GDB XLV: Will mini-camp pay off?

Will we see a different Oiler team tonight after three days of extra practice and work in the film room? No one knows — not even the coaches or the players.

“We’ll find out tonight if it sunk in,” said Sheldon Souray.

“Until we see them in a game I don’t know it made an impact or not, but they worked hard so I hope so,” Tom Renney said yesterday.

I get the sense from many Oiler fans they don’t want to see an improvement, and why would they. The Oilers are struggling and not even one of their usual Feb/March runs will be enough to get them in the playoffs.

You can’t ask the players to not give their best effort, but it is clear that this team isn’t that good, so why not get in seller mode sooner-than-later to ensure a lottery pick?

Fact is the Oilers play the Predators tonight, the Penguins on Thursday and the Sharks Saturday afternoon, so realistically one win is the most you’d expect them to get this week. And if they can maintain winning three or four out of ten the rest of the way then they’ll ensure themselves a lottery pick.

I don’t doubt that the Oilers would trade Andrew Cogliano, considering they did this summer (until Heatley vetoed it), but that trade proposal seems like a lot to get or it shows that Lee and O’Brien aren’t NHLers in Ottawa’s eyes.

Cogliano is struggling, but he also isn’t getting many offensive opportunities. Look at the deal the Wild and Habs made six weeks ago. They swapped two underachieving forwards and both have produced in their new environment. Latendresse is on fire in Minnesota with 10 goals in 20 games, while Pouliot has four goals in the nine games he has played.

I think if Cogliano gets dealt it will be a package deal, or he’ll get traded for a struggling forward with potential. The only reason O’Brien made any sense was his size, 6’2”, but with only six points in 34 AHL games he doesn’t look like a scorer right now. I sent a text to a management type asking if there was any truth to the deal, and the response was, “NO, not close”.

I’ve seen Tyler Seguin play two games this season, and I’ve seen Hall play seven times, none live though and Hall didn’t look that much more dominant than Seguin. But I also know that isn’t enough time to get an accurate read of their skills.

EJ McGwire from Central Scouting will be on my show today at 3:10 MST, (you can listen on line at www.justagame.ca) to discuss these two along with Cam Fowler and the other top-rated picks as Central Scouting released their midway rankings yesterday.

It’s interesting to note that in 2006 Phil Kessel was ranked #1 at this time, but was 5th in the final rankings, and he went 5th to Boston. Taylor Hall is not a slam dunk like Sidney Crosby was or even Patrick Kane. This year’s class is very solid, with many predicting the top 12 will be solid NHLers down the road.

If you have any questions you want me to ask McGwire send them to justagame@theteam1260.com

Gibert Brule is out with the flu again tonight. This is the 4th time he has been sick this year, and Quinn said the team is sending him to a specialist to see what the issue is. JF Jacques and Marc Pouliot took turns skating in Brule’s place alongside Ryan Potulny and Patrick O’Sullivan.

Jacques will most likely draw in. Pouliot isn’t in game shape and he hasn’t practiced for more than three days with the team in four months, so I’ll be stunned if he draws in ahead of Brule.