Only One Way This Ends Well

On Saturday Sheldon Souray cleared waivers. That's right, the former Allstar and 26 goal defenceman was passed over by 29 other teams who could have had him for free.

Ok, Souray wouldn't have come free (not with a 2yr $5.4 M per year cap hit still remaining on his contract). But because a team would have had to give nothing to get him, Tambellini made a logical bet that some of the teams who missed out on the spree of defencemen the first day of free agency, might have wanted Souray as a backup plan. Tambellini was wrong and all 29 GM's said they'd rather go with Plan C.

The reality is, Souray might be plan C, D or E on an NHL GM's needs list. At his price point the odds were high to start with that Souray got moved and that along with recently being shutdown by everyone has to be humbling for Souray.

Remarks like the ones Souray made wouldn't have come from a man who thought he was unwanted everywhere. Souray likely never guessed at the time of his public statements that he'd be playing in the minors just a few months later. That's now a real option unless he begs to come back to Edmonton or gets put on re-entry waivers.

Here are all the options available to Edmonton now:

1) Re-entry waivers
2) Buy-out during the next buy-out period
3) Trade crap and money for crap and money
4) Play him in the minors
5) Bring him back to the Oilers.

The Oilers don't want him. Offering to give him away for nothing should be a clear indication of that. But, the Oilers will not buy Souray out and don't want to pay half of his salary for two years if claimed on re-entry. Even if the buyout period hadn't already ended (which it has), at $1.5 million per season over the next four years he's too expensive to do that with. His re-entry price hit is $2,700,000. Ouch.

A trade seems no longer much of an option. There were all sorts of rumors he'd be going here or there, but obviously the market for Souray is about as big as a grain of salt and since the Oilers don't want to take garbage for garbage, Edmonton can't really move him without an associated cost. That cost is likely a term longer or more expensive than the one attached to Souray.

You could play Souray in the minors, but here's the issue with that. From what we hear the Oilers are dead set against letting that type of cancer infest a much more young and susecptible lockerroom. If we thought the damage he could do to the Oilers was bad, imagine what he could do with a bunch of kids hanging on the every word of a proven pro. Souray could spread the negativity into every prospect coming up instead of his being the only bad apple. That's just compounding the problem.

So what can Edmonton really do? Somehow, when Souray bashed the team, he threw in that he'd be willing to come back. He's still got a crap attitude, always has. But of all the options this is the one I'd consider.

Let's say the last few days have really humbled Souray. He won't want to be obvious about it, but swallowing his pride, putting his tail between his legs and asking the fans, the team, the players and management to make this water under the bridge might be more possible than it sounds.

The Oilers have done a good job of bringing in quality guys who want to be Oilers. If management makes a conscious effort to treat them well and communicate, they'll be a lot of voices telling Souray to shut the hell up if gets out of line. If he's really regretting what he said and doesn't speak up unless in a positive more leader like way, the problem likely just kind of fizzles away.

The upside is, Souray actually plays well and stays healthy. It's conceivable that a line up with Gilbert, Whitney, Souray, Smid, Foster, Vandermeer and Strudwick is a better line-up than without. Souray's presence gives Edmonton two top powerplay units, a defenceman who can log minutes, but doesn't necessarily have to now and another weapon on offense. He too is tough as nails (outside of a freak wrist break on Iginla's head) and can be tough to play against.

If he starts strong, the teams that saw him as Plan C or D might move him to Plan B. He becomes much easier to trade then and the money, attitude and contract questions go away. If he really turns it around, there is about a 2% chance he makes keeping him a smart move.

I'm not sure how else this will end well, but it's the only option I can think of.