Baggedmilk Investigates: News, Notes, and Bye Week Rumblings
By baggedmilk
7 years ago
Is there anything quite like an off week to slow down the Oilers news pipeline? Unfortunately, we still need something to talk about and that means I had to put on my detective hat and scour the Internet to see what I could find. As a result, I’ve spent the day scouring the Internet to find any news, notes, or rumours that I could put together. The result? A collection of Oilers randomness for us all to argue about.
KRIS RUSSELL AT 4X4?
Today on Oilers Now, Bob Stauffer was speculating/floating the idea of extending Kris Russell to a contract in the neighbourhood of $4 million x four years. For some citizens, that kind of deal seems pretty rich for a guy that has only five points on the year. For others, Russell is the kind of heart and soul guy that the Oilers need on their roster.
From where I blog, every dollar matters in the McDavid era and I can’t help but wonder why the Oilers would think that a 4×4 extension would be the best play on the budget side of the equation. Does it really make sense to tie up that much money in a guy that have next to no offensive upside? That’s where I have a hard time with this idea. I don’t hate Russell as much as some peeps do, and I don’t like him as much as others do either, but I think there has to be a line drawn in the sand for what the team is will to pay a guy with limited scoring touch.
Would you be cool with the Oilers paying Kris Russell $4 million over four years? What if walking away meant that Russell went back to Calgary? Does that make any difference?
SOLIDIFYING A PLAYOFF SPOT
Not much here but on TSN’s That’s Hockey the panel was talking about what the Oilers need to do to not only make the playoffs but to solidify their position down the stretch. Both Darren Dreger and Jamie McLennan had positive things to say about where the Oilers are heading, and both believe that a minor tweak is a better idea than big game hunting, at least for the time being.
On what the Oilers need, Dreger said:
“In a perfect world, they would add a depth centre just to give them a little bit more help there.”
Dreger followed up by talking about how the best acquisition the Oilers might actually get is a good bill of health for Darnell Nurse.
“If they can get Nurse back in the first or second week of March I think that Chiarelli likes the way his team sets up.”
Jamie McLennan agreed with Dreger that the Oilers should be looking to add some support rather than swing for the fences. On what they need, McLennan said:
“It depends on the available players at the deadline. Darnell Nurse will feel like an acquisition at the deadline if he can get healthy.”
Uhh… no wishlist at all? No guesses? Give us something here, Jamie.
“Maybe some depth, a little bit more size and experience to help these kids get to the next level.”
What say you, Nation? Any experienced centremen with size that you think the Oilers could fish for?
POULIOT CAN BE MOVED BUT MAY NOT BE
For the ? haters out there that think that the Oilers are stuck with him forever you might be in luck… or you might end up angry. Ryan Rishaug appeared on the Nielson and Fraser Show this morning and had a few thoughts about Pouliot’s future with the team that seems to be looking for ways to get rid of him. At least, we thought that they’re trying to get rid of him.
According to Rishaug:
“In the past, I’ve suggested that they’re desperate to move (him). I’ve since discovered that may no longer be the case.”
Wait a minute… Not moving a guy because you can’t isn’t the same as wanting to keep him. Which one is it, bruh?
“When they decide they want to move (Pouliot) they will be able to. There actually might be some deals out there, not fantastic deals, but he’s not an immovable object is the point. Once you get into the playoffs, I just have this funny feeling that Pouliot will be pretty good for them (in the post-season).”
Hmm… Now that he says that, I do remember Pouliot being magic for the Rangers during their Cup run from a couple years ago. Can Pouliot rekindle some of that magic? It’s possible. We’ve seen him do it before. There’s probably video that we can dig up or something. Anything else, Ryan?
“In the playoffs, the speed ramps up and the physicality ramps up. He had another level that he hit (with the Rangers). If you can get him playing and elevating in the playoffs then you’ve got a pretty good third line left winger.”
I’m curious to know what you guys think of the idea of keeping Pouliot in the hopes that he can find his game again. Do you think he can get back to where he was at or have you already lost hope?
BEWARE OF TWITTER RUMOURS
Yesterday, Oilers Twitter was ablaze by the rumour above that had Brandon Davidson going to Tampa for Brian Boyle. When we first heard about it, we were going to do a “speculation” hit on the site until we saw that Josh Marshall has 600 followers on Twitter. From my experience dabbling on these here interwebz, you’re not going to get anything close to the ballpark of good information from an unknown dude that most people haven’t heard of (sorry if you’re reading this, Josh, but you know it’s true) and taking those rumours seriously is a waste of time. Unless Josh was doing a social experiment on how much people eat up fake hockey news then I’m not sure what the point of doing it is.
I know it’s the bye week for the Oilers but I say that we should be a little bit more selective with our rumour mongering. If you’re going to be diving into the world of hockey hearsay then I recommend that you find the usual suspects, follow those guys, and remind yourself that if it’s not one of them saying something then chances are that it’s not actually true. Case in point, remember that fantasy football dude that said Tyson Barrie was going to be an Oiler within 72 hours back in the summer? That was fun for a minute.
YOU’RE GOOD PEOPLE, NATION
I know this isn’t new news or anything but I wanted to give a quick shout out to citizen Derek and Dallas Todd for the power move they pulled off when they went down to watch the Oilers in Nashville. For those who are still unfamiliar with the story, the Todd brothers flew to Nashville to watch the Oilers take on the Preds when they noticed a young Nashville fan sitting a few rows ahead of them that was staring at a picture of his favourite team’s jersey.
Noticing that the youngster didn’t have one of his own, Derek Todd took it upon himself to buy a Preds jersey and give it to the kid, blowing his mind completely. When Global News asked Derek about the gesture after the news had leaked all he could say was, “I just did it because it put a smile on a kid’s face. Those are the kinds of things as a kid that you don’t ever forget that stuff.” What a champion. Derek and Dallas Todd, we speak your names.
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