SMYTH, TRADES AND WHAT’S UP FOR DAY TWO
By Jason Gregor
12 years ago
Do you remember the lovely Lilian Hosking? In December of 2005 she turned 101, and all she wanted for her birthday was to run her fingers through the most famous mullet in Edmonton. She got her wish when Ryan Smyth and a few members of the Oilers staff showed up at Meadowcroft seniors’ complex with a cake and his hair.
The Oilers found out about her request and Smyth gladly agreed to go meet her, too bad negotiating a deal to bring Smyth back to Edmonton wasn’t as easy.
At 10:30 p.m. Minnesota time I asked Tambellini to comment on the deal that had been circulating for almost an hour. "It’s not official at this point. There is nothing I can really give you at this point. If I had something I would give it to you, but right now there is not much I can say."
Jim Matheson, Dean Millard and Rob Tychkowski followed up with a few more questions trying to figure out what the delay was, but Tambellini didn’t give us anything. Helene Elliott from the LA Times tweeted at 9:40 CST that the deal was done, and mentioned it was Brule and a 5th round pick. Elliott is well connected to the Kings, and she doesn’t tweet stuff on a whim, so it was strange hearing Tambellini say the deal wasn’t official.
The fact he said it wasn’t official leads me to believe they are talking and it will get done, but it sure was a rollercoaster of a ride for Oiler fans. When the story first broke earlier this week Oiler fans were pretty excited about his return, but that excitement turned to rage today when numerous outlets reported that the hated Calgary Flames had an offer on the table, and Smyth just had to waive his no-move clause to make it happen.
The fact was, however, the Flames couldn’t have acquired Smyth because they didn’t have enough cap space. They would have needed to shed close to $5 million off the books before landing Smyth, and I’m sure the Oilers knew this. There was no major rush to trade for Smyth, because not only could the Flames not afford him, I’m betting the Oilers felt he wouldn’t agree to go to Calgary anyways.
****UPDATE…According to the LA Times, Brule’s health is holding up the deal. He needs to be deemed healthy for the trade to go through. You can’t buyout and injured player, and it sounds like Kings want to have that option.*******
For the sake of every Oiler fan I hope this saga ends on Saturday; one way or the other.
DRAFT NOTES
It’s a good thing I don’t set lines in Vegas or my company would have went broke in one day. My line of 9.5 trades involving first rounders was a joke. There wasn’t much action at all, although we did see some pretty significant deals. There ended up being only four trades that involved first rounders.
- The Sharks dealt Devin Setoguchi, Charlie Coyle and the 28th pick (Zack Phillips) to Minnesota for Brent Burns and a 2nd rounder in 2012. That is massive move by the Sharks, and more on that below.
- Washington acquired Troy Brouwer from the Chicago Blackhawks for the 26th pick (Phillip Danault)
- Toronto received the 22nd pick (Tyler Biggs) from Anaheim in exchange for the 30th (Rickard Rakell) and 39th picks.
- Detroit traded the 24th pick (Matt Puempel) to Ottawa for the 35th and 48th selections.
The Sharks needed to improve their blueline and once again Doug Wilson made a bold move.
"We know this player very well through our coaching staff and we think he will play really well with high-end players," said Wilson. "This came together very quickly and we gave up two really good players. These are tough deals, because Devin is a great kid and he is homegrown, but you have to give to get. The centre and defence position… there just doesn’t seem to be enough good players to go around, so we felt we couldn’t pass up this deal.
"We think we are in our window (to win) with our team and bringing in a guy like this, at his age and his type of game, will just complement where our team is at. When you come to the draft sometimes things come available, and you can’t always dictate the timing on when deals happen. We’ve made some pretty big deals with Dan Boyle, Dany Heatley or Joe Thornton and you need to act swift sometimes."
TRADING UP
The Oilers, like many teams were looking to move up, but it didn’t happen. Stu MacGregor told us that the Oilers were close to making a deal with Anaheim and the 22nd pick, but the Leafs offered up the 30th and 39th pick and the Oilers didn’t have anything to match that package.
Tambellini admitted that he was looking to move up a few times, but MacGregor told them they could stand pat and still get a player they liked. "There was a lot of play at 19 and I give Stu credit because there was a lot of times where we were pushing to move up one, two or three, but he was, ‘Nope we will get our guy,’ and it worked out. He was patient with it, and i commend him," said Tambellini.
WHO IS NEXT
Just like Friday, the Oilers will have the first pick on day two, but unlike yesterday the Oilers will listen to offers for that pick. Tambellini told me while we walked out of the rink that they had already received two calls about that pick. The Oilers like some of the guys still on the board, but if they can get two picks for one they might consider it.
They won’t be taking Rocco Grimaldi.
Many of you were tweeting me about Grimaldi and if the Oilers would take him at 31. I can tell you with certainty it won’t be Grimaldi or a goalie. His size is too much of a risk for the Oilers right now. Some guys they could take include forwards Boone Jenner, Brandon Saad, Ty Rattie and Tomas Jurco or D-men Scott Mayfield and David Musil.
Just a hunch, but I think they take a D-man. Seven of their last nine picks in the 1st and 2nd rounds have been forwards. I think they take a defender.
If they don’t make any moves the Oilers will pick, 31st, 62nd, 74th, 92nd, 114th, 122nd and 182nd.
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