Sport-scan daily brief

Related post — Oilers should trade Whitney, even if they stay in the playoff race (Willis, March 19)

Despite years of trade rumours, Ales Hemsky has never worn any other NHL sweater than Edmonton Oilers.

Despite years of trade rumours, Ales Hemsky has never worn any other NHL sweater than Edmonton Oilers.

Ales Hemsky – His name seems to come up at the deadline every year, so why mess with tradition? With another year to run at $5 MM Hemsky would hardly be a rental; he would immediately step into a top six role on whatever team acquired him or else they wouldn’t be interested.

TSN’s thumbnail analysis that “Hemsky could be considered serious trade bait if the Oilers don’t make a run for a playoff spot” appears to have been written some days ago, as the Oilers have peeled off four straight regulation wins to get right into the playoff mix just as the deadline arrives and there’s no more context to be had. As if on cue, Hemsky tweaked a hamstring in the third period of Monday night’s 4-1 win over Calgary, which might raise red flags on the other end of any hypothetical discussion.

To trade a quality player like Hemsky for some package of futures would be a big step backwards, but a swap for another proven NHLer with a different skill set isn’t out of the question.

Related post — Should the Oilers trade Ales Hemsky? (Staples, March 26)

Ryan Jones – Another polarizing player who is popular among much of the fanbase but detested in some quarters. Jones has his limitations to be sure — nobody has ever confused his play with that of his cousin, John Tonelli — but he also has some positives. Among them is the rather unsettling fact that at a listed 205 pounds he is currently the heaviest winger on Edmonton’s roster. The Oilers aren’t in a very good position to be trading away size unless there’s an infusion of same on an inbound flight.

Just as even a good utility infielder has weaknesses (or else he’d be a starter), Jones’ game has plenty of holes, but the jack-of-all-trades provides welcome elements in areas the club is lacking. At 28, he’s a prime-of-career player with 272 games of experience and over 50 NHL goals, factors which might make him a desirable quantity elsewhere but which have some value here in Edmonton as well. Coming off an eye injury, Jones has had stretches of ineffective (and occasionally downright bad) play, but continues to deliver a robust style. Once again he ranks among the team’s leaders in hits while doing some of his best work in and around the blue paint, a rare enough trait on this club. His ability to play both wings and to move up and down the line-up has value to the Oilers as well as to any potential suitor.

Replacing that versatility with another kid, even a promising one like the hulking but unproven Teemu Hartikainen, is by no means a guaranteed improvement to the bottom six in the immediate short term.

Related post — Is Ryan Jones a keeper or should Oilers deal him at the deadline? (Staples, April 2)

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Eric Belanger – The 35-year-old might be attractive as a Dominic Moore type pick-up for a contender seeking a little faceoff/PK depth down the middle, except for two things: his contract has another year to run at an increasingly-unattractive $1.75 MM, and he is currently on injured reserve for the third time this season. While he is reportedly close enough to full health that his name is in the great discussion, that has to be a huge red flag for opposing GMs. Unless he goes the other way in return for a bigger salary dump — the recently-waived Jussi Jokinen and his $3 MM ticket for 2013-14 springs to mind — it’s difficult to envision Belanger going anywhere.

Ben Eager – Not currently an Oiler but spent most of the season on the roster. Potentially a contract going the other way to make room for an incoming one, especially if the incomer is (also) a salary dump à la Jokinen.

Mark Fistric — Tambellini spent a third-round pick to acquire the banger when Theo Peckham wasn’t ready to go at training camp. He has delivered more or less as advertised, a big surly body with a take-no-prisoners style who has taken a couple of knocks himself that put him out of the line-up. He’s also been burned at times by leaving his position to take a run at somebody. Brings zero offence but surprisingly, leads Oilers in plus/minus, surely a textbook case of variance within small sample size. Has value on the market as a physical 6/7 defender, but has the same value here. If Oilers are confident a healthy, rusty Peckham could fill the same role and if Tambellini could get a higher draft pick for Fistric than he gave up for him, then maybe.

Related post: Should Oilers try to keep Fistric? (Willis, March 20)

Nikolai Khabibulin – Rumours that Khabibulin and Whitney would actually be re-signed to contract extensions made the rounds on April Fool’s Day, giving the critics something to hammer Tambellini for on a day that the GM actually did extend a core player in Ladi Smid. Khabibulin’s own four-year deal wasn’t Tambellini’s finest hour to be sure, but is about to run its course. There might be a market for a veteran back-up with few $$$ remaining who has posted outstanding numbers (.930 save percentage, 2.30 goals against average) in limited action; especially for a team like St. Louis who just lost their #1 stopper and who got an eyeful of Khabibulin just last week in a transcendent performance that flat-out stole Oilers the win. Difficult to picture a trade with a direct playoff rival, however. There are a few possible suitors in the other conference such as the unfortunate Hurricanes, and if the Oilers could snag a useful draft pick anything’s possible. Still, the impression I get is that Ralph Krueger would rather have Khabibulin as his B option than potential call-up Yann Danis.

Related post: Oilers could get as much as a second rounder for Khabibulin, former NHL GM says (Staples, March 25)

Magnus Paajarvi — I mention him only because his name has been rumoured so frequently. Moving Paajarvi seemed more likely when he was struggling to find his place in the line-up and in the league, but since his last recall from OKC he’s become a fixture in the top six while making a strong case he belongs in the core cluster. He brings a pleasing package of youth, speed, size, skill, and defensive conscience, and recently earned Ralph Krueger’s praise for being the Oiler most frequently found in the blue paint. He’s also earned Krueger’s trust in the form of ice time, leading Oilers forwards in EVTOI in two recent games and playing 21:35 in another; in fact his top twelve games for ice time have all occurred in the last five weeks. Any trade of Paajarvi would be as a major piece for what had darn well better be a major piece coming the other way, and not Alex Stojanov either. I don’t see it happening.

Related post: Paajarvi on block in trade with Bruins? (Staples, March 27)

Theo Peckham — Hard to imagine there’s a market for him as anything more than what he is here, a bottom-of-the-roster player struggling for ice time. We never did find out whether he would have cleared waivers, but his perceived value can’t be much higher than waiver-wire calibre: a late-round draft pick or B-list prospect perhaps. Good health among the blueline crew has kept Theo locked in the #8 spot in the “rotation”, but that can change in a couple of shifts. Trade him and his 160 games of NHL experience, and the depth chart becomes dangerously thin. Again, that’s depending on who might be incoming that is able to play right away.

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I don’t know that there’s a single player listed above who’s “probably” going to get traded, although collectively the odds probably hover somewhere above 50% for a deal of some sort. That said, I wouldn’t be all that surprised to see Tambellini choose to “rent” his own expiring contracts like Whitney, Jones and Khabibulin for the playoff push. And that said, as a naturally conservative prognosticator in such matters I expect little to happen most years, and frequently I turn out to be dead wrong as the Oilers do something significant right at the deadline. I guess that’s why we watch, and will today.

Edmonton Journal: LOADED: 04.04.2013

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Edmonton Oilers’ D-man Ryan Whitney gets Gordie Howe hat-trick

Jim Matheson

On the day Ryan Whitney didn’t get traded, he decided he’d get the Gordie Howe hat-trick to say thank-you.

Goal, assist and a fight. All the bases covered by the Edmonton Oilers’ defenceman.

“I don’t know if I’d classify that as a fight…it was more a guy jumping on a pigeon,” shrugged Whitney, who was way overmatched with Calgary Flames’ tough guy Tim Jackman in the third period of the Oilers 8-2 win after scoring and setting up one by Nail Yakupov. “Gordie Howe hat-trick? I don’t know about that. Like I said, was it a fight?”

“I’d passed the puck up ice and I didn’t see him. I should have cross-checked him right in the face,” said Whitney, who thought he’d had six majors in his career “if that counts as a fight.”

Whitney played on the second powerplay, slapped the 2-2 goal after Calgary scored on two of their first three shots on Devan Dubnyk, and was on for Matt Stajan’s second goal 5:18 in, but otherwise had a good night. He made a statement, thanking the Oilers for not moving him for draft picks like other UFA defencemen Douglas Murray, Robyn Regehr and Jordan Leopold.

“I was very happy not to get traded, and then I get my goal and my assist and that fight,” he laughed.

The fight will probably make the TV packages. “Yeah, exactly. Interesting Gordie Howe.”

“Whit got lucky that he didn’t connect with any punches,but he did jump him,” said defenceman Ladislav Smid. “He didn’t give him much of a chance. After all kinds of rumours about him being traded, I’m glad he wasn’t. He’s been solid for us.”

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Edmonton Journal: LOADED: 04.04.2013

667788 Edmonton Oilers

Edmonton Oilers GM Steve Tambellini tweaks roster on NHL trade deadline day, nothing more

John MacKinnon

Saying he didn’t want to disrupt the positive chemistry that has emerged on his young, gifted team, Edmonton Oilers GM Steve Tambellini added a depth centre at the NHL trade deadline day, but otherwise left his 9th-place roster intact.

In adding 34-year-old Jerred Smithson, obtained for a 4th-round pick from the Florida Panthers, Tambellini shored up an area of weakness on the Oilers all season without touching any other position.

How fans react to that will depend on their sensibility. Here’s what Tambellini had to say at his media availability at the Oilers offices on Wednesday.

Variously, Eric Belanger (foot, groin), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Shawn Horcoff (broken knuckle) all have missed chunks of time this season.

As a result, in recent weeks, veteran left winger Ryan Smyth has been pressed into service at centre, as has Lennert Petrell.

With Belanger still nursing a sore groin, Smithson will be useful immediately. Well, not quite immediately, as his wife went to hospital Wednesday to give birth to the couple’s first child. But Smithson is expected to join the Oilers in Los Angeles on Saturday.

Edmonton Journal: LOADED: 04.04.2013

667789 Edmonton Oilers

Edmonton Oilers make one trade deadline deal, acquiring Jerred Smithson from Florida Panthers for a fourth round draft pick

Joanne Ireland

The Edmonton Oilers, looking to add some depth rather than delete on trade deadline day, acquired forward Jerred Smithson from the Florida Panthers for a fourth round pick.

Smithson, 34, will be an unrestricted free agent at season’s end.

“I was definitely shocked. I really enjoyed my time here in Florida but I had a feeling I might be traded,” he said. “Once I had time to think about it and everything started to settle down, I really started to look forward to it. I love the direction this team is heading.”

He won’t cost the Oilers much, his contract is just $800,000 and it will be prorated over the remaining 12 games, but it does put the Oilers at the contract maximum of 50.

The Oilers had seen plenty of Smithson when he was with the Nashville Predators from 2005 through 2012. He was shipped to the Panthers at the end of the 2011-2012 season. Through 34 games this campaign, he’s got five points and was 54.8 per cent in the faceoff circle.

The Oilers have been without Eric Belanger (groin) since March 26. Prior to that missed five games with same injury. Clearly he’s going to be out for a while.

Smithson, meanwhile, was heading to the hospital Wednesday night with his partner who is pregnant with their first child. He isn’t expected to join the team before Saturday’s game against the Los Angeles Kings.

“He’s a defensive centreman who brings size and depth into our group that we can use,” said head coach Ralph Krueger. “It’s a good acquisition for our organization.”

Ryan Jones played with Smithson in Nashville and said he plays a simple game, which will be effective in Edmonton.

Edmonton Journal: LOADED: 04.04.2013

667790 Edmonton Oilers

Edmonton Oilers battle back from two-goal deficit to down Calgary Flames 8-2

By Robert Tychkowski ,Edmonton Sun

CALGARY - It was men against boys. Or, rather, boys against Flames.

Same thing.

Just hours after GM Steve Tambellini stood pat on trade deadline day, giving his young team a chance to finish what it started, the Oilers responded with a show of force that shook the Calgary Saddledome and everybody in it.

Edmonton scored eight straight times to erase an early 2-0 deficit, win their fifth in a row and move into sole possession of eighth place.

Yes, it came against Flames, but, still, it was stunning to watch.

With all of Edmonton’s child stars leading the slaughter, the scoring summary must have felt like a knife twisting in the side of Calgary’s fans. Taylor Hall had five points, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had four, Jordan Eberle and Nail Yakupov had two goals each. Sam Gagner had two points.

And the UFA everyone thought was gone? Ryan Whitney had a goal, an assist and a fight.

And the Oilers are eighth. After six years and more growing pains than any of them care to remember, finally, light at the end of the tunnel.

“I’d be lying if I said there haven’t been times last year, or even this year, when you’re thinking, ‘When’s this going to end?’ ” said Eberle, who’s only been here for three years of the misery. “It’s been tough, but in the last 10 or so games we’ve really found our team identity, we’re peaking at the right time. The next step for us is to make the playoffs.”

There’s still a long way to go, against teams a lot better than the Flames, but eighth place on April 3 is no small milestone.

“Nobody outside this room battled to put us in this position, we’ve done it,” said Ryan Jones, one of the UFAs who thought he might be moved. “We’ve been through the (crap) together the last few years, We went through it together and battled to where we are right now.”

The fact they’re still together, that their house wasn’t cleaned of its free agents at the deadline, is their own doing. The Oilers took the decision out of management’s hands leading up to deadline day, playing themselves up the Western Conference ladder and forcing Tambellini to keep the group intact.

“We have a great group in here,” said Hall, who had a goal and four assists just two games after breaking Wayne Gretzky’s fastest hat-trick record. “Today was kind of a weird day with the trade deadline, but I think everybody settled down and realized that this is the group we have for this year and I think we’re all excited about that.

“To be down 2-0 and win 8-2 is pretty cool.”

Tambellini saw enough in the last two weeks to give this group a chance to show what it can do. It’s an endorsement the players appreciate.

“It shows they have confidence in the players they have in this locker-room,” said Jones. “We have something good going in this locker-room. Guys are maturing right in front of your eyes. You watch them become better players all over the ice. It’s going to be an exciting team in the future and obviously I want to be a part of it as long as I can.”

Their situation was simple: win your way back into the race and the room stays together, fall out of it and you can start saying goodbye to a few of your friends.

And after back-to-back shutout losses in Detroit and Nashville, rock bottom if you’re looking for it on a map, the suitcases were half full.

“When we lost that stretch in the middle of that road trip it was really gut-check time, it really was then or never,” said Jones. “If we lost a couple more games we were done.

“We’ve battled our way back. I don’t even know what our record is since that game (8-2-2) but it’s pretty damn good.”

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Edmonton Sun: LOADED: 04.04.2013

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Edmonton Oilers GM Steve Tambellini ‘happy’ that he decided not to trade defenceman Ryan Whitney

By Derek Van Diest ,Edmonton Sun

EDMONTON - Ryan Whitney can start unpacking. He’ll be staying in Edmonton a while longer.

The Edmonton Oilers decided against moving Whitney prior to the trade deadline, something that seemed imminent a few weeks ago, mainly because the defenceman is due to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.

“The fact that he’s playing well, and his ability to move the puck is something that we desperately need,” said Oilers general manager Steve Tambellini. “We have skilled forwards that demand the puck at the right time to take advantage of transition that they deliver. I didn’t see anywhere in the day where I thought I could replace that puck-moving D.”

Whitney had admitted to expecting a trade and essentially having all his things packed up in anticipation of a move.

However, despite inquiries about the defenceman leading up to the deadline, the Oilers believed their chances of making the playoffs were better with the Boston product in their lineup.

“He’s part of this group, he’s worked hard, he’s part of our power play and that would really be a takeaway that would affect our hockey club,” Tambellini said. “I’m happy that I made the decision to keep Ryan here.”

It’s possible the two sides will part ways this summer as they’ve had a tumultuous relationship since his arrival just over three years ago.

Whitney suffered through a frustrating ankle injury and this season had been a healthy scratch numerous times before playing his way back into the lineup regularly.

Regardless, there have not been discussions about a possible contract extension.

“I think now’s not the time,” Tambellini said. “We’ll have discussions with our free agents in the right amount of time. The focus right now is so much on winning hockey games, the rest will take care of itself in the right time.”

Edmonton Sun: LOADED: 04.04.2013

667792 Edmonton Oilers

Edmonton Oilers avoid moving any bodies out at NHL trade deadline

By Derek Van Diest ,Edmonton Sun

EDMONTON - This time around, Steve Tambellini was not holding the ‘For Sale’ sign.

With his team in a playoff race, the general manager of the Edmonton Oilers wasn’t about to move assets at the trade deadline to acquire draft picks or prospects.

The only move he did make added a roster player.

“That was an important message in itself, where yes, there were a lot of different scenarios where I could have moved people for mid-round picks or maybe a little higher in a couple of other circumstances,” Tambellini said. “But that wasn’t my goal coming into this trade deadline. It was to find help and not take away from the depth of our dressing room or the people that we asked to compete so hard to get to this spot. It was to show them that we trust this group and they have a wonderful opportunity to get to the playoffs here.”

Heading into Wednesday’s game against the Calgary Flames, the Oilers were one point out of the eighth-and-final playoff spot in the Western Conference. It’s a position they have not found themselves in too often recently leading up to the trade deadline.

So Tambellini did not want to move a roster player for fear it could hamper the team’s chances to qualify for the post season. Even if that means losing a player to unrestricted free agency this summer.

“No question, it’s a total different mindset than trying to leverage your asset to try and get the greatest return,” Tambellini said. “I’m more excited for our players, because you play hockey to win and the fact is that they believe they have a good chance to win every night. That’s when it’s enjoyable going into work and seeing that they’re excited to play. That’s the exciting part for me.”

The only move the Oilers made was bringing in fourth-line centre Jerred Smithson from the Florida Panthers in exchange for a fourth-round draft pick.

Smithson will provide depth and size for the team up the middle.

“I think we’ve been quite open about what our goals are for this hockey club,” Tambellini said. “I can tell you how much energy is being brought into the dressing room from the fact that we are maturing in some areas and we are getting strong play from some our veteran people.

“The fact that they’re close and they’re in there, you can sense the excitement and the drive to stick to a gameplan and just be excited about where they are. They want to get in and that’s our goal.”

The Oilers had a number of roster players who were rumoured to possibly be on the move. There was believed to be interest in defenceman Ryan Whitney, winger Ales Hemsky and goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin among others.

The Oilers were also said to be involved in talks for Ottawa Senators goaltender Ben Bishop, who was eventually moved to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for forward Cory Conacher and a fourth-round draft pick.

“We were in some significant discussions,” Tambellini said. “I’m not going to go into them, but it was nothing that involved selling core people on our hockey club. We were trying different ways to improve our club.

“We had various opportunities, but there was nothing that we were going to do with our core.”

Having tampered at the deadline in the past with his team in contention, Tambellini was aware of how subtracting from the roster can affect the dressing room.

Four seasons ago, the Oilers were in contention for a playoff spot when they traded Erik Cole and brought in Patrick O’Sullivan and Ales Kotalik.

The team fell out of the playoff hunt and soon thereafter bottomed out, forcing a rebuild.

“I’m aware of what their mindset (in dressing room) was,” said Tambellini. “Where they have respect for the group and they’re sacrificing for the group to win. It’s hard to win every single night in this league, especially down the stretch. We’re going to be tested very hard in the last few games. But we’re very excited about that and the last thing I wanted to do is take away something where they thought they maybe didn’t have as good a chance to win as maybe they did before.”