Oilers Claim MacIntyre

The Edmonton Oilers have addressed their toughness issue today. The team claimed enforcer Steve MacIntyre off waivers from the Pittsburgh Penguins. Mac is in his third stint as an Edmonton Oiler, playing with the team in the 2008-09 to 09/10 seasons, and again during the 2010/11 season. Steve spent the last two seasons playing in the Pittsburgh organization, splitting time between the NHL and AHL.

MacIntyre is in pretty good shape according to Bob Stauffer. On twitter, Stauffer reported that Mac has gotten down to 245 pounds and is now at 9% body fat. That’s an improvement in terms of fitness from the last time was saw big Mac. He’s a big boy, there’s no debating that. He’s extremely strong and is a great fighter when he drops the gloves.

That being said, I just don’t get this move for Edmonton. MacIntyre is strictly a fighter, he’s not a great hockey player when it’s all said and done. His skating is brutal, and makes him a liability on the ice. His offensive game? He has four points in 91 games at the NHL level, so clearly it isn’t there. To be fair, he’s not a scorer, but it should be noted.

Defensively? MacIntyre isn’t much better, and it can be said that he is a liability in his own end. He can’t really play the PK too, so outside of fighting he doesn’t really have a role on this team.

Craig MacTavish spoke to the media moments ago and said things like “He knows his role” and “He is what he is”.

This signifies that Mac is simply here to once again beat a few people up and, in theory, keep the other team honest. I just don’t know if it will work.

Guys like Zack Kassian and Dale Weise aren’t stupid. Unless Mac just grabs them and starts smacking them around, they aren’t going to fight him. Steve will have to be a lot more aggressive to make this move work.

Steve MacIntyre is basically the same player he was when he left a few seasons ago. A fighter, and that’s pretty much it. He’s a good guy, and I wish him the best and hope that this experiment works out.

That all being said, I just don’t understand this move. The Edmonton Oilers are not a good enough hockey team to be giving up valuable roster spots to exclusive fighters. It just doesn’t make sense. To me, this is the first real move of MacT’s that I can’t get behind.

We’ll see how it works out, I’ve been wrong before and will be wrong again. I’d love to hear what you guys and girls think, so let me hear it in the comments section or on twitter @Alex_Thomas14