Very interesting day in Edmonton today. The struggling Oilers have begun to make changes, and have begun to shape their 2014-15 roster. The team, currently sitting in 29th place, must change up the current roster mix, and must fill major holes on the defense and at the goaltending position. Today, Edmonton began on the long road to building a good NHL team.
Dubnyk To Nashville:
The Oilers surprised people today by dealing Devan Dubnyk to the Nashville Predators. No one was surprised Dubnyk was traded, but people were surprised at the timing of the deal. In return, Edmonton acquired veteran forward Matt Hendricks, and also retained half of the salary left on Dubnyk’s contract.
Dubnyk was a pending UFA, and clearly was not going to get re-signed by the Oilers. It was quite clear that Craig MacTavish did not view him as a number one goalie. He tried upgrading the spot in the off-season, and then saw his team’s season go down the tubes thanks to some awful goaltending from Dubnyk.
DD’s career numbers are good, and suggest he is an average NHL starter. This year however, Dubnyk was down right awful and simply wasn’t the same player. I think going to Nashville and getting a fresh start is the best thing for him, and I think he’ll enjoy some success with the Predators, who seemingly pick NHL goalies off trees.
From an Edmonton stand-point, they get something for a player they clearly did not think fit their long term plans. They get a guy in Hendricks who represents a lot of what they are looking for.
The Oilers need size, which Hendricks (6’0” 211 lbs) has, physical play, which Hendricks brings a lot of, and PK ability, which again, Hendricks brings. He’s a veteran guy and a character guy in the locker room, and has been around the league a little bit. He’s willing to drop the gloves and brings that toughness element Edmonton is looking for. He’s not a great player, but as a fourth liner, he’ll be fine.
He fills a hole for Edmonton on that bottom line. Sure, he won’t be an all-star player with a bunch of sexy stats, but he’ll bring things like physical play and toughness to a lineup needing it. His PK’ing ability makes him versatile as well.
The big negatives are age (32) and contract (3 years left, $1.85 M a year), but those things are what they are. Considering the cap will go up to over $ 70 M next year, I’m not worried about the dollar term.
Overall, Edmonton nabs a bottom six forward it thinks is useful and can use, while getting rid of a goalie they simply had no faith in. It’s far from a home-run, and while I don’t love the deal, I don’t hate it. This is more of a ‘wait and see’ kind of trade.
Scrivens To Edmonton:
This I simply did not see coming at all. I kind of figured Edmonton would make some kind of move for a goalie at some point, and figured it would be a three step process. Step one, clearing out Dubnyk and Bryz, step two would be adding a back-up, and step three adding a starter. Today, Edmonton took care of a 50% of that list.
Ben Scrivens is an unproven goalie. He was a decent option for the Maple Leafs at the NHL level, and was tremendous in LA earlier this season. That said, the Kings’ system makes a lot of goalies look good, and we need to keep expectations in check. He’s still unproven, and in no way, shape or form can he be considered a shoe-in as a starter.
That said, this could be a steal. Scrivens is a good goalie. He’s at the very least an average back-up in my mind. He has the trust of Dallas Eakins from their AHL days, and he seems to have some confidence thanks to his recent play with the Kings. He’s a UFA at year’s end, so there isn’t a lot of risk here.
With 30+ games to go, I’d imagine Ben gets a bulk of those starts to prove he can be a legit option for Edmonton. Consider this a try-out. Do I think Scrivens will play well enough to earn a contract from the Oilers? I absolutely do.
I like this move a lot, and think it has tons of potential to work out for the Oilers. Yes, Ben is unproven, but he has some potential and has looked good early in his NHL career. I look forward to seeing him play.
More To Come?:
You better believe it. These two moves, in the grand scheme of things, were two smaller moves by the Oilers. MacT hinted at a few of these and a ‘medium’ sized deal possibly coming down the pipe in his interview with David Staples. I’d imagine that Nick Schultz and Ales Hemsky are the next two in line to be moved out of town.
Sam Gagner’s name is still out there, and while that might wait until the summer, I still think he is moved along from the Oilers. There has been talk compliments TSN today that Cam Ward could be a target, and rumblings suggest Jordan Eberle could be the player heading the other way.
The Oilers still will need another goalie to compliment Scrivens, and will need at least two top-four defenders (one being a top-pairing guy) before next training camp. The team will need some bigger forwards too, and will need to change the mix and move guys out.
The moves are just starting in Edmonton. Today is the day where Craig MacTavish started working on his 2014-15 NHL roster. It’s perfect timing too, because there is a lot of work to be done. Stay tuned and buckle up friends, it’s gonna be a fun ride…..errr transaction wise.
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