Creating Controversy

I'm gonna take half a post to leave my Albertacentric world and wade into the new debate du jour of the NHL: Should players be able to resign with their former teams after being traded away as a rental?

A lot of personalities/talking heads have taken the position that it is very unfair that players can be traded on deadline day, and then during the summer resign with the former team, after their 'rental team' has given up a bunch of picks/prospects. I assume (mainly because this particular argument has been articulated so poorly by its advocates) this situation is unfair because the former team can make some sort of under the table deal and therefore has an advantage in signing the player, and perhaps it's an unethical advantage.

Another point the talking heads seem to be trying to make is that the 'rental team' gave up A LOT of assets for the rented player, and as such, they deserve some sort of value in return.

I suppose that one could argue whether the 'against' side is really two arguments or one poorly constructed argument, but I will approach it as a two assumption argument and rebute it in that sense.

Firstly, it is possible that the player's long time team (the rentee) could make a behind closed doors, under the table deal, such as; we will trade you to a Stanley Cup contender as a favour to you, then we will get assets in return, and we will resign you in the offseason and you will return to a stronger franchise, no hurt feelings. But there are two problems with that idea:

1) First of all, it is not as if under the table/on my word deals are as strong as those written on paper. Don't believe me? Ask Andrew Ference about his 'on my word' no trade clause. Ask Ryan Smyth about the on my word deal he/Meehan made with Kevin Lowe about not talking contract until the summer, lest it be a distraction to the team. As we have been told over the past week, the NHL is a business, and if you want something in business, get it in writing.

However, one cannot make that deal in writing due to CBA tampering rules. Look, I am not a CBA expert, you are probably not a CBA expert, read Kevin Lowe's (paraphrased) words:

HNIC After Hours: Are you going to try to reaquire Ryan in the summer?
Lowe: Well, I'm not allowed to talk about that...

2) OK, lets assume these types of 'on my word' deals are being made. If that's the case, well, then that's tough luck. The renting teams know that the players could potentially have relationships that go far deeper with the rentee teams, and as such, may have allegiances to them. But if the renters know they're renting a player. If they haven't yet figured out these types of players are refferred to as 'rentals' due to their short duration with the rentee teams, then the renter's GM should be fired on the spot.

Secondly, the entire reason this player became available in the first place, is that the rentees understood there wasn't a garuntee the player would resign with them. The entire inspiration for the trade itself is that the rentees weren't willing to assume the risk associated with losing an asset for nothing. If you're willing to trade for a rental, you are automatically assuming that risk, assumedly because you believe the risk is worth the reward, that being the rental player is the missing peice to either a) making the playoffs or b) winning The Cup.

Of course, usually only one single team ever makes the right decision with their rentals every year (the Stanley Cup winning team), so if a team is giving up a lot of assets, rentals are pretty much always a bad plan. Regardless, the risk is one that is inherent in all business, and if GM's insist on making risky deals, they should live with the high cost.

The second part of the argument against rentals is that the rentees are giving up way too much for a player that will only be with them for 20 or so game. To anyone who argues that, I argue: its a free market economy, and when traded, players are worth whatever someone pays for them. Sometimes teams are gonna get skunked, and some teams will skunk others. Deal with it.

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An interesting development has occured in Edmonton, which is that Petr Nedved, the near useless centre, has been put on the injured reserve, allowing Edmonton to recall Kyle Brodziak from the AHL to fill in. I use the term 'allow' because Edmonton has reached the limit of players allowed to be recalled from the 'A,' unless an injury occurs, in which case an 'emergency recall' can occur.

Now, you may notice that I wrote that Petr Nedved was put on the injured reserve, not that Petr Nedved was injured, because I don't know if he's injured. Given the state of his decrepid body, it wouldn't suprise me.

However, given the state of Edmonton's season, and given the tenuous state of Kevin Lowe, and given Kevin Lowe's pleading of patience, and that 'fans haven't even seen guys like Kyle Brodziak' on HNIC, I have to think the timing of Petr's injury is particularly conveinient. The Oilers want to test some of their young guys at this point (actually, I think they want to test all of their young guys by looking at the average age of this roster) and Petr Nedved no longer serves any purpose for this team.

I suspect something similar may have taken place with Darren McCarty earlier this season, as he was just about as effective as Petr Nedved.

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Corrections: In one of my recent posts, I stated that Don Meehan was responsible for Theo Fleury's departure from Calgary. In fact, Theo's agent was Don Baizley, and I sincerely apologize for the confusion. First name right, rest of it wrong.

Re-united and it feels so good! (Part II)

Ironically, I actually couldn't find a picture of the three of them together, but we can pretend that's Horcoff in the background

Although I wrote my last piece on the re-uniting of Iginla and Conroy in Calgary, another distinctive group on the other side of the province was re-united last Saturday and has had considerable success. Horcoff has had an up and down year (mostly down) and Smyth has had a personal up year (even if team success has eluded this Oiler group), but together they simply haven't been able to click they way they did in all last year (regular season and playoffs). Their missing piece, Ales Hemsky, had been relegated to playing with Petr 'One Timer' Sykora, thanks to some early season chemistry between the two. However, the production between Hemsky and Sykora had dwindled down to almost nothing since Hemsky got hurt late in the '06 calendar year, and this team was running out of options.

The trio was briefly re-united in the New Year's eve game against Calgary, but MacT re-shuffled the deck soon after and Hemsky was sadled with not just one under performing Czech, but two, as Hemsky, Nedved and Sykora joined together as the laughably ineffective 'Czech line' or more aptly, the 'No Check' line.

Last Saturday though, in a game vs. the L.A. Kings, Hemsky, Horcoff and Smyth were re-united for an entire game, and boy, did they make a case to stay together. Scoring all 4 goals (Smyth 2, Hemsky 1, Horcoff 1) and accounting for 11 of 12 points in the game, the line dominated the whole game, and was the undeniable difference between winning and losing.

Hemsky found Smyth again on Wednesday's game vs. Columbus, and Hemsky and Smyth came together to find Sykora for the winner.

Against Columbus, the line shot blanks. But if MacT had any doubts about keeping them together for the rest of the season, tonight's Avalanche game should have erased them. Read the scoresheet.
G1. Hemsky (+2 1a)
G2. Smyth (+1, 1a)
G3. Horcoff (+1, 1a, 1GWG)

The trio was on for every goal for, except for the first goal in which Horcoff was off. Undeniably, the group was responsible for the 2pts in the win column.

Now if Stoll can shake off the cobwebs the Oilers have a chance at two consistently effective lines, (and for a further stretch, Lupul looks like someone lit a fire under his ass, its possible he, Sykora and Nedved can turn into hockey players...and if not, at least their suck won't rub off on anyone else).

Desperation sets in...

Well right now the news is coming out that the Oilers have claimed Petr Nedved off waivers from the Flyers and I can only call the move a desperate one made by a desperate man. Having said that, there are multiple reasons it isn't a terrible move.

Because Nedved was pulled off the waiver wire, the Flyers get the unenviable task of paying for half of whats left on Nedved's contract this year, so the Oilers get the enigmatic centre for a potential bargain.

As Petr's model wife sheds a single tear at having been sent back to Edmonton, I like the idea of picking up Nedved for no other reason than screwing one of the "Former Oiler Bitter Wives Club." Its hard to say how Nedved himself will react - on one hand, he's got an unhappy wifey to go home to, but in another, hes out of the sunken ship that is the Flyers (and into the sinking ship that is the Oilers). But ever since he left the Oilers his fortunes have plumeted, and I would think there is some part of him that still has a desire to succeed in the NHL, to be a premier player again. Whether that will happen or not is debatable.

Nedved has been on and off the waiver wire all this year, and is a combined -20 for the 21 games he's played with the Flyers. He's also only got 1 goal, 6 assists. So how does he fit into this Oiler team?

To make room, Thoresen was sent down to the minors, which I think is the right move. If you ask me, the Oilers need to get back to playing rock em sock em hockey and Thoresen just isn't that type of guy. Sure, neither is Nedved, but at worst its a lateral move. I think in recent weeks its becoming increasingly obvious that for whatever reason Sean Horcoff simply cannot do the job of a number 1 centre, at least this year. I haven't given up on Horc, but sometimes guys just have bad years, and I don't think you could label this anything other than a bad year for Horcoff. Jarett Stoll though, the man who many believed could only be a PP specialist and who faded in the second half last year, has become the Oiler's best centreman, and at times arguably their best player.

I think the smartest thing right now is to shelter Horcoff a bit, put him with the guys he's had success with (Hemsky, Smyth, as MacTavish did last game), put Nedved with his countryman (Sykora) and let Stolly keep doing what he's doing. In my opinion Pisani is doing the things he needs to do to be successful, Torres is inconsistant as usual, but its been the Oilers best line on average.

As for the Oilers continuing defensive coverage, I am going to suggest something bold that most other blogs have completely ignored. In my opinion, and judging from Lowe's comments the other night, there aren't a lot of good defenseman available, period. The Oilers are basically stuck with a defensive group that isn't capable of the workload being thrust upon them.

The answer lies in the way the Oilers played Detroit last year in the playoffs. Change your style of play; go to the trap. The Oilers have plenty of good, speedy forwards, many of whom are very skilled. These are the basic success elements of the trap.

While Roloson hasn't looked like anything remotely resembling good lately, he is not getting much help. Roloson needs to be put into an environment right now that he's comfortable with, he needs support from the rest of the players. I can't count how many goals have been let in off of poor defensive zone coverage over the last two weeks. While in zone coverage used to be the Oilers strength, as witnessed by their former penalty killing success rate, this is now the Oiler's biggest weakness.

I think the team as a whole needs to stop looking for someone to parachute in and save them, and to realize the ingredients for success are in the locker room. I believe in the calibre of players on this team much like I do with the calibre of player on the Flames. Right now the Oilers are a group that are less than the sum of their parts.

Up tommorow: Canada plays The United States in the World Jr. Championship Semifinal. TSN - 6:30amPT/9:30amET