Well, the big news this week is the two trades Edmonton Oilers GM
Glen Sather pulled off Saturday. With the Oilers going through a
five-game losing streak, and falling into the ninth place in the
Western Conference, something had to be done.
Sather started off the wheeling and dealing with a big trade which
saw Oiler defensive-stud Boris Mironov, sidekick Dean McAmmond and
some guy named Jonas Elofsson leave the Oiler organization. In
return, the Oilers got a slew of young guys - forwards Chad Kilger,
Ethan Moreau, Daniel Cleary and defenceman Christian Laflamme.
But Slats wasn't finished there. He then dealt Mats Lindgren and an
eighth-round pick to the New York Islanders for Tommy Salo.
The Oilers had to make a deal to shake up the team and its losing
ways. The Oilers responded in kind with a winning performance
against the Vancouver Canucks later that night.
Only the future will tell if this trade was a wise move or not.
The Go-To Guy
With Mironov gone, the Oilers will be looking for a lot more
offensively from the remain defencemen. Particularly Roman
Hamrlik. He's the head of the defensive corps now, and he'll have
to follow through.
Trading Mironov was a message to Harmlik. It was a vote of
confidence for Hamrlik. Now he'll have the prime power-play time
and the premiere ice time. He has shown he can do it, too. He
scored 60-some points a few years ago when he was with the Tampa
Bay Lightning.
Defencemen Janne Niinimaa and Tom Poti will also be given more
power-play opportunities and are looked upon to produce more.
Boy Do They Suck:
The Oilers had to make a move to shake up the team. After Glen
Sather said he'd stand by his man, coach Ron Low, it was inevitable
that trades were on the horizon. The team was in such a downward
spiral something, anything had to be done.
But the Oilers aren't out of the fire yet, that was one win against
the lowly Vancouver Canucks. The Oilers had quite a match against
the Calgary Flames.
The factor which will decide whether the Oilers sneak into the
playoffs or not is the three remain games against the eighth place
Calgary Flames. This playoff race will definitely turn the heat up
on the Battle of Alberta.
Monday's game resulted in a tie. Which is good for the Flames,
which leaves them still in eighth place, and still two points over
the Oilers.
The Russian Puzzle
Alex Selivanov, a promising offensive winger acquired last month is
now a healthy scratch for the Oilers. Selivanov has six goals and
three assists in 22 games. Five of those six goals were scored
during a two-game span, against Anaheim and Los Angeles. The last
goal was a fluke that bounced off his head.
Coach Ron Low says he hasn't been producing offensively and he's a
liability defensively, so now Selivanov has a prime seat for Oilers
games in the press box.
A good idea for Sather is to dump Selivanov and his $1.5 million
salary for anyone who'll take him. He's making too much to be a
scratch. Maybe Crazy Mike Milbury and the New York Islanders would
be interested? If not before the trade deadline, maybe during the
summer.
Selivanov has been too unproductive to warrant staying in the
lineup. Especially when the Oilers are struggling so much. If
worse comes to worse, he could be waived, and pray someone takes
him.
The Oilers line combinations looked like this as of Monday's game
against the Calgary Flames.
Forward Lines:
Kilger Weight Guerin
Murray Beranek Falloon
Moreau Marchant Grier
Laraque Devereux Buchberger
Defensive Pairings:
Hamrlik Poti
McSorley Niinimaa
Brown Laflamme
Starter: Salo
