Sportsnet’s Mark Spector had an article up on Thursday (h/t Lowetide) in which he considered the Oilers’ off-season plans through the lens of a discussion with Craig MacTavish. It’s a good piece, but the suggested additions range from the adequate to the truly horrifying.
In the last category is Michal Handzus.
Spector:
Up front they require help at first- or second-line centre, but that’s an unlikely prospect. A more reasonable hope would be some second- or third-line size, like a Daniel Winnik or perhaps a Michal Handzus.
Let’s talk a little about the season Handzus just had.
WOWY
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The above chart shows the 10 players who spent the most time with Michal Handzus last year, as well as their Corsi percentage with him and without him. Every one of them was better apart.
The Rest of It
Some of what we’re seeing above is the Jonathan Toews effect, but not nearly enough of it can be blamed on looking bad in the shadow of a superstar.
Handuzs ranked 10th among the Blackhawks’ regular forwards in Quality of Competition. He started more than 60 percent of his non-neutral zone shifts in the offensive end of the rink. Despite this, and despite playing regularly with Patrick Kane, he had one of the worst Corsi numbers on the team. Even that was better than the playoffs, where the exceptional Blackhawks were out-shot by a brutal 112-62 margin with Handzus on the ice.
Handzus’ scoring has also all but disappeared. He had four goals this year; he’s had six in his last 98 regular season games. At 37 years of age, it’s not likely that his scoring is about to reappear, either.
Where’s the upside here? Are the Oilers so arrogant as to believe that they can find a scoring touch in a player who couldn’t light the lamp with Patrick Kane on his wing? Do they think that a guy who got hammered on the Blackhawks in pretty much every statistical category is going to recover in Edmonton?
The Good News
Read @SportsnetSpec piece with #Oilers GM Craig MacTavish. Wouldn’t surprise me if Oilers did better then add Coburn, Handzus or Winnik
— Bob Stauffer (@Bob_Stauffer) June 13, 2014
RECENTLY BY JONATHAN WILLIS
- Oilers extend Steve Pinizzotto
- Oilers hire Craig Ramsay, reassign Kelly Buchberger
- David Musil is on track as a prospect
- Hemsky: Let him go
- The first pick of the fourth round
- Follow Jonathan Willis on Twitter!
But… but… the Oilers could use a guy with Handzus’ foot speed!
*continues dragging piano*
Is Kevin Lowe gone yet? I’m so excited!!!
Sorry about your luck but Lowe isn’t going anywhere
Maybe we could sign Pavol Demitra and Lubos Bartecko as well to reunite the Slovak Pack
Something tells me Demitra ain’t coming to that party…
As for Handzus…. Is 6’5″, 215 his height and weight?
Or is it his age?
#Grabo&Kule2014
Demitra passed away…
Forgot about that; didn’t mean to be tasteless
Wow, Handzus had 16 points in 59 games this year. Did not realize he slid down that bad.
What would it take to get Oliver Ekman Larsson out of Arizona? Could we do a straight up deal for him?
OEL-Pertry
Klefbom-UFA
Ference-Schultz
Sign a veteran UFA like Markov or potentially Boyle.
^everyone please stop with this! OEL is going absolutely NOWHERE so you may as well stop dreaming about it!!
Puff, puff, give man; don’t bogart that J. It sounds like primo sh*t if you think there is a reality where Phx parts with OEL for a collection of maybes.
This isn’t NHL 14. Volume doesn’t compensate for quality.
If, and it’s a ginormous IF, Phx or any team trades arguably a top 10 D in the league it will cost Edmonton a core component like Eberle or at the very least Yakupov plus the 3rd overall this year and/or the 2015 1st round pick.
The grass is greener on the other side of the fence.
That’s all this is!
Allen Iverson is the Answer
The Jeff Carter vs Michael Handzus matchup was one of the reasons why Chicago lost to LA. Jeff Carter lit them up until they moved Handzus off the Kane line.
Spector is a moron. He is the epitome of a talking head. Says nothing, knows nothing. Spouts off stupid comments about a game he has never even played. Truly one of the worst broadcasters. I always FWD through his garbage on Sportsnet.
this is what i’m concerned with when it comes to the Oilers. they absolutely MUST not get into the mentality that signing other team’s castoffs will make the Oilers better! don’t care if Handzus is “big” or not, please don’t sign this guy just because he’s available, please be choosy and don’t make a rushed, panicked decision.
I am truly scared of what Sportsnet NHL coverage will be like when they have guys like Spector, Lawton and Kyperos on the payroll. Oh and the best big mouth, Doug Maclean. What a piece of crap. It is really amateur hour on that network. Hopefully they weed out those d-bags, weed out PJ Stock and Healy from CBC and shoot Maguire. Get Freidman, Mackenzie and Draeger.
Well said Sean17,
I’m not a fan of Ferraro either. To think of it,I cannot stand the in-between the benches bantor. Ferraro talks down to the audience and tries to educate everybody, while Healy doesnt know what side of the fence he sits on and over talks the game commentator constantly.
For a 58 billion dollar monopoly, how much more are us viewers going to have to pay to watch hockey and cover Roger’s investment, I dont think advertising will cover that.
I actually don’t mind Ferraro, but he has gotten more arrogant on TSN. You’re right Healy is always trying to cut-off the play-by-play crew to say something stupid.
Ferraro’s arrogance, IMO, is part of his charm and what makes him a good commentator. He seems really engaged and for whatever reason I find his criticisms of coaches, players, teams, to be astute and, at any rate, more entertaining than when Pierre McGuire does it.
…like HE said
couldn’t say it any better JC…
Handzus is still playing?
Kevin Lowe has been named Vice-Chairman of the new organization, and will continue to play a leadership role with the organization’s Hockey Operations. Patrick LaForge has been named President and Chief Operating Officer of OEG and will be responsible for the group’s business operations.
The more things change the more they stay the same.
Full press release here:
http://oilers.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=722586&navid=DL|EDM|home
I don’t know who selected the headline but I laughed out loud. Well done gentle scribes.
But yes, I agree, Handzus would be the new Belanger– the place where Corsi goes to die. Maybe if you combined him with Gagner (on the wing) and Yakupov, the negative effects that each would have on the other would create a black hole of puck possession and swallow up the entire opposing team.
Thanks, I laughed out loud and my office is looking at me like I’m nuts.
JW…Sheldon Brookbank is a free agent Dman
…he could / could he be a fit IMHO / ?
So Spector doesn’t know anything about hockey players in the year 2014, and Stauffer can’t spell.
Go MSM!
Truly horrifying is an understatement regarding the Oilers acquiring Michal Handzus.
If Handzus was 30 there would be merit to the suggestion. He’s not. He’s 37 and you can time him with a sundial. He had a good run but he’s done.
The Oilers need to find a C like Handzus but still in his prime…like Martin Hanzal.
Best headline of any ON article ever.
I read an article about how a new study suggests that men’s faces evolved to be punched. Men’s faces look different from women’s because their ancestors evolved to survive being punched during fights a new study suggests.
By 2025 Oilers fans will all have indestructible washboard stomachs, regardless of beer intake. Oilers fans midsection will become evolved to be very different from those of other hockey fans due to taking repeated gut shots from our favorite team. This evolutionary adaption will be key to the survival of Oilers fans.
#ThanksKevin I always wanted 6 pack abs.
Oiler Domination To Follow
Nicholson is the perfect addition to the management team.
Ramsey is the perfect addition to the coaching staff.
Marchand and Kulemin would be the perfect additions to the third line.
Nicholson is named vice chairman of Entertainment for OEG…he’s the one who’s gonna hire the new DJ so Oiler fan dancing can follow and dominate
Lets get one thing straight. Nicholson was not brought in to make this a winning team. If the powers that be wanted this team to be a winner, then Lowe would be gone, Bucky and Smith would be gone, They would have brought in a way more qualifies person to be GM intend of MacT, MacT would still be TSN, Atkins would be wrecking another team, Smyth would have been forced to retire at least one year earlier and Edmonton Tax payers would not be on the hook to help line Katz pockets for the next 35 plus years.
Nicholson did one thing very, very well with Hockey Canada. He turned a none profit entity into an extremely profitable source of income for many. That is why he was hired. To make more money. No other reason. It is all about money. Don let yourself be fooled.
Add to that that Nicholson is the pent ultimate Fokker acquisition – he is Katz and Lowe (and laforges) biggest friend in hockey canada. His hiring is the biggest addition to the Katz playground. And he will only protect Lowe and laforge – not move to replace them.
And he is the second of two 61 year old hires in a row. Difficult to see how they will reinvent and rejuvenate at this stage of their careers.
60 is the new 50, lol. The human-brain is a miraculous thing. Barring any ailments we can learn till the very end. We should all be so lucky to be active in a job one loves. Harper will raise retirement to 67-70 yrs soon so might as well do something you love 🙂
Quit being ageist dude. I felt this news was anti-climactic but its far from bad.
Why do yu continue to add better players to edms roster than they currntly have and proceed to bury them on the 3rd line?
Marchand wouls instantly be our new #2 RW. Get a grip
Hey Jonathan
Thank for another very good read. You did use fancy stats but just enough to state your point and not take over the article. Please teach some of your less talented colleges how to do this.
And while I agree with you, They will overpay him and bring him in and he will enjoy a slack retirement type of job, while the fans trash him. That’s the way it goes here.
Handzus at league minimum to be the fourth-line center is one thing, and actually a decent fit for a team looking to add experience and actual NHLers. Handzus at more than that for a 2nd-3rd line role is insanity. It only worked for Chicago that one year because he was a deadline pickup in a shortened season and he played with Kane, Sharp and co. and it hid most of his huge gaping flaws.
As a Hawks and Oilers fan, this is not what I was hoping for when I envisioned any kind of talent swap between these teams.
Watched the presser re Nicholson, just shook my head when KL crowned the greatest man in hockey and that he would continue on as POHO. Oiler domination to follow ?? My ass !!
Terry Jones should not be allowed to ask questions during a press conference.
“Uuuuhhh… umm.. Terry Jones, Edmonton Sun…..(stupid joke) … (wheezy laugh) …. uuuuhhhh… ummm… (long-winded question completely unrelated to the reason for the press conference)…. (annoying throat clearing/teeth sucking) .. “
…what was Jonesys’ unrelated question?
‘In Anaheim they served the press In’n Out burger, as vice chairman of OEG what kind of food will you serve the press?’
…did Nicholson answer?
~Hall of fame baby…. hall of fame.~
also.
FML
?…FML
They have donuts at press conference’s, right.It is only at games that donuts are banned?
…yup he never missed a meal at any venue
>>>EVER!!! go terry go!
If Michal Handzus is the answer then what the HE double hockey sticks was the question? That should have been the Headline
Coaching staff.. Eakins Ramsay and Oates.
Trade petry for couturier
Trade 2015 or 2014 1 round pick, musil, and 2015 2nd round pick for saad and bickell.
Trade gagner for anisimov
sign orpik, stralman, B. Boyle and or nikitin.
Hall- Nuge-Yak
Bickell- couturier- eberle
Saad- Anisimov- perron
Gazdic/gordon- boyle- pitlcik/Hendricks
Klef- Schultz
Marincin- Stralman
Ference- Orpik
Nikitin/Fedun
Trade petry for couturier Trade 2015 or 2014 1 round pick, musil, and 2015 2nd round pick for saad and bickell. Trade gagner for anisimov sign orpik, stralman, B. Boyle and or nikitin. Then wake up you are dreaming.
I see “99” past the blunt to you.
The players you covet would certainly help the Oilers, but there is no reality where Petry gets you Couturier nor is Chicago going to trade Bickell and Saad for picks and prospects who are 4-5 years from contributing while they are in the middle of their window to win Cups.
Reality…trades have to actually be based in it.
After you wake up, don’t forget to ask your mum to wash your sheets.
Spec has been too close to Jason Negative. Both think Handzus is a 2C.
Their belief is “Every player on every team is better than any Oiler.”
Look at Ht + Wt and Ignore stats + facts.
Paajarvi for third line LW