Derrico

We trade or don't re-sign Miller for next season and all bets are off. Enroth is a decent starter but he's no Miller. We don't win or lose in OT in those games we let up 45+ shots like this year.

Let's close the thread.

You don't watch many Florida Panther games do you?

Speaking of Isles, what the heck are they and the Sabres doing? Man, they're a combined 11-6-3 over the previous 10 games each. Didn't anyone get the memo that we're going for 2 top 5 picks?!?!

Some might say that's bad news....

I completely disagree. I think they go BPA. If they view Ekblad as a better player then they take him but not if they think Reinhart is the slightly better player. Let's not forget they signed Schultz recently and have taken a Dman in the first round in 2 of the last 3 drafts (inlcuding 8th overall last year). Also, despite the high picks they've had only Nugent-Hopkins is a centre. I'm sure they would love a good two way centre who is known for his hussle and hard work to play with guys like Yakapov who have all the skill in the world but can be lazy and poor in the D zone at times. I've had some time to kill at work the past couple of weeks (since I'm the only one who didn't take holidays) and checked out a couple of Oil message boards and there are many fans who would love to take Reinhart first overall.

I haven't really seen improvement myself. I realize he's young and that's why it's too premature to call him a bust yet. Look what he did in the Q and more importantly to me, what he's done in the World Juniors. The kid has talent and I think he will eventually get there but I've thought he's looked pretty lost all season. Maybe this tourney is just what Grigs needs to get his confidence.

Yes go tankless. We're only renting ours and it's about 20% more than the rental fee for a traditional heater but the savings are closer to 40% to 50% from what we've seen in our first few bills.

Thanks for this info. Interesting that Ekblad is ranked #1 (top 2 in most lists) and the next highest defender is 9th. A team in the top 5 or 6 desparate for a high D prospect may be willing to trade a decent amount to move up. Also, I'm not following the D closely or picks outside of the top 5 but they have Fleury ranked 9th and McKeown 12th. I though McKeown was suppose to be the next best dman and ranked top 6 or 7. Wonder what happened to him? There was alot of love for Karlsson early in the year but he's down to 19th. Also, here's a decent write-up on Ekblad. http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/world-junior-canada-aaron-ekblad-220201290.html

Eichel is suppose to be a franchise type talent. Mcdavid is the generational type player if he hits his potential but there are 4 or 5 great forward prospects in next years draft.

I agree with most of this.

Ya I'm not sure I like the nba idea or not but it sure is interesting. Using the last 3 years avg finish is also an idea to end tanking.

Below is a very interesting article discussing the prospects of doing away with the current draft lottery system. It proposes each team drafting in a predetermined spot every year. Each team would draft in a different position every year for 30 years. It would eliminate tanking for sure and trades would be very interesting if you knew exactly what 1st round draft pick you would be trading. http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/nhl-ban-draft-lottery-162726362--nhl.html

I think it's Porter who he's replacing.

We gave up a conditional 6th rounder do you really think he would be an improved version of Ennis??

This is what gives me hope. Obviously this guys NHL career is at a crossroads. This may be his last chance to make it in the leauge which will hopefully inspire him to play better in the D zone. In his only year he played most of a season in the NHL he was -16. I know the Oilers weren't very good in 2010/2011 but it was still tied for second worse +/- on that club. Some offense will be a welcomed change to this team, as will his creativity but let's see just how bad his defensive awarness is.

Canada playing in pre-tournament World Junior game. So far Canada leads Finland 3-2 and Ekblad has scored for Canada while Sam Reinhart has picked up a secondary assist. For those looking ahead to the 2015 draft, Connor McDavid has 2 primary assists.

Oh I completely agree. No risk.

No, someone else mentioned that there is a threat to go back to Europe if he's not playing in the NHL.

Again, not saying it won't work out and I credit Patty for trying a low to no risk move. Having said that, the Oils are only 18th in the league in goals per game and have a terrible record and he still can't crack that lineup? To nfreeman, do you know how many seasons he's been in N/A? If he came when he was 23 and he's 26 now then has it been 2.5 or 3.5? If 3.5 he's played less than one full season in the NHL. So although he may not be an AHL lifer, it's not like he's an NHL regular either.

Wow, can we slow down a touch here guys? We didn't give up anything so it can't end up being a bad trade but I think it's way too premature to use the word steal. The guy has been a near AHL lifer, is already 26 and threatening to take his toys and fly back to Europe. I will give Patty props for making a zero risk trade like this. But this screams like another Luke Adam / D'Agostini type player. That video was a good watch but if he has that type of offensive skill, his D must be 50 times worse than Hodgson.

On a side note, what the ###### has happened to LabattBlue? Looks like he hasn't been active in months.

No, your not exaggerating.

Good luck Weave. You've been sharing these details with us all along and it sounds like it's been a long process.

This whole demotion is very confusing. I'm still not sure why he's down there if he's not playing.