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AT RANDOM: WHY NOT?
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Robin Brownlee
Sep 11, 2016, 14:30 EDTUpdated:
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There’s no such thing as having too much depth or too much competition for jobs at any position in professional sports, so there’s absolutely no downside to the potential addition of Kris Versteeg by the Edmonton Oilers by way of a PTO. If he shines and earns a contract, fine. If not, thanks for coming.
While I saw adequate depth on right wing with Jordan Eberle, rookie Jesse Puljujarvi, Zack Kassian, Nail Yakupov and Iiro Pakarinen already contesting roster spots on the RW, as I wrote here back on July 25, before the Versteeg PTO, adding another player to the mix with no risk is a no-brainer.
Lowetide has written a couple of good items on Versteeg already, including this one. Versteeg has been a pretty good player through 550 NHL games (131-182-313). He’s not 100 years old (Versteeg, not Lowetide), he just turned 30 in May. While he’s five years removed from his best season, 54 points with Florida in 2011-12, Versteeg should have a little something left in the tank.
Is Versteeg a top-six forward at this point in his career? Is he a third-line guy? Does he slot in at all and earn a contract? That’s a discussion that’s already underway with the Oiler fan base and right here, as you’d expect, at Oilersnation. I don’t have the answer to that, and, for me, it doesn’t matter – not on Sept. 11.

THE WAY I SEE IT

What matters most to me is Versteeg provides coach Todd McLellan and GM Pete Chiarelli with another option behind Eberle on RW. Maybe Versteeg buys Puljujarvi more time to develop. Maybe he bumps Pakarinen back to the minors or Yakupov into a third-line role or right out of town – at the very least, it might end the notion by some that Yak should be gifted first-line minutes alongside Connor McDavid.
“Kris has done a lot in this league,” Chiarelli told Jim Matheson of The Journal. “He’s a talented guy and we’d like to have a look at him so he pushes some guys. He’s got a good chance to make it and I want competition. I thought he showed some stuff last year. If he beats somebody out, we’ll sign him.”
Versteeg, a Lethbridge boy, says he had as many at 10 teams considering him. He earned a couple of Stanley Cup rings in Chicago. He played briefly (14 games) with Milan Lucic in Los Angeles last season. He chose Edmonton, he says, because best friend Rob Klinkhammer spoke highly of the organization. 
Historically, PTOs are a longshot. Last summer, for example, there were about 80 PTOs signed (as of last Sept. 10) – the vast majority involving unproven free agents and journeymen, not established players like Versteeg. Just nine players ended up signing contracts. Corey Potter, Jonas Gustavsson, Michal Rozsival, Jack Skille, Tomas Fleischman, Lee Stempniak, Scott Gomez, Steve Bernier and Scottie Upshall got deals. Still, a longshot is better than no shot. That’s the bottom line.

WE REMEMBER

Today we remember the victims who died and the families who lost those loved ones on the 15th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York and the Pentagon and the ties to Edmonton that always tug at the heartstrings.
Garnet (Ace) Bailey, who won a Memorial Cup with the Edmonton Oil Kings, was a player with the WHA Oilers and a member of the Oiler scouting staff 1981-94 in the NHL, was on Flight 175 that hit the World Trade Centre, as was fellow Los Angeles scout Mark Bavis. Bailey was just 53 when he died. He is missed.
Listen to Robin Brownlee Wednesdays and Thursdays from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. on the Jason Gregor Show on TEAM 1260.

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