Sunday, February 18, 2007
Marc-Andre-Berger-Gone
The Edmonton Oilers have traded Marc-Andre Bergeron to the Islanders for Denis Grebeshkov. Who the hell is Denis Grebeshkov, you may say? Got me. All I know is that he's playing with Traktor Boy at Lokomotiv Yaroslav, and isn't available til at least next year. This trade occurred for one or some of the following reasons:
1) It's the first of a series of trades that will improve the roster.
2) It's the first of a series of trades that will deconstruct the roster.
3) It frees up some more money to sign Ryan Smyth (money that they actually already have, but anyway).
4) It's MAB. Who cares?
Thanx to those who linked to the story in the comments below. I was at my son's hockey game (1G, 2A) and would have missed it otherwise.
***Update***
• According to the Oilers webpage, the team also gave up a 3rd round pick in 2008 for Grebeshkov.
• The page also states that Shaggy is out for Tuesday's game, so unless other moves are made (including callups), the Oilers top six defencemen are now going to be Jason Smith, Jan Hejda, Steve Staios, Ladislav Smid, Matt Greene and Mathieu Roy.
• For reference, Bergeron's cap hit is $1,064,000. He is a UFA in 09/10. Courtesy of Irish Blues.
• Mudcrutch has a post up on MAB which is now moot.
• Lord Bob has an initial take on the Russkie we got back.
• So too does Young D. I actually forgot Ulanov was also playing with Lokomotiv.
• Spector has his take up on his blog.
• Lowetide weighs in.
• Covered in Oil has a great image of MAB and his new boss.
1) It's the first of a series of trades that will improve the roster.
2) It's the first of a series of trades that will deconstruct the roster.
3) It frees up some more money to sign Ryan Smyth (money that they actually already have, but anyway).
4) It's MAB. Who cares?
Thanx to those who linked to the story in the comments below. I was at my son's hockey game (1G, 2A) and would have missed it otherwise.
***Update***
• According to the Oilers webpage, the team also gave up a 3rd round pick in 2008 for Grebeshkov.
• The page also states that Shaggy is out for Tuesday's game, so unless other moves are made (including callups), the Oilers top six defencemen are now going to be Jason Smith, Jan Hejda, Steve Staios, Ladislav Smid, Matt Greene and Mathieu Roy.
• For reference, Bergeron's cap hit is $1,064,000. He is a UFA in 09/10. Courtesy of Irish Blues.
• Mudcrutch has a post up on MAB which is now moot.
• Lord Bob has an initial take on the Russkie we got back.
• So too does Young D. I actually forgot Ulanov was also playing with Lokomotiv.
• Spector has his take up on his blog.
• Lowetide weighs in.
• Covered in Oil has a great image of MAB and his new boss.
# posted by andy grabia @ 11:59 am 
Comments:
I had originally used Berger-Gone as my "headline" too. Changed it to something much less succinct and effective.
I bet we'll see that one recycled a few times.
My girlfriend just came up with a great Edmonton folk song line:
"Oh, Poor Bergeron...Oh, I'm So Glad He's Gone."
I'm tired of trading for the future.
Don't worry. Once they get a salary cap, that will cease to happen.
In all seriousness, it's not like we just traded Ryan Smyth.
That won't happen for a couple more weeks. :)
Speaking of Mr. Smyth, I wonder if money is no longer the issue in the contract talks. I have to suspect the Ryan might be tiring of touring Europe in springtime, and he might be realizing that the Oilers are unlikely to be real contenders until he is past his prime.
Don't worry. Once they get a salary cap, that will cease to happen.
Coming by the end of the decade??
>Oilers are unlikely to be real contenders until he is past his prime.
Jesus, we're not the 1980s New England Patriots.
It seems like a while ago, but Kevin Lowe did create a Stanley Cup finalist LAST SEASON.
“Jesus, we're not the 1980s New England Patriots.”
I am not sure what we are—but baring a major deal or two this organization has pushed its window of success back until the 09-10 season, and I am not sure that Smyth will want to fight for eighth place for another two seasons.
As much as the fans have bitched about the obvious defensive shortcomings, how do you figure the vets feel?
Grebeshkov's a solid prospect... good trade, given the way Bergeron had been playing, although it seems to signal they're looking towards next year.
The Isles had some serious negotiating issues with Grebeshkov last fall, so that'd be all I'd be worried about. He's one of those 'too good for the minors' types that Russia has produced a few of this season.
Isn't Gandler his agent as well? That guy loves Russians and loves a good fight when it comes to negioating,sp.
BTW, my headline would've been: "Movin'Out: Bergeron first casuality of likely purge, joins Billy Joel on Long Island."
:)
Dennis
In this CP story, Lowe said:
"We'll probably make more trades but I don't expect doing much on the back end."
Taken at his word, it means dump-time is about to occur. Then again, his word changes every day, on every issue, so who knows?
It should also be pointed out that Grebeshkov is an RFA. He isn't signed. So the Oilers actually traded MAB and a 3rd rnd pick for the chance to sign Grebeshkov, who went back to Lokomotiv because he refuses to play in the AHL.
I wouldn't blame the guy Grabia. His AHL numbers look really freaking good. Especially the 49 points in 2004-2005 which was a Frankenstein year for the AHL that season, so that's particularly impressive.
Given the pay inequity for the AHL vs the RSL on top of his performance and I'd get the heck out of Dodge as well. I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing about Grebeshkov.
I wouldn't blame the guy Grabia. His AHL numbers look really freaking good. Especially the 49 points in 2004-2005 which was a Frankenstein year for the AHL that season, so that's particularly impressive.
Given the pay inequity for the AHL vs the RSL on top of his performance and I'd get the heck out of Dodge as well. I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing about Grebeshkov.
Fair point, and I've tried to avoid coming down on either side of this. I guess I'm more concerned that he isn't signed at all, and Lowe is talking about long-term value. Unless long-term value is about the space MAB's absence creates, and other stuff that may roll out of this, I'm unconvinced. Where do you lie on this? I can't get my head around what Lowe is trying to accomplish. I suppose I needn't even try, and that what he may have been trying to accomplish at the beginning of the season is different from what he's decided to accomplish now, but I can't help it.
Why don't the Oil just make Yaroslavl their de facto farm team? Move all their european prospects over their, probably a good way to hide cap money!!
Well, I'd say one thing is pretty certain. Grebeshkov won't be cheaper than MAB. I highly doubt he comes over here for less than right around $1.0MM/yr. The good news is that he's 23yrs old with two AHL seasons and a couple of RSL seasons under his belt - this should be the time when a dman starts to ramp up the learning curve pretty quickly, so he's not far from being a contributor IMO. I've never seen him play, but my guess is that he's already ahead of Smid development wise. If the roster shakes out next year with Grebeshkov filling in for MAB, then it wouldn't surprise me if he fills in reasonably well.
Lowe has sent out mixed signals, hasn't he? The Pronger deal was probably 80/20 Rebuild/Right-Now. Then the Sykora, Tjarnqvist and Hejda signings were all right around 0/100 Rebuild/Right-Now. This deal is obviously 100/0 Rebuild/Right-Now.
So what's the plan? I think he's leaning towards a quick turnaround rebuild and has since he started looking for suitors for Pronger. The UFA signings were done to give the Oilers a shot at the playoffs this year. All of them were one year deals, so we shouldn't expect them to be part of the long-term plan. (Although, I'd love to see Tjarnqvist and Hejda back for a total of $3MM/yr)
It all depends on what they look like coming back from this trip - if they don't come back .500 or better for the trip, then he's in full sale mode IMO. It's looking like that will be the case.
Even if they win four straight coming home, I doubt he flat out buys and I see Lowe trying to make deals for now and later, which means he'll have to tinker with the core. ie. flip Torres/Lupul for a dman that's here for the long run.
According to Lowetide, the guy is signed:
We do know that Grebeshkov will be here in the fall (according to Guy Flaming the Oilers signed him and it could be announced as early as Monday)
Thanks for the Pronger reference Grabia... I was actually sad to lose MAB, but if Pronger got hurt... then at least I feel a little better
Staios got his 2nd goal the other night, I think that now puts him in the lead for our defensemen goal scoring for the next game. (Shaggy has whopping 3 to lead all the non MAB's)
I vote we move Peterson back to D permanently... bench Nedved, and put Winchester back in the lineup.
The extra roster spot can go to Brodziak or somebody if we are really preparing for next year already.
Thanks for the Pronger reference Grabia... I was actually sad to lose MAB, but if Pronger got hurt... then at least I feel a little better.
It initially looked really bad, like Brian Berard bad. He took a shot right in the face, and took off like it was post-Game 7. I hear he's okay, though. I suppose that's good.
Post a Comment
<< Home
I had originally used Berger-Gone as my "headline" too. Changed it to something much less succinct and effective.
I bet we'll see that one recycled a few times.
My girlfriend just came up with a great Edmonton folk song line:
"Oh, Poor Bergeron...Oh, I'm So Glad He's Gone."
I'm tired of trading for the future.
Don't worry. Once they get a salary cap, that will cease to happen.
In all seriousness, it's not like we just traded Ryan Smyth.
That won't happen for a couple more weeks. :)
Speaking of Mr. Smyth, I wonder if money is no longer the issue in the contract talks. I have to suspect the Ryan might be tiring of touring Europe in springtime, and he might be realizing that the Oilers are unlikely to be real contenders until he is past his prime.
# posted by 
: February 18, 2007 1:05 pm
: February 18, 2007 1:05 pm Don't worry. Once they get a salary cap, that will cease to happen.
Coming by the end of the decade??
>Oilers are unlikely to be real contenders until he is past his prime.
Jesus, we're not the 1980s New England Patriots.
It seems like a while ago, but Kevin Lowe did create a Stanley Cup finalist LAST SEASON.
“Jesus, we're not the 1980s New England Patriots.”
I am not sure what we are—but baring a major deal or two this organization has pushed its window of success back until the 09-10 season, and I am not sure that Smyth will want to fight for eighth place for another two seasons.
As much as the fans have bitched about the obvious defensive shortcomings, how do you figure the vets feel?
# posted by : February 18, 2007 3:25 pm
: February 18, 2007 3:25 pm Grebeshkov's a solid prospect... good trade, given the way Bergeron had been playing, although it seems to signal they're looking towards next year.
The Isles had some serious negotiating issues with Grebeshkov last fall, so that'd be all I'd be worried about. He's one of those 'too good for the minors' types that Russia has produced a few of this season.
Isn't Gandler his agent as well? That guy loves Russians and loves a good fight when it comes to negioating,sp.
BTW, my headline would've been: "Movin'Out: Bergeron first casuality of likely purge, joins Billy Joel on Long Island."
:)
Dennis
# posted by : February 18, 2007 4:06 pm
: February 18, 2007 4:06 pm In this CP story, Lowe said:
"We'll probably make more trades but I don't expect doing much on the back end."
Taken at his word, it means dump-time is about to occur. Then again, his word changes every day, on every issue, so who knows?
It should also be pointed out that Grebeshkov is an RFA. He isn't signed. So the Oilers actually traded MAB and a 3rd rnd pick for the chance to sign Grebeshkov, who went back to Lokomotiv because he refuses to play in the AHL.
I wouldn't blame the guy Grabia. His AHL numbers look really freaking good. Especially the 49 points in 2004-2005 which was a Frankenstein year for the AHL that season, so that's particularly impressive.
Given the pay inequity for the AHL vs the RSL on top of his performance and I'd get the heck out of Dodge as well. I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing about Grebeshkov.
I wouldn't blame the guy Grabia. His AHL numbers look really freaking good. Especially the 49 points in 2004-2005 which was a Frankenstein year for the AHL that season, so that's particularly impressive.
Given the pay inequity for the AHL vs the RSL on top of his performance and I'd get the heck out of Dodge as well. I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing about Grebeshkov.
Fair point, and I've tried to avoid coming down on either side of this. I guess I'm more concerned that he isn't signed at all, and Lowe is talking about long-term value. Unless long-term value is about the space MAB's absence creates, and other stuff that may roll out of this, I'm unconvinced. Where do you lie on this? I can't get my head around what Lowe is trying to accomplish. I suppose I needn't even try, and that what he may have been trying to accomplish at the beginning of the season is different from what he's decided to accomplish now, but I can't help it.
Why don't the Oil just make Yaroslavl their de facto farm team? Move all their european prospects over their, probably a good way to hide cap money!!
# posted by : February 18, 2007 6:55 pm
: February 18, 2007 6:55 pm Well, I'd say one thing is pretty certain. Grebeshkov won't be cheaper than MAB. I highly doubt he comes over here for less than right around $1.0MM/yr. The good news is that he's 23yrs old with two AHL seasons and a couple of RSL seasons under his belt - this should be the time when a dman starts to ramp up the learning curve pretty quickly, so he's not far from being a contributor IMO. I've never seen him play, but my guess is that he's already ahead of Smid development wise. If the roster shakes out next year with Grebeshkov filling in for MAB, then it wouldn't surprise me if he fills in reasonably well.
Lowe has sent out mixed signals, hasn't he? The Pronger deal was probably 80/20 Rebuild/Right-Now. Then the Sykora, Tjarnqvist and Hejda signings were all right around 0/100 Rebuild/Right-Now. This deal is obviously 100/0 Rebuild/Right-Now.
So what's the plan? I think he's leaning towards a quick turnaround rebuild and has since he started looking for suitors for Pronger. The UFA signings were done to give the Oilers a shot at the playoffs this year. All of them were one year deals, so we shouldn't expect them to be part of the long-term plan. (Although, I'd love to see Tjarnqvist and Hejda back for a total of $3MM/yr)
It all depends on what they look like coming back from this trip - if they don't come back .500 or better for the trip, then he's in full sale mode IMO. It's looking like that will be the case.
Even if they win four straight coming home, I doubt he flat out buys and I see Lowe trying to make deals for now and later, which means he'll have to tinker with the core. ie. flip Torres/Lupul for a dman that's here for the long run.
According to Lowetide, the guy is signed:
We do know that Grebeshkov will be here in the fall (according to Guy Flaming the Oilers signed him and it could be announced as early as Monday)
Thanks for the Pronger reference Grabia... I was actually sad to lose MAB, but if Pronger got hurt... then at least I feel a little better
# posted by : February 18, 2007 9:47 pm
: February 18, 2007 9:47 pm Staios got his 2nd goal the other night, I think that now puts him in the lead for our defensemen goal scoring for the next game. (Shaggy has whopping 3 to lead all the non MAB's)
I vote we move Peterson back to D permanently... bench Nedved, and put Winchester back in the lineup.
The extra roster spot can go to Brodziak or somebody if we are really preparing for next year already.
# posted by : February 18, 2007 9:53 pm
: February 18, 2007 9:53 pm Thanks for the Pronger reference Grabia... I was actually sad to lose MAB, but if Pronger got hurt... then at least I feel a little better.
It initially looked really bad, like Brian Berard bad. He took a shot right in the face, and took off like it was post-Game 7. I hear he's okay, though. I suppose that's good.
Post a Comment
<< Home
