a goal in the hand. It's Gold Jordan, Gold!
ReplyDeleteAnd slowly the losses mount...you win, Mr. Green, with a certain collection of tallent, and you do not aquire those peices without projecting based on potential. No one will trade you an elite number one center or defenseman, you must develop through the draft or the aquisition of prospects and hope that a player develops into something you can win with. Further, if you know that your colelction of talent will not win, then you are better off moving said talent for the chance to improve...or get worse...movement in any direction is better than average play. As long as the chance of improvement exists, you choose death rather than stagnation (If your a middling team). That being said, in teh case of the Oilers, I tend to agree with Jordan...mostly because Hemsky and Penner will not fetch much and are more valuable on the team than any potential prospect they may aquire. The team also needs mentors, as Jordan points out.
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