I THINK THE LINGO IS “BOOK IT”

Edmonton Oilers president of hockey operations Kevin Lowe had a chance Thursday to throw a big bucket of cold water on suggestions his team might make a "wow" move once the NHL lockout is over. Instead, he brought a gas can.

Lowe appeared on Oilers Now on 630 CHED with host Bob Stauffer, who created a buzz in recent days with his suggestion the Oilers were poised to make a noteworthy player acquisition, in large part because of the depth of young talent they’ve amassed during six years out of the playoffs.

Lowe did nothing do dismiss Stauffer’s contention – one that was dismissed and ridiculed in some corners as guessing and blatant speculation on the part of the always opinionated Stauffer. If anything, Lowe’s take from the top on his team’s organizational depth and the possibilities that come along with it was very much along the same lines.

"You’re going into a game with lots of trump cards," Lowe said. "That’s the only way you can make deals is if you have assets that are attractive to other teams. When you have assets then you can make deals.

"So, absolutely, we’re at some point, whenever that is, we’re probably not too far down the road, we’re going to have to make some tough choices and maybe move some players, or a player, draft picks, to get a piece or two that finishes off the formation of what you feel is a championship team.

"I mean, we need to get to the playoffs first, so you can’t put the cart ahead of the horse, but no question. I don’t talk to managers on a regular basis any more, that’s (GM) Steve Tambellini’s job, but I do know from my past experiences that we won’t have a tough job selling anybody on anybody that we have in the event we’re interested in a player on another team.”

For full context and the entire interview you can go here, but like I said when Stauffer began hinting something could be coming down the pipe once the NHL actually gets back to playing hockey, don’t be surprised if Lowe and Tambellini get busy. Wow? Stay tuned.