Oilers

[Flame111]

Funny stuff. Way off on the prospects but there is no point in debating with someone who has no idea.

Connor by the way you know that your sig makes you look like a total tool because people can simply look for my post at this date and time and know I never said it right?

You did actually write you want the Oilers to lose, not me. Plus it is a dumb comment anyway because obviously today, the Flames are better than the Oilers in the standings.

[Flame111]

Funny stuff. Way off on the prospects but there is no point in debating with someone who has no idea.

Or you simply can't make a counter argument here and back it up. Get to work Connor, you are on our board, conducting yourself with a lot of hostility and arrogance and not even backing up your claims.

[ConnorFutureGM]

Connor by the way you know that your sig makes you look like a total tool because people can simply look for my post at this date and time and know I never said it right?

You did actually write you want the Oilers to lose every game, not me. Plus it is a dumb comment anyway because obviously today, the Flames are better than the Oilers in the standings.

You take my quote out of context, I can do the same to you.

[Bastardsonofmacinnis]

Damn. You guys are pretty funny. On another note, comparing prospects is a little silly. I would say the Oil prospects are slightly better. But, shouldn't they be quite a bit better? I mean when a team relentlessly shi+s the bed year after year for good picks they should have more to show for it. Outside of RNH, Hall, and Eberle the Oilers young guys aren't showing me much. The barons are currently leading the ahl standings but are only 2 points ahead of the next team. They should be killing it. The heat are 7th overall in the west and are supposed to be "the bare cupboards" team.

[ConnorFutureGM]

Damn. You guys are pretty funny. On another note, comparing prospects is a little silly. I would say the Oil prospects are slightly better. But, shouldn't they be quite a bit better? I mean when a team relentlessly shi+s the bed year after year for good picks they should have more to show for it. Outside of RNH, Hall, and Eberle the Oilers young guys aren't showing me much. The barons are currently leading the ahl standings but are only 2 points ahead of the next team. They should be killing it. The heat are 7th overall in the west and are supposed to be "the bare cupboards" team.

Most of the Oilers prospects are in the CHL, not playing in the AHL.

The Barons are leading the AHL because Katz is willing to spend to put good AHL players in OKC.

Another thing is the Oilers focus has been on defence which is harder to notice when looking at the stats sheet. In the WJC, the Oilers had 4 defencemen playing, all with significant roles.

[Flame111]

You take my quote out of context, I can do the same to you.

I never said anything like this, give me the link. You didn't just take it out of context, you flat out made it all up. If you are having such a fit about it, fine, the point is still made, you are cheering your team to lose.

[ali-iggy]

Most of the Oilers prospects are in the CHL, not playing in the AHL.

The Barons are leading the AHL because Katz is willing to spend to put good AHL players in OKC.

Another thing is the Oilers focus has been on defence which is harder to notice when looking at the stats sheet. In the WJC, the Oilers had 4 defencemen playing, all with significant roles.

ya your right Katz is willing to spend to put good Ahl players in OKC Because they know that your guys AHL team has the only chance of winning something and flames ahl team was tied for first until all of calgary injuries started happening. the flames prospects are better then yours the only prospects that you have is hall eberle RNH klefbom hamiton other then that your guys cupboards are empty and ares is getting better and better.

[Bastardsonofmacinnis]

Most of the Oilers prospects are in the CHL, not playing in the AHL.

The Barons are leading the AHL because Katz is willing to spend to put good AHL players in OKC.

Another thing is the Oilers focus has been on defence which is harder to notice when looking at the stats sheet. In the WJC, the Oilers had 4 defencemen playing, all with significant roles.

Hmm, I didn't know that. Very valid points. In that case it's too bad that dmen take so long to develop. You guys def could have used them this year. However I still stand behind my point that it's silly to argue about prospects in the first place as we have been generally drafting from different ends of the table. If it was possible to have both teams draft around 10th over a course of five years we could see which organization does a better job of it.

[Crzydrvr]

If it was possible to have both teams draft around 10th over a course of five years we could see which organization does a better job of it.

This. The Oilers have better prospects because they draft 1st overall every year. Whereas for years the Flames have drafted 24th overall, and of the two years where we actually had a decent pick (13th) we ended up handing one away to Phoenix.

Considering our lack of decent picks (or any picks at all) our prospect pool is not bad. I don't buy all this "Sky is falling" stuff, I readily admit that our pool is worse off than Edmonton's but it's not terrible. The only thing we lack is high-end talent, and we'll be making amends to that over the next seasons (hopefully). I just don't see a need for us to sink to the bottom, there are good prospects available in the mid rounds of the draft who could very well end up first line forwards. Especially over 2013 and 2014.

[Bastardsonofmacinnis]

This. The Oilers have better prospects because they draft 1st overall every year. Whereas for years the Flames have drafted 24th overall, and of the two years where we actually had a decent pick (13th) we ended up handing one away to Phoenix.

Considering our lack of decent picks (or any picks at all) our prospect pool is not bad. I don't buy all this "Sky is falling" stuff, I readily admit that our pool is worse off than Edmonton's but it's not terrible. The only thing we lack is high-end talent, and we'll be making amends to that over the next seasons (hopefully). I just don't see a need for us to sink to the bottom, there are good prospects available in the mid rounds of the draft who could very well end up first line forwards. Especially over 2013 and 2014.

I 100% agree with this. There's just no reason to have to watch a team lose year after years for picks. A lot of great players are found outside of the top ten and I think it's a flames specialty to find hidden gems.

[ConnorFutureGM]

ya your right Katz is willing to spend to put good Ahl players in OKC Because they know that your guys AHL team has the only chance of winning something and flames ahl team was tied for first until all of calgary injuries started happening. the flames prospects are better then yours the only prospects that you have is hall eberle RNH klefbom hamiton other then that your guys cupboards are empty and ares is getting better and better.

You love your Flames, I can appreciate a fan that loves their team.

There are other prospects. Marincin and Gernat are two, 6'5 Slovakian puck moving defencemen. Marincin was WHL rookie of the year last season and Gernat is making the same case this season.

Lander might be harder to notice but he's actually a key part to the Oilers rebuild. He's the Oilers' version of Bolland. He is going to anchor the 3rd line as centre for years to come.

Bunz is the Oilers best goalie prospect. Many people felt like he should of made team Canada but he didn't have a great camp and he admitted that other goalies played better than him. He is the best goalie in the CHL stats wise this season.

Hartikainen looked like a lock to make the Oilers this season. He scored 5 goals in 12 games at the end of last season. He came into training camp thinking he already had the job which lead to him playing another season in the minors. He has picked up his game as of late. He is a power forward type who is very strong on the puck.

I won't go through all the prospects but the Oilers have a bunch of decent ones and none of the ones I listed came in the 1st round.

I never said anything like this, give me the link. You didn't just take it out of context, you flat out made it all up. If you are having such a fit about it, fine, the point is still made, you are cheering your team to lose.

Just take off my quote and I'll take off my sig with your name on it.

Hmm, I didn't know that. Very valid points. In that case it's too bad that dmen take so long to develop. You guys def could have used them this year. However I still stand behind my point that it's silly to argue about prospects in the first place as we have been generally drafting from different ends of the table. If it was possible to have both teams draft around 10th over a course of five years we could see which organization does a better job of it.

After Hall, RNH and Gagner, it's an equal playing field. The main difference is from the 2007 draft, the Oilers have put a much greater emphasis on drafting. Sutter felt that a current player was worth more than a potential star/bust so he put more of an emphasis on trading and signing than drafting IMO.

[ConnorFutureGM]

This. The Oilers have better prospects because they draft 1st overall every year. Whereas for years the Flames have drafted 24th overall, and of the two years where we actually had a decent pick (13th) we ended up handing one away to Phoenix.

Considering our lack of decent picks (or any picks at all) our prospect pool is not bad. I don't buy all this "Sky is falling" stuff, I readily admit that our pool is worse off than Edmonton's but it's not terrible. The only thing we lack is high-end talent, and we'll be making amends to that over the next seasons (hopefully). I just don't see a need for us to sink to the bottom, there are good prospects available in the mid rounds of the draft who could very well end up first line forwards. Especially over 2013 and 2014.

Take away Hall and RNH, the Oilers still have better prospects. Who do fans hold the greatest trust in on the Flames? Is it coaching, management, maybe the president? In Edmonton, it is far and away our head of acouting, Stu MacGreggor. Yes the Oilers drafted Hall and RNH. They also drafted Eberle at 22nd overall, the Slovaks in the 2nd and 5th round. Tyler Bunz was drafted in the 5th round.

Maybe Feaster gives the scouting for the Flames a big boost but that does not yet to seem to be a strong point in Calgary.

There are good players to be gotten through the draft. The Flames scouting and development needs to step up to get and develop the right players to turn into high end talent.

I 100% agree with this. There's just no reason to have to watch a team lose year after years for picks. A lot of great players are found outside of the top ten and I think it's a flames specialty to find hidden gems.

I agree that there are players that can be had later in the draft but I have yet to see how it's the Flames specialty to get and develop these players.

[Crzydrvr]

Take away Hall and RNH, the Oilers still have better prospects. Who do fans hold the greatest trust in on the Flames? Is it coaching, management, maybe the president? In Edmonton, it is far and away our head of acouting, Stu MacGreggor. Yes the Oilers drafted Hall and RNH. They also drafted Eberle at 22nd overall, the Slovaks in the 2nd and 5th round. Tyler Bunz was drafted in the 5th round.

Maybe Feaster gives the scouting for the Flames a big boost but that does not yet to seem to be a strong point in Calgary.

There are good players to be gotten through the draft. The Flames scouting and development needs to step up to get and develop the right players to turn into high end talent.

Let's look at the Oilers recent picks (still with the organization), who AREN'T out of the first round:

-David Musil, 31st (2011)

-Samu Perhonen, 62nd (2011)

-Travis Ewanyk, 74th (2011)

-Dillon Simpson, 92nd (2011)

-Tobias Rieder, 114th (2011)

-Martin Gernat, 122nd (2011)

-Frans Tuohimaa, 182nd (2011)

-Tyler Pitlick, 31st (2010)

-Martin Marincin, 46th (2010)

-Curtis Hamilton, 48th (2010)

-Ryan Martindale, 61st (2010)

-Jeremy Blain, 91st (2010)

-Tyler Bunz, 121st (2010)

-Brandon Davidson, 162nd (2010)

-Drew Czerwonka, 166th (2010)

-Kristian Pelss, 181st (2010)

-Kellen Jones, 202nd (2010)

Now Calgary's over the same span:

-Markus Granlund, 45th (2011)

-Tyler Wotherspoon, 57th (2011)

-John Gaudreau, 104th (2011)

-Laurent Broissoit, 164th (2011)

-Max Reinhart, 64th (2010)

-Joey Leach, 73rd (2010)

-John Ramage, 103rd (2010)

-Bill Arnold, 108th (2010)

-Michael Ferland, 133 (2010)

You guys have nearly double the amount of prospects that we drafted over the same time span. Also, note the positions of your prospects: 10 of your prospects were drafted with the first pick of their respective rounds out of 17. Calgary has none, though they had 1 (Reinhart) who was drafted within the first 5 picks of a round; positioning plays a large part. Edmonton had 7 players drafted within the first 3 rounds; Calgary has 4.

The quality of picks that Edmonton had are comparatively higher than Calgary's, but in terms of talent we are keeping up. Maybe if we had 20 picks in two drafts we would have an improved set of prospects as well.

[ConnorFutureGM]

Let's look at the Oilers recent picks (still with the organization), who AREN'T out of the first round:

-David Musil, 31st (2011)

-Samu Perhonen, 62nd (2011)

-Travis Ewanyk, 74th (2011)

-Dillon Simpson, 92nd (2011)

-Tobias Rieder, 114th (2011)

-Martin Gernat, 122nd (2011)

-Frans Tuohimaa, 182nd (2011)

-Tyler Pitlick, 31st (2010)

-Martin Marincin, 46th (2010)

-Curtis Hamilton, 48th (2010)

-Ryan Martindale, 61st (2010)

-Jeremy Blain, 91st (2010)

-Tyler Bunz, 121st (2010)

-Brandon Davidson, 162nd (2010)

-Drew Czerwonka, 166th (2010)

-Kristian Pelss, 181st (2010)

-Kellen Jones, 202nd (2010)

Now Calgary's over the same span:

-Markus Granlund, 45th (2011)

-Tyler Wotherspoon, 57th (2011)

-John Gaudreau, 104th (2011)

-Laurent Broissoit, 164th (2011)

-Max Reinhart, 64th (2010)

-Joey Leach, 73rd (2010)

-John Ramage, 103rd (2010)

-Bill Arnold, 108th (2010)

-Michael Ferland, 133 (2010)

You guys have nearly double the amount of prospects that we drafted over the same time span. Also, note the positions of your prospects: 10 of your prospects were drafted with the first pick of their respective rounds out of 17. Calgary has none, though they had 1 (Reinhart) who was drafted within the first 5 picks of a round; positioning plays a large part. Edmonton had 7 players drafted within the first 3 rounds; Calgary has 4.

The quality of picks that Edmonton had are comparatively higher than Calgary's, but in terms of talent we are keeping up. Maybe if we had 20 picks in two drafts we would have an improved set of prospects as well.

The Flames would probably be doing better than they are if they had more picks, that's kind of the point I was making. The Oilers as an organization have put a huge emphasis on drafting. They have a lot of scouts all over North America and Europe. They also have a lot of people in the development end of things.

The Flames have less of an emphasis. Maybe it's shifting.

Here's what the Oilers have learned. It is much harder for a western Canadian city to attract free agents at the right price, espceially if the team isn't winning. Instead of hunting the white whale every July 1st, the Oilers focus shifted to bringing up their own players and then supplementing them with FAs who would be good fits. The Flames situation might be different but I know that I am much more pleased with the Oilers drafting and their overall roster now than I was when they after Moby Dick.

[UnrefinedCrude]

After next season the EL contracts to their high picks start expiring (although the last of the Souray buyout comes off the books too). It'll be hard for Lowe (or whoever is his puppet @ that time) to tell Eberle & Hall's agents that their client doesn't deserve more $s then Hemsky or Horcoff. The following season it'll be the same with RNH. After that this year's 1st & so on. They'll either have to trade some for cap relief or continue to field some very good young forwards & not much else.

We'll have no cap problems.

[Crzydrvr]

We'll have no cap problems.

Because what? Eberle won't command a raise? If he continues to put up numbers he's easily worth Kane money. Same with Hall and RNH. Quite easy to fill up 20 million on just those three alone. Horcoff and Hemsky already cover another 10.5 million, so you'll be pleased to know that you have 30 million in precious cap tied to 5 players.

I can deal with Connor, he gives thoughtful posts and I rather like the back and forth going on in this thread. But this post has no thinking or reasoning behind it.

[ConnorFutureGM]

Because what? Eberle won't command a raise? If he continues to put up numbers he's easily worth Kane money. Same with Hall and RNH. Quite easy to fill up 20 million on just those three alone. Horcoff and Hemsky already cover another 10.5 million, so you'll be pleased to know that you have 30 million in precious cap tied to 5 players.

I can deal with Connor, he gives thoughtful posts and I rather like the back and forth going on in this thread. But this post has no thinking or reasoning behind it.

It depends on a few things.

Kane won rookie of the year and both him and Toews won the cup on their ELC.

Tavares is a comparable contract to both Eberle and Hall.

RNH all depends on how he does these next 2 seasons, might be a little more.

Oilers also have a few UFAs the season Hall and Eberle are RFAs.

[UnrefinedCrude]

Because what? Eberle won't command a raise? If he continues to put up numbers he's easily worth Kane money. Same with Hall and RNH. Quite easy to fill up 20 million on just those three alone. Horcoff and Hemsky already cover another 10.5 million, so you'll be pleased to know that you have 30 million in precious cap tied to 5 players.

I can deal with Connor, he gives thoughtful posts and I rather like the back and forth going on in this thread. But this post has no thinking or reasoning behind it.

Look at the payroll of a team like Pittsburgh, Crosby, Malkin, Fleury,Staal, Martin,Michalik, Orpik...

We won't come even close to that for a while. The cap is going nowhere but up, it may hiccup a little next year, but that will be all it is.

We won't be carrying our current bloated veteran contracts beyond the year RNH gets out of his ELC.

the EIG days are gone, Katz just sold a very small portion of his phara-empire for $980 million. The new arena will see the Oilers get concert, concession and other non-hockey revenue, which is currently funneled to the Northlands board.

All this talk of Edmonton not affording their players is wishful thinking by people hoping for them to fail. there is no meat to it.

Horcoff's deal and hemmers new deal are over in two years. That is the reason Hemmer got a contract extension (not raise, though in the short term it amounts to a less than 1 million increase in cap hit for the team.) even with those contracts we will have 25 million in cap space at the end of this year, and even more when we negotiate with Hall and Eberle. Even if they and RNH get 8 million dollars each that doesn't scratch our cap relief.

we have several issues moving forward, but cap problems aren't one. the spectre of a Chicago-esque problem is a red herring. Chicago had to move players when they did because they had several long term veteran contracts to carry when they had to deal out several 2nd contracts. they also had a cap penalty of over $4 million, because of exceeding the cap the year prior. Tambellini has some failings, but he has kept a shrewd eye on cap management.

Your members are the ones making uninformed and unfounded claims, but it is me that has to explain? You are the one who has no thinking or reasoning.

[Flyerfan52]

Look at the payroll of a team like Pittsburgh, Crosby, Malkin, Fleury,Staal, Martin,Michalik, Orpik...

We won't come even close to that for a while. The cap is going nowhere but up, it may hiccup a little next year, but that will be all it is.

We won't be carrying our current bloated veteran contracts beyond the year RNH gets out of his ELC.

the EIG days are gone, Katz just sold a very small portion of his phara-empire for $980 million. The new arena will see the Oilers get concert, concession and other non-hockey revenue, which is currently funneled to the Northlands board.

All this talk of Edmonton not affording their players is wishful thinking by people hoping for them to fail. there is no meat to it.

Horcoff's deal and hemmers new deal are over in two years. That is the reason Hemmer got a contract extension (not raise, though in the short term it amounts to a less than 1 million increase in cap hit for the team.) even with those contracts we will have 25 million in cap space at the end of this year, and even more when we negotiate with Hall and Eberle. Even if they and RNH get 8 million dollars each that doesn't scratch our cap relief.

we have several issues moving forward, but cap problems aren't one. the spectre of a Chicago-esque problem is a red herring. Chicago had to move players when they did because they had several long term veteran contracts to carry when they had to deal out several 2nd contracts. they also had a cap penalty of over $4 million, because of exceeding the cap the year prior. Tambellini has some failings, but he has kept a shrewd eye on cap management.

Your members are the ones making uninformed and unfounded claims, but it is me that has to explain? You are the one who has no thinking or reasoning.

When Eberle & Hall need new contracts in a year both contracts are still in force. If they keep playing well offer sheets are not out of the question. So if both are nice enough to sign for Horcoff $s that's 21.5 tied up in 4 players. The next year RNH comes up for renewal & Hemsky's contract expires but Horcroff's still has a year to run (see capgeek) so again the things mentioned come into play.

That's 1/3 of the cap space tied up in 4 forwards (including 1 that's not very good ). Since top UFAs go for top $ (& add more to other offers to sign with a not so attractive team/location) you'd be looking @ 15-20 million to sign 2 good top 4 D & a good goalie. Using the low figures that's 36.5 for 7 players. That's a lot of roster left to fill.

[ConnorFutureGM]

We'll see what happens tomorrow. That will likely have a bearing on the Oilers' salaries in the future.

[Crzydrvr]

Look at the payroll of a team like Pittsburgh, Crosby, Malkin, Fleury,Staal, Martin,Michalik, Orpik...

We won't come even close to that for a while. The cap is going nowhere but up, it may hiccup a little next year, but that will be all it is.

We won't be carrying our current bloated veteran contracts beyond the year RNH gets out of his ELC.

the EIG days are gone, Katz just sold a very small portion of his phara-empire for $980 million. The new arena will see the Oilers get concert, concession and other non-hockey revenue, which is currently funneled to the Northlands board.

All this talk of Edmonton not affording their players is wishful thinking by people hoping for them to fail. there is no meat to it.

Horcoff's deal and hemmers new deal are over in two years. That is the reason Hemmer got a contract extension (not raise, though in the short term it amounts to a less than 1 million increase in cap hit for the team.) even with those contracts we will have 25 million in cap space at the end of this year, and even more when we negotiate with hall and Eberle.

we have several issues moving forward, but cap problems aren't one. the spectre of a Chicago-esque problem is a red herring. Chicago had to move players when they did because they had several long term veteran contracts to carry when they had to deal out several 2nd contracts. they also had a cap penalty of over $4 million, because of exceeding the cap the year prior. Tambellini has some failings, but he has ket a shrewd eye on ca management.

Your members are the ones making uninformed and unfounded claims, but it is me that has to explain? You are the one who has no thinking or reasoning.

Right, because you are going to compete with just the trio of Hall-RNH-Eberle....

You're going to let Horcoff and Hemsky go, and then replace them with what? More rookies? Someone is going to have to fill out the rest of that roster....

Edmonton needs a goalie and more defensemen, as well as resign the ones you already have. With the way Smid is playing, you don't think he gets a healthy raise on his 2.25 million doallar salary? What about Petry? Gagner? jones? Even Dubnyk is going to have to get a raise, just because he's a decent backup goaltender. Plus you'll have to either resign Horcoff and Hemmer or find some replacements, who could very well cost 8-10 million again.

Let's look at it objectively:

(brackets are comparable players production-wise and their cap hits)

Taylor Hall (Zach Parise, 6 M; Henrik Zetterberg, 6 M)

Jordan Eberle (Patrick Kane, 6.3 M; Marian Gaborik, 7.5 M)

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (Brad Richards, 6.7 M; Patrick Kane, 6.3 M)

Let's assume they get something like 6.5 M for Eberle, 6 M for Hall, and 6 M for RNH (taking into account a bit of hometown discount). That's 18.5 M for 3 forwards. Taking a wild guess at the cap in 3 or so years (very likely to be around the 60 million dollar due to the potential CBA) that's more than 30% of your cap in a top line. Not to mention the top defenseman you guys need, easily another 6-7 million, a "mid-range" goalie (using Antti Niemi money guesses, another 3.5-4 million), plus the re-upping of Whitney, Smid, and Gilbert (could surpass 12 million), that could end up being 40 million or so tied into 9 players. You'd have about 20 million (possibly 30 if you're lucky and the CBA stays the same, which is unlikely) to fill out another 3 forward lines, your backup position and a final D pairing, not to mention the spares.

Top players get top dollar, maybe you luck out and your players pull a Tavares and sign for 5.5 million. That still only saves you about 3 million each. 23 M for 13-14 players.

You assume the cap is going to go up, which is already a warning sign because the NHL wants a flat 50% split on all revenue while Fehr is going "F--- you". I wonder who's going to win that one....because it could very well decide who you guys keep and who you guys end up trading.

Looking at the short term is gonig to get your apple handed to you when it comes time for contracts. Doesn't look like a problem now does it? Well, the Oilers are a pretty close to cap team and it's getting them 29th place out of 30. A 15+ M dollar scoring line isn't going to solve that.

[ConnorFutureGM]

Right, because you are going to compete with just the trio of Hall-RNH-Eberle....

You're going to let Horcoff and Hemsky go, and then replace them with what? More rookies? Someone is going to have to fill out the rest of that roster....

Edmonton needs a goalie and more defensemen, as well as resign the ones you already have. With the way Smid is playing, you don't think he gets a healthy raise on his 2.25 million doallar salary? What about Petry? Gagner? jones? Even Dubnyk is going to have to get a raise, just because he's a decent backup goaltender. Plus you'll have to either resign Horcoff and Hemmer or find some replacements, who could very well cost 8-10 million again.

Let's look at it objectively:

(brackets are comparable players production-wise and their cap hits)

Taylor Hall (Zach Parise, 6 M; Henrik Zetterberg, 6 M)

Jordan Eberle (Patrick Kane, 6.3 M; Marian Gaborik, 7.5 M)

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (Brad Richards, 6.7 M; Patrick Kane, 6.3 M)

Let's assume they get something like 6.5 M for Eberle, 6 M for Hall, and 6 M for RNH (taking into account a bit of hometown discount). That's 18.5 M for 3 forwards. Taking a wild guess at the cap in 3 or so years (very likely to be around the 60 million dollar due to the potential CBA) that's more than 30% of your cap in a top line. Not to mention the top defenseman you guys need, easily another 6-7 million, a "mid-range" goalie (using Antti Niemi money guesses, another 3.5-4 million), plus the re-upping of Whitney, Smid, and Gilbert (could surpass 12 million), that could end up being 40 million or so tied into 9 players. You'd have about 20 million (possibly 30 if you're lucky and the CBA stays the same, which is unlikely) to fill out another 3 forward lines, your backup position and a final D pairing, not to mention the spares.

Top players get top dollar, maybe you luck out and your players pull a Tavares and sign for 5.5 million. That still only saves you about 3 million each. 23 M for 13-14 players.

You assume the cap is going to go up, which is already a warning sign because the NHL wants a flat 50% split on all revenue while Fehr is going "F--- you". I wonder who's going to win that one....because it could very well decide who you guys keep and who you guys end up trading.

Yeah, I'm not sure who's going to win. The NHLPA as more leverage this time.

The players you compared to the Oilers were unfair. They are all older except for Kane who already won the cup.

The other thing you have to look at is the salary of the player compared to the cap. When the cap was first implmented, the players took a 24% rollback to make the cap workable. If the cap goes down, salaries will go down. The next CBA probably won't have a rollback but a smaller cap will mean less of a percentage for free agent signings. That is why a lot of UFAs want to get new contracts before the new CBA.

The important part is for players to accept less than what they would get on the open market. There is also the long term deal where a player makes lots of money at the beginning of his contract but less at the end of it which will likely be eliminated in this new CBA.

[oillio]

first of all iginla is a active legend the only other legends in the nhl are jagr Lidstrom and selanne now you have the guts to come here and insult him mods take this guy away please. first of all the oilers have no good prospects outside of the NHL other then Hamilton and klefbom and them with hall eberle rnh can't make a good franchise and we all know that no one wants to sign in Edm other then players who get really overpaid or players that need a career team change or the left over players that no one wants. Calgary is far more attracting then EDM. Calgary flames also Have better prospects then you outside of the NHl and to me our fuure is looking bright because players would want sign with calgary and players are willing to waive there no trade clause to go to calgary.

Brodie vs petry=Brodie

Byron vs payarvi = Byron

lander vs Horak = Horak

Klefbom vs Breen = Klefbom

Ramage vs teubert = Ramage

Granlund vs Hamilton = Granlund

Arnold vs vandelveld = Arnold

omark vs nemisz = nemisz

petrell vs bouma = bouma

dubnyk/buns vs irving = irving

this is just little example how are future is gonna be brighter then your conny

wow, how can you say whos better than who, when you havent seen most of them play..

[Flame111]

We'll have no cap problems.

You'll see, the Oilers will face the Cap ceiling challenges all teams do, unless they want to handcuff themselves internally like the Preds or Yotes.

I don't see Katz doing that. Those monster contracts are coming. Hall, Ebs and RNH are going to come one day for proper pay from the bank. Plus you guys have already paid Hemsky 5 million. I am ok with that signing by the way but don't tell me Hemsky took a hometown discount, he certainly didn't.

He has actually set a bar with it and I can assure you the Big 3 will all want a lot more...

wow, how can you say whos better than who, when you havent seen most of them play..

Probably stat lines. Anyway, I agree with your sentiment though, imo, I have never got jacked on prospects too much because the jump to the NHL is huge. the majority of them do not even go on to have decent NHL careers, never mind turn into a player who is a on-ice factor.

[DL44]

You Oilers fan still have faith in your management team?

Out - Gilbert

In - Schultz

Straight up.

Awaiting the explanation on this one by Connor and unrefined with baited breath. To me it looks about right value for Gilbert... but I know how overvalued he was by Oiler fan.

Gilbert, 4th rounder in 2002

Born Jan 10 1983 -- Bloomington, MN

Height 6.03 -- Weight 206 -- Shoots R

A 30-40 pt 2-way dman, $4mil/yr

Schultz, 2nd rounder in 200

Born Aug 25 1982 -- Strasbourg, SASK

Height 6.01 -- Weight 200 -- Shoots L

A 10-15pts defensive dman, $3.5mil

Edm got more defensive. Which they needed. They save $5ooK/yr...