Deadline: Post Salary Cap

Aw yes, the unrequited Canadian holiday is upon us and it appears the Oilers may have more than just Petry do deal with before the 1pm deadline.

Alex Thomas just recently updated the Oiler’s deadline status and the team is apparently taking calls on captain Andrew Ference as well as discussing a deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs that could bring in one of James Reimer or Jonathan Bernier.

As exciting as the current news is, I have started looking into the past and here is part two of yesterday’s blog.

POST SALARY CAP DEALS

Before the Oilers would shock the NHL with a magical run to the Stanley Cup finals in 2006, they spent the deadline adding two key pieces that would play major roles in their ascendance to the top.

The Oilers added Dwayne Roloson for a 1st round and 3rd round pick, and added Sergei Samsonov for Marty Reasoner, Yan Stastny, and a 2nd round pick.

This shows what kind of crapshoot value a draft pick can really have as those picks became 4th liner Trevor Lewis, AHLer Spencer Machacek and bonafide power forward Milan Lucic. Those players could’ve all turned out to be stars and this would still be a win for the Oilers.

VERDICT: Jackpot win.

After having essential deadline success, Kevin Lowe bit the big one when the 2007 deadline saw hometown hero and Oiler legend (yes, I believe he is a legend) Ryan Smyth to the New York Islanders for Robert Nilsson, Ryan O’Marra and a 2007 1st round pick which became Alex Plante.

Smyth should’ve been an Oiler his whole career, and the only good thing this trade produced was the amazing welcome back party when Smytty returned. Nilsson had a decent first season but was eventually bought out. O’Marra was a failing prospect at the time and he now toils in the British league following a stint in Italy. Alex Plante was a huge miss at the draft considering players like Max Pacioretty, Ian Cole and even PK Subban were still available. He’s inactive this season.

VERDICT: The Arrogant Kevin Lowe with a jackpot loss.

After standing pat in the previous deadline, new GM Steve Tambellini tried to make a splash prior to his team’s playoff bid in 2009.

Tambellini traded underachieving Erik Cole in a three-way deal that saw him net Patrick O’Sullivan and a 2nd round pick from the Carolina Hurricanes. The pick was then shipped to the Buffalo Sabres for Ales Kotalik.

On the surface it looked like a good deal. Both Kotalik and O’Sullivan had scoring histories and Kotalik especially performed admirably well for the Oilers, scoring seven goals in 19 games. Kotalik left for free agency and O’Sullivan struggled before being dealt for 5/6 d-man Jim Vandermeer.

The real kicker is that the 3-way deal involving the Kings, Hurricanes and Oilers is what netted the Kings Conn Smythe Trophy winner Justin Williams.

Verdict: Loss

THE SELLING YEARS

In what would be the first in a long line of losing seasons, Steve Tambellini began tearing down what was actually a pretty solid defensive core.

Two days before the deadline, Tambellini dealt Denis Grebeshkov to the Predators for a 2nd round pick. Considering the team was looking to load on picks that should be paying dividends now, the Oilers now have Curtis Hamilton, who is finally having a decent AHL season. He could still be a player.

VERDICT: Small win.

Tambellini then decided to cut costs with his most expensive defender when he traded away Lubomir Visnovsky to the Ducks in exchange for Ryan Whitney and 2010 6th round pick. Visnovsky is still a decent defenseman in the league and that should be noted, but before Ryan Whitney had injury troubles, he was a leading man for the Oilers on the blueline. The pick also became decent depth defender Brandon Davidson.

VERDICT: Win for both sides.

To finalize the defensive tear-down, Tamebllini moved gritty veteran Steve Staios to the rival Calgary Flames for UFA rental Aaron Johnson and a 3rd round pick that became Travis Ewanyk.

The Oilers could have benefited from having a hard-nose defender like Steve Staios working with the young guys that would soon be on the blue line for years to come. Because of this fact alone, the Oilers lose big time. Staios played a few more seasons and likely was a formidable influence in the dressing rooms.

VERDICT: Loss

The following deadline saw the Oilers move Dustin Penner to the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for Colten Teubert, a 1st round pick and a 3rd round pick.

Penner was not part of the rebuild moving forward, and the Oilers knew his value wouldn’t be higher. Penner dissapointed in his first go-round with the Kings before winning a Stanley Cup the season after.

Colten Teubert fizzled out as a prospect, and the 3rd rounder became Daniil Zharkov who can barely keep his head above water in the Russian minor league.

The reason it’s a win alone is that the 1st round pick became Oscar Klefbom who is looking more and more like he has top pairing potential.

VERDICT: Win with some pancakes on top!

The 2012 deadline wasn’t a big selling year, as the Oilers simply flipped Tom Gilbert to the Minnesota Wild in exchange for Nick Schultz.

Schultz was meant to stabilize the defensive group with his stay-at-home abilities and keep more pucks out of the net. Schultz was played like a top pairing defneseman when he should have been playing 5/6 minutes while spending a lot of time on the penalty kill.

Gilbert never gelled in Minnesota and was bought out before a bounce back season with the Florida Panthers that lead to a new contract with the Montreal Canadiens.

VERDICT: Draw

In the lockout-shortened season, the Oilers found themselves in a spot they hadn’t been before in a long long time. They were in a playoff spot around deadline day under new head coach Ralph Krueger.

Instead of selling off players, Tamebellini’s smug face declared that the team was ready to add players rather than subtract.

Tambellini traded a 4th round pick to the Florida Panthers to acquire Jerrod Smithson. Smithson wouldn’t be enough for the team to make the playoffs and the team ultimately faltered and missed the playoffs once again.

The real kicker was that the Oilers were in the conversation with the Ottawa Senators trying to acquire goalie Ben Bishop. It’s rumoured that Tambellini was willing to add to his offer of Ryan Jones and a 3rd round pick, so the Senators dealt Bishop to the Lightning for Cory Conacher and a 4th round pick. It was apparently the last straw for Tambellini and his reign of terror was finally over.

VERDICT: Loss, and loss of job.

Last season, MacTavish saw his team fail to improve under his self-hired new head coach Dallas Eakins and he was once again in the selling market. The buying teams were unwilling to part with anything of major value and MacTavish had to settle for draft picks for his players.

Considering MacTavish dealt a backup goaltender (Bryzgalov), a secondary scorer (Hemsky), and an NHL 5/6 defenseman (Schultz) only to bring in a 3rd, 4th and two 5th round picks says a lot about the market value.

He also moved a 3rd and 5th to acquire Viktor Fasth. Fasth has been abysmal in his Oilers tenure and the team appears to be goalie hunting once again.

VERDICT: Loss to market value.

GOING INTO TOMORROW’S DEADLINE

If MacTavish is only able to get a 2nd round pick and B-level prospect for Petry, I think it’s a loss.

If MacTavish is able to move Ference’s contract, I think it’s a win.

And if MacTavish somehow finds a way to wrestle Jonathan Bernier away from the Toronto Maple Leafs and I will consider it to be a huge, huge victory.

But we wait and set our alarm for 6 a.m. so we can watch the first four hours of endless coverage and speculation while searching through twitter to find something worth discussing.

I’ll be in my pajama’s streaming TSN’s live feed and drinking as much Tim Horton’s coffee as I can force down my throat. The season is here and we come to celebrate an amazing and fun day for all the hockey nuts just like me.

I hope the holiday is just as enjoyable for the rest of you.