Oilers Insider Note: This articles timing makes perfect sense with the new buzz of Kessel and Toronto heating up. Edmonton has real interest and I find it interesting to see what teams are willing to move for a player who will miss the first two months of the season. We also want to welcome Justin to the Oilers Insider group of posters.


There has been non-stop speculation that Phil Kessel will be traded this off-season. Steve Tambellini has been trying to land a premier offensive forward throughout the duration of his tenure as Oilers GM, so obviously there are going to be rumors. Phil Kessel is coming off a season where he put 60 pts up in 70 games, including 36 goals. All of this sounds enticing, but is it really worth what the Oilers would have to pay?

Based on what I can see, it appears as though the Bruins are going to have to either A) Trade salaries out to make room for Kessel or B) Trade Kessel himself for little to no salary coming back. The Bruins have no where near the cap space to sign the kind of deal Kessel is looking for, and moving salary out with no salary coming back is extremely difficult to do. This is where problems on the Oilers side come in. The Oilers, I believe have just over $1 million in cap space left. Phil is apparently asking in the 4.5 to 5 million per year range, so the Oilers would need to make cap space to afford his salary and the Bruins will almost certainly require Andrew Cogliano and either a prospect or a pick to compensate for the loss of their sniper, which is a hefty toll. On top of that, Edmonton would still need to bury salary in the minors or find some other way to move it out, costing them NHL quality players.

The upside to pulling the trigger on a deal like this, is that Kessel is a proven sniper. 36 goals by a 21 year old is a nice number, Cogliano for instance scored 18 at age 22, so it is certainly an improvement. Kessel at a +23 last season is not known as a shutdown guy by any stretch of the imagination, but doesn't seem to abandon his own zone altogether. The biggest benefit would be that Ales Hemsky would finally have the triggerman he has long desired. Hemsky's passes are a work of art and watching an elite scorer like Kessel beam them would generate a ton of excitement amongst fans and put a little fear into opponents.

The downside of aquiring Kessel is that you have to lose most likely Andrew Cogliano plus at least a pick or prospect. You then have to clean out an NHL calibre player or two to make room for Kessel's salary demands. The Oilers cannot afford to lose NHL caliber players, with such a soft lineup who doesn't score enough and bringing up youngsters not ready for the show is never a good idea (ala New York Islanders, Kyle Okposo and Josh Bailey). Not too mention that while Phil plays sound positionaly, he is NOT a physical player, with only had 6 hits all last year. SIX. Not good for a team that many consider is already too soft.

Weighing both sides, would you pull the trigger on the Kessel deal? It would look something like this:

To Edmonton: Phil Kessel

To Boston: Andrew Cogliano and either a first round pick (or two) or a prospect such as Riley Nash or possibly Jordan Eberle

The price WILL be steep. Signing him to an offer sheet practically deals and entire draft (1st, 2nd and 3rd rounders or possibly multiple 1st's depending on salary).

The lineup would then have to look something similiar to this

Kessel - Horcoff - Hemsky
O'Sullivan - Gagner - Eberle
Penner - Brule - Pisani
Moreau - Pouliot - Stortini

A total team salary cap hit of 53.75 Million Est. this roster leaves the team with just over 3 million in cap space, enough for trade deadline aquisitions
or a signing of a Manny Malhotra type checking line player.

How much damage would this team do? How would a Jordan Eberle do as teenager forced into the lineup? And what would your lineup be compared to mine? Discuss.

Jordan Eberle is already thought of differently than the other rookies at camp. While a scrimmage at Millenium Place took place in Sherwood Park with the rookie camp Wednesday, one name missing from the rink was Jordan Eberle.

Where was Eberle? Golfing and bonding with the rest of the pro roster and coaches at an allumni golf tournament. One doesn't have to look far to realize, while a rookie and maybe not an Oiler just yet, Eberle is steps ahead of being classified in the same light as the rest of the squad that skated lengths and drills Wednesday morning.

Eberle when asked was the first to admit that if you take a look at the Oilers depth chart, there aren't a lot of opportunities to make spaces for him this year, and those chances got even slimmer with the suggestion of Comrie's imminent signing, but maybe, just maybe Eberle on the team this year isn't so much a stretch anymore.

Should he be undeniably what the Oilers would like to add to the roster, it could fuel even more fire to the question of who would you trade if you could to add team toughness -- an area the Oilers lack and Eberle nor Comrie won't address.

It is being reported by Robin Brownlee over at oilersnation.com, that the Edmonton Oilers are mere days away from publicly announcing the signing of one Mike Comrie. The rumors have been circulating for about a week or two, but based on a 15 minute conversation Brownlee had with Mike Comrie, Brownlee is convinced he knows all he needs to, that this is as good as done.

While Mike Comrie is a good player and has more NHL experience than most of the similarly small forwards on the Oilers roster ie. Nilsson, Cogliano, Gagner, O'Sullivan and others who may have a chance to crack the NHL this year, where he plays on this roster is anyones guess. Here are a few possible scenarios:

Option 1

Comrie/Horcoff/Hemsky
O'Sullivan/Gagner/Nilsson
Penner/Cogliano/Pisani
Moreau/Pouliot/Stortini

The Upside

The first line has some proven NHL experience on it. Granted, Comrie is a stretch on the first line thanks to his last couple years of offensive production, but he's more offensively wired than anything else and his two-way and defensive style isn't exactly why the Oilers would be adding him. Keeping him close to Horcoff does for Comrie what is does for Hemsky -- gives an offensive skilled forward a chance to think more offensively with a defensively smart Horcoff on the line. Comrie can bounce back from his 27 points in 63 games of last season and is/was the only 30 goal scorer the Oilers would have, so it makes sense to put him in a position to contribute offensively and make him a real bargain at $1.3 million per year.

The Downside

Putting Comrie on the first line moves Penner, O'Sullivan or Cogliano (all potential 1st line LW) down the depth chart. It means both of the first two lines are extremely small in terms of size and physical play, so they can expect to be pushed around a lot.

Option 2

Penner/Horcoff/Hemsky
O'Sullivan/Gagner/Comrie
Nilsson/Cogliano/Pisani
Moreau/Pouliot/Stortini

The Upside

Your first line played well last year when kept together and the numbers have shown that when Penner, Horcs and Hemmer find chemistry, they can be very hard to play against, providing very good offensive numbers for each other. The second line is smaller, but more well rounded. I can't back it up, but I have a feeling Comrie and Gagner would click and are very interchangeable. I think Gagner gets significantly better at faceoffs this year and both players have a tendency to think pass first which works great for O'Sullivan who likes to shoot. The other option for me would be switching Nilsson and Comrie, just to get the passing ability of Nilsson on the same line as the shoot happy O'Sullivan.

The Downside

The lines are still small size wise and your second line as is looks weak to win important faceoffs and battles for the puck. Sure both Comrie and Gagner are the type of players who will fight just enough to let players know they're willing to drop em if need be, but overall their game is not physical and they'll absolutely need to out skill whatever line they are up against.

Option 3

O'Sullivan/Comrie/Hemsky
Cogliano/Gagner/Nilsson
Penner/Horcoff/Pisani
Moreau/Pouliot/Stortini

The Upside

While I think this is the weakest combination of the many possibles out there, but can see it as one that is given a look by the coaching staff. This third line is more physical and solves some of the glaring holes the Oilers had going into camp like a bigger and tougher bottom six. In fact the bottom six is terrific in terms of what they can contribute if they play the body along with be as offensively talented as we know they can be.

The Downside

The top six is small, weak and for the most part unproven. I think if O'Sullivan gets off to a good start, one similar to his point totals in LA, he's got a chance to pot 35 goals with Comrie and Hemsky as his feeders all year. That said, we've seen how inconsistent the "kid" line can be. Sure they're all a year further along and when they played well when lined together in the past were the reason the Oilers almost snuck into the playoffs in 2007, but that's a big if.

All in all, there are a lot more combinations out there and the above mentioned are just a few making the rounds in discussion. What do you suggest?

I for one think, that if Brownlee is correct and this signing is announced, that action is coming in terms of adding size. This is just too many smaller forwards on one team and a real opening to exit out a couple of smaller players, picks or prospects to land a more gritty style forward. Sure an argument can be made, that this is the same type of team that took Buffalo deep into the playoffs a few years back, only to get hampered by injuries down the stretch; but that more proves my point than anything.

This team will get beat on, night in and out physically and Stortini, Moreau, MacIntyre, Staois and Souray can only fight so many times without taking bad penalties before it hurts the team and the core of the lineup. The Oilers needs at least one forward who can help offensively, but is more about taking the body and freeing up space.

I'm not against Comrie, I just hope it leads to other action before opening night.

Robert Nilsson is in an interesting position. After last years lackluster performance, he was written off by fans, he was benched by MacTavish and for the most part, the blogging world of the NHL considered him a mistake in terms of contracts by the Edmonton Oilers.

His response? Put on 15 pounds of muscle, change his summer off-ice routine and show, not say that he's going to be without a shadow of concern from the new coaches, one of the standouts of the many similar style forwards currently on the Oilers roster. If his actions so far this summer suggest anything, I agree, that Nilsson has the potential to impress the most.

So far, Robert Nilsson hasn't said much. We know his skill-set is second only to maybe Ales Hemsky on the current roster. He has the ability to make amazing plays, is perhaps the best passer on the team and for all the critics quick to lay it on thick, Nilsson hasn't been as awful as some want us to think. His plus-minus was above sea level at plus -1. His special teams and shootout performance was better than respectable and he's still very raw in terms of NHL experience.


With all that said, Nilsson already knows what he showed last year isn't enough and a clean slate with new coaching and management gives him an opportunity to really prove and improve. So too, in getting ready for what Nilsson hopes will be a bounce back year, his responses to specific questions about where he sits with the Oilers this season, have shown me he's prepared and not going to be easily rattled.

When asked about his concern that the Oilers may be looking at Comrie, his response was something to the effect, it wasn't about being concerned or that he tried to think about where Comrie would fit, but admitted Comrie is an excellent player and would really help this team.

When asked about the surplus of similarly small forwards, he fully admited there was a number of players whose style of play might be similar, so he effectively diverted attention from it, by adding muscle mass and letting his summer training hint that he's ready to play a bit more of a physical role in terms of his on ice performance.

I made a predicition a while back that Nilsson would be someone to watch for in the Oilers near future. I suggested that a trade, a demotion or a bounce back performance might be on the horizon. I'm inclined to lean towards the latter of the three. If I had to select even just three of the forwards who should improve over last years performance, I'm inclined to make sure Nilsson is on my list.

I'm sure I'm going to be challenged on this opinion, but I'm ready to back it up and truly do feel that while we're quick to call the Ryan Smyth trade a gigantic failure, I'm not so quick to write off on the key components in that deal just yet..

Blair Betts is a name that popped up a lot in posts, blogs and comments around the Oilers team this year. The reason being, Edmonton fans feel much less secure about their strength at the third line center position than apparently the Oilers do.

Well, we can rule out Betts as an option.

Betts has been invited and accepted a tryout at the Philadelphia Flyers training camp this year. While the Oilers opt for young, unproven rookies and kids who have never played an NHL game to crack the line-up or show Oilers management something the team seems to be missing, Edmonton has now let another player who could have been signed on a two-way, league minimum contract slip through as another team not named Edmonton takes advantage of a surplus of veteran players in the UFA market.

At 6'3" and 210 pounds Betts is the type of player the Oilers claimed they'd be looking to add if they couldn't find internally, the heart to compete and play better than the team showed at the end of last season. Are we to believe the Oilers internal search provided evidence that letting someone with Betts skill-set (faceoffs, size, grit and whatever else you can start to list as missing from the 2009 version of the Oilers) go to another camp, yet alone a team that might not need him as much as the Oilers seem to, was a good idea?

Furthermore, we can express the same sentiment about a variety of players who could have received invites but haven't. This years camp of 58 players include an assortment of talent that will never see the light of day in the NHL this year or maybe ever.

I'm all for the experience gained by letting young raw talent play at a higher level, but isn't the point of camp to get to know your team, possible players and what options might be best to start the year? I can't imagine having not invited at least two of any of the many available UFA talents looking for a contract. To me this is a glaring missed opportunity that the Oilers haven't taken full advantage of.

I suppose when all is said and done, if the Oilers regret not inviting Betts, there is another option. The Flyers have shown interest in Rob Schremp. Perhaps a deal there is available, and to the Flyers, Betts may be just an additional but expendable piece. It's a long shot and if Betts wasn't invited for free, I'm not sure why the Oilers would pay for him, but stranger things have happened.

Jordan Eberle, by all accounts is saying the right things and playing the right way to give coaches and management of the Edmonton Oilers a real hard time deciding where this rookie will spend this coming season. If you ask him, he's ready to start immediately. "I feel that way," said the 19-year-old centre, Edmonton's first pick, 22nd overall, in 2008. "Even in the NHL exhibition game last year, I felt like I was capable of playing at this level."Eberle has exceeded expectations in every step of his game thus far. By all accounts, he's doing everything right. Getting stronger, faster, adding to his already impressive display of skill...but it won't be enough.

Eberle's problem isn't Eberle. It's Nilsson, Cogliano, O'Sullivan, Gagner and a host of other forwards who bring a lot of the same skills; and there simply isn't room for all of them on the Oilers. Eberle could easily make it all the way to the end of training camp before being sent back to Regina and the WHL and if he is, as he puts it, "It's a win-win situation." "I'd like to be playing here, to make that step, but if I go back to the WHL, it's not such a bad scenario either. We'd be trying to win a Memorial Cup and the(2010) world juniors are in Saskatoon."

Eberle scored 74 points in 61 games with the Pats last season, but to Oiler fans is mostly remembered as the kid to score one of the most dramatic goals in World Junior Championship history. I'm sure many of them know too, that particular team, was coached by Pat Quinn.

There is good news for Oiler fans hoping to catch a glimpse of what will be a fixture for the Copper and Blue for years to come. His age means he's stuck not being able to play a full year in the AHL. This means that he's either WHL or NHL to start the year and if he's just too good to ignore, fans may see him a bit sooner than expected and possibly at the expense of a player that to this point for the Oilers has underachieved.

This could be a real motivator for those 2nd and 3rd year guys sitting pretty thinking a spot is guaranteed for them. They should know by now, with new coaching; nothing is a certainty.

So if the Oilers aren't going to sign anyone and they aren't going to trade anyone, what happens? Well unless they can figure out a way to increase the production of guys like Cogliano, Pouliot, Brule, Gagner, O'Sullivan or any one of our 8 or 9 natural centres on this team in the faceoff circle, the Oilers are facing a real problem.

Since this seems to be more realistic and frankly kind of a scary thought, how do you solve a problem like this? To me it's simple. There is an excess of players on the UFA market that can't seem to find a place to play. Furthermore, there are a number of players whom over the past couple of years have retired and left the game as a player, but might want to introduce themselves to the world of coaching in the NHL.

Since there is no salary cap on coaching, and likely enough room in the Oilers press box to add one more seat, why not hire a faceoff coach?


The Oilers current and past who have developed the best faceoff %'s have done so under the guidance of player(s) whom while not the leading in offensive statistics on your team, showed their leadership and skill in other areas.


Horcoff and Jarret Stoll would be the first to admit that their faceoff skills vastly improved when Adam Oates joined the team. They got even better when Peca came aboard. Being around faceoff greatness, just trickled down and became contageous. Why couldn't this work for Cogliano, Pouliot or Gagner?


The answer is it could and if the Oilers don't find that faceoff guy to help out Shawn Horcoff it should. Should Peca not find a place to play, or Oates want back in, they'd make great coaches. Or how about a Yannic Perreault? There are other players out there that could share their skills, workouts, knowledge and secrets about an area where the Oilers could use it most.

I would guess too, that a move like this might help fans breathe a little easier knowing the players on the Oilers roster that need to get better will have the right tools to do so.

I've been pondering something. Everytime I read an article on one of the many Oiler blogs related to our team deficiencies or our duplicate player skill set, I think to myself...'would these same writers feel better if the Oilers just had a huge garage sale and moved the players they can't trade to the minors?'

If you take a second to think about it, we know it's doable. If Tambellini can't move players for draft picks, deep pockets Katz could take a number of the contracts currently on the team and bury them. Funds are not an issue, the team in Springfield sure could use the help and current star NHL'ers in an AHL affiliate market would sell more tickets, which might recoup some (not all) of the cost. Sure he runs the risk of waviers coming back up, but if you're doing this move to those players, you better not care if you can get them back or not.

Here is where I'm going with this. There a number of talented and role playing NHL UFA's still on the market. Malhotra, Neidermayer, Comrie, Betts, Skyora, Robert Lang, Christian Backman, Peca, Bergeron... just to name a few that at this point will cost far less than some of the players the Oilers employ, but fans seem to want to shake. Nilsson, Pisani, Staois, Moreau, Pouliot,... come to mind in the many posts and articles I've read.

In the end, salary cap wise it's likely cheaper to go after some of these UFA's. You gain experience, skill set in certain areas, size and grit and some real motivation as a number of these guys simply want to prove they deserve a spot on an NHL team . But here is my question for readers? Is a line-up like the one below better than the potential of our current group?

Penner/Horcoff/Hemsky

Cogs/Gagner/O'Sullivan

Neidermayer/Lang/Comrie

Jacques/Betts/Stortini

Obviously other combinations are available. Compare that lineup to what we have. You get a less expensive but older group. They provide experience, grit and a sandpaper quality the current roster doesn't.

What we miss out on, is the potential. We know what the potential is for this veteran UFA group. They've reached their peak. The Edmonton Oilers as is other the other hand, have not. We think we do, but have no idea what a Robert Nilsson under the right guidance and with the right motivation is capable of? 60 - 65 points? Or Cogliano in the right position in the line-up. 30 goals?

It's an interesting debate and I'm sure one that would take a number of twists and turns if people could start putting their dream line-ups together out of the peices still on the market. I for one don't know what I'd do in the role of Oilers management.

What I do know, is that there are a lot of good leftovers on the market right now, many of whom will not have a place to play this year. Next year it will only get worse (or better if you're a team who needs cheap but valued labour).