Monday Morning Standings
By Steve-O, December 14, 2009 9:24 am
Two hands up for MS Paint!!!
On time this week!!!
And hey, look at that. Oilers are making a charge up the standings.
Conference Standings
| East | West | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | GP | Pts | Team | GP | Pts |
| Washington Capitals | 33 | 46 | Los Angeles Kings | 34 | 45 |
| New Jersey Devils | 31 | 45 | Colorado Avalanche | 35 | 44 |
| Buffalo Sabres | 30 | 40 | Chicago Blackhawks | 31 | 43 |
| Pittsburgh Penguins | 33 | 45 | San Jose Sharks | 34 | 45 |
| Boston Bruins | 31 | 38 | Calgary Flames | 32 | 42 |
| Ottawa Senators | 31 | 36 | Phoenix Coyotes | 32 | 40 |
| Atlanta Thrashers | 30 | 35 | Nashville Predators | 32 | 39 |
| Montréal Canadiens | 33 | 33 | Dallas Stars | 32 | 38 |
| New York Islanders | 32 | 31 | Detroit Red Wings | 32 | 37 |
| Tampa Bay Lightning | 32 | 31 | Vancouver Canucks | 32 | 36 |
| Florida Panthers | 33 | 31 | Edmonton Oilers | 32 | 34 |
| New York Rangers | 31 | 30 | Columbus Blue Jackets | 32 | 34 |
| Philadelphia Flyers | 30 | 29 | Minnesota Wild | 32 | 33 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 32 | 29 | St Louis Blues | 30 | 31 |
| Carolina Hurricanes | 32 | 20 | Anaheim Ducks | 32 | 31 |
League Standings
| NHL Overall | ||
|---|---|---|
| Team | GP | Pts |
| Washington Capitals | 33 | 46 |
| New Jersey Devils | 31 | 45 |
| Pittsburgh Penguins | 33 | 45 |
| Los Angeles Kings | 34 | 45 |
| San Jose Sharks | 34 | 45 |
| Colorado Avalanche | 35 | 44 |
| Chicago Blackhawks | 31 | 43 |
| Calgary Flames | 32 | 42 |
| Buffalo Sabres | 30 | 40 |
| Phoenix Coyotes | 32 | 40 |
| Nashville Predators | 32 | 39 |
| Boston Bruins | 31 | 38 |
| Dallas Stars | 32 | 38 |
| Detroit Red Wings | 32 | 37 |
| Ottawa Senators | 31 | 36 |
| Vancouver Canucks | 32 | 36 |
| Atlanta Thrashers | 30 | 35 |
| Edmonton Oilers | 32 | 34 |
| Columbus Blue Jackets | 32 | 34 |
| Minnesota Wild | 32 | 33 |
| Montréal Canadiens | 33 | 33 |
| St Louis Blues | 30 | 31 |
| Anaheim Ducks | 32 | 31 |
| New York Islanders | 32 | 31 |
| Tampa Bay Lightning | 32 | 31 |
| Florida Panthers | 33 | 31 |
| New York Rangers | 31 | 30 |
| Philadelphia Flyers | 30 | 29 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 32 | 29 |
| Carolina Hurricanes | 32 | 20 |
And in the pool, Racki is still in first while myself and Trogdor are still #3 and #4 respectively.
- ted:
- Metal&Oil:
- Racki:
- hemmerlady:
- Trogdor:
- Steve-O:
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Themocracy
what the hell?
it’s not Tuesday…why is this up already?
Steve-O actually remembered this time. haha
HF rumour is that Khabbi is about to have surgery for a herniated disc. It’s pretty speculative, but here’s the link http://hfboards.com/showthread.php?t=714249
The Ducks (last in the West) would be tied for 9th in the east and fighting for a spot. What a tough division we play in.
Also very surprised to see the Rangers where they are, I didn’t even know they started tanking that hard. Looks like Slat’s bad signings are catching up to them.
It will not surprise me in the least for this to be confirmed to be true given his history. Stupid Oilers, why didn’t they listen to me??
Well like you said there is disparity between conferences. The Rangers are only 3 pts out of the playoffs in the East and the Oilers, who have 4 more pts than the Rangers, are 4 pts out of the playoffs in the West.
But yeah, the Rangers have disappointed so far. Which is fine since I’m also cheering for the Isles now. They have a weekend B2B set coming up that should be very interesting.
The Khabibulin rumor is still rumor (as you mention Chucker), so I’m not going to take it as anything other than that.
However, it just fuels my anger at that contract even more. Nothing against Khabibulin, of course.. just ungh.. bad contract and Tambellini and co. may soon see why.
Looks like I traded off Kotalik in the pool at the perfect time. Sorry Tyler
But my goaltending is definitely weaker sans-Bryzgalov. I got swept in goalie stats this week.
I’m reserving my comments on the rumor until I’ve heard confirmation. Though this would validate all my arguments against signing Khabibackbreakin’.
If khabi is done for the year, it might not be such a bad thing. JDD has been playing great and it frees up a shit load of cap once they toss him on IR. I think they have to make a push for Biron now from NYI. Hes cheap and honestly I’d rather have him than the Bulin wall. Biron would come cheap too, lets say a 3rd round pick and middle of the road prospect. Tambi will make a move if this is the case, because lets face it, no rookie goalie (minus a few in NHL history) has really lead his team to the playoffs…..If this is true lets start the Biron watch…Tim Thomas might become trade able from the Bruins….trust me on that.
re Biron – don’t look for him to be available just yet unless it’s an offer the NYI can’t refuse. DiPietro could only manage 3-1/2 periods of game time during his 2 week AHL conditioning stint. He played half of one game as scheduled, then was scheduled for a full game and left after 2 periods with ‘leg stiffness’. He received treatment all weekend and they said this morning he won’t be able to make a 3rd start as scheduled for tomorrow. Even if they are just being cautious, this is just going to slow down his comeback, and it might be at least the trade deadline before Biron gets moved as they will likely want to make sure DP can play at the NHL level before moving Biron.
Edit – and if the Isles can sneak into the playoffs which is a possibility the way Roli has been playing and how they’ve been scoring when he’s in net, they won’t get rid of Biron if DP can’t come back and play at an NHL level.
Haha, Biron. Sorry BO, I’m just laughing at the irony that we’d fix our goaltending problem with a guy who is currently a backup to Roloson.
Ever heard of Patrick Roy?
Won the cup as a rookie. But JDD is far from Roy material, of course.
Otto knows as much as anyone that I’m not a Roli fan, but I would have taken Roli at one year at any price over Khabibulin at 4 years.
I would however take Khabibulin at one year over Roli at one year though.
At the rate he’s going Racki, you might get that with Khabi’s injuries – one year of games, it’s just going to take him 4 years to do it is all…
hah, true. On a good note, that contract makes me feel better about Horcoff’s. It’s not so bad, in comparison.
Kinda sad though when the lesser of 2 evils is what makes you feel good about the team. Oh well, power to ya if you can find a silver lining there somewhere!
I can’t really. Although I honestly don’t mind the Horcoff contract that much. That Khabibulin contract is just plain bad though.
Anyone know for sure that at 35+ you still get cap bonus for LTIR? I know if he retires, is waived, bought out, etc., we’re screwed.
Read this here. Just find it interesting. I also recommend this because it makes me laugh.
Interesting convo by MC79, and I do agree with where he is going with it… however personally I wouldn’t be so in-your-face with an NHL agent. His job is to get Khabi a payday, and he did a fine job with that, end of story. Crap contract? Definitely… but confronting the agent won’t do much.
in the comments he admits as much…basically said that the agent did exactly what is expected of him, and that he didn’t expect the agent to screw the GM over either
also, another interesting comment in there regarding mogilny
Yah actually, I see now by the comments that he was just interested in seeing if the Oilers did their research on the medical side of things. Man, if the Oilers could Mogilny out of the contract, I’d be happy as can be.
Not to mention, you’re never going to get an agent to be honest about the player he’s representing.
New rumor out there. Not sure how creditable it is, but it says that Khabibulin’s career very well could be over and he would retire. we would be screwed for a while cap wise.
hahahah…
you guys better watch it or Tambi will ptero~you a new asshole!
Where’s that rumor from?
saw it on twitter. Like I said not sure how creditable it is. Hoping that it isn’t the case or we will be in salary cap hell for more than the original 4 years.
there’s gotta be some sort of loophole to shed the cap hit if it’s due to injury.
Not too sure about that, I think if a player retires depending on thier contract, wouldn’t the cap hit be alleviated? Isn’t that the concern with all these new “long-term” contracts right now, if they sign them over a period of years (12 or something ridiculous) the last few years they make like 2.5 mil then 1.5 then 1.0 mil so thier overall cap hit becomes like 4.5 instead of like 9.25 or something. Then when they retire they don’t have to pay thier players anymore.
It’s kind of a double edge sword, if Khabi does retire then our cap hit possible becomes more open but we lose a top goaltender. On a side note though JDD has been playing awesome, he’s no certified number one but he’s starting to shape into one. Can’t wait for Doobie to “mature” although that’s going to be a few seasons down the road yet.
EDIT: Off to read the CBA… =p
EDIT 2: Oh, like Racki mentioned aboved, players over 35… yikes that’s bad news bears.
Yah, if Khabi retires (which I doubt he will), Edmonton is screwed, and I’d like Tambi’s head on a platter.
I don’t believe that rumor for a second though. But honestly, if that scenario ever did play out, Tambellini should be canned. If not him than whomever suggested he make that signing. If Olczyk didn’t fully advise him of the 35+ situation, for example. Honestly, it’s just bad GM’ing. I know I sound like I’m overreacting here, but I don’t think I am in this case.
But I will reiterate that I think that rumor is b.s.. I haven’t heard it coming from anyone in the know – no Tencer, Gregor, etc.
I think the only thing that might save the Oilers is that it’s the first year of the contract and they have justifiable doubt to pre-existing injury/condition. If not, we’re f’d because it’s a 35 year old who we signed. I believe that means we could still have to take the cap hit for the remainder. That HF thread covers it pretty well.
Why couldn’t we have signed Anderson and avoided all this? Even Roli for two years looks great at this point.
Does anyone know if Roli had true intentions of staying here? He did move his family back east two the season before last. I doubt he was really, really hoping to stay here. I may be wrong on that, but if it is the case, all this Roli playing here talk is moot.
From what I understand, Roli wasn’t even talked to. I think Otto or LNOF would know better. I also think that he would have wanted to stay.
I know your stance is similar to mine on Roli, Chucker. But I mean, really, 1 or 2 years of Roli is a much better idea than 4 years of Khabibulin.
From Jason Gregor:
No mention whatsoever of this rumor that is floating around. I’m pretty sure it’s b.s. You know how quickly these things spread in this city. I wouldn’t worry about it.
No, I get the impression Roloson didn’t really want to come back. When asked at the end of the season if he wanted to return he kind of beat around the bush instead of really answering the question.
They did talk, the Oilers offered him a one year contract, he wanted two, they didn’t really negotiate and next thing you know, he’s an Islander.
As for ‘Bulin just being cautious, I tend to believe that more then him needing surgery. It’s been almost a month since this crap with his back started, why would it suddenly require surgery now? What all this makes me wonder, though, is this may very much be inevitable at some point during his contract with the Oilers – his back has been giving him problems for a few years now. At what point does he and the medical staff accept that this isn’t something that’s correcting itself?
Ok, so pretty much take the opposite of everything I said about Roli’s contract dealings. lol I thought I heard that they didn’t even talk to Roli (from the mouth of Roli), but guess I was wrong on that.
I can’t say I’d give Roli a two-year contract either, but 2 years of Roli is a bit better than 4 years of Khabi
Yeah, this whole situation is just one giant boondoggle, isn’t it? Of all the not so good Oilers contracts, this one just drives me crazy.
I’m no GM, but from reading the internet, it was patently obvious that this was a great summer to pick up a goalie for cheap. Instead, the Oilers bid against no one for an aging, injury prone goalie.
To me, it seemed like a panic signing to entice Dany Heatley to waive his NTC.
On a totally completely different but kinda related note, Michael Nylander has been burried in the minors. Yes an owner was actually willing to pay a massive salary for a player to play in the minors just to make the team better. This takes his cap hit off the books completely, but owner Ted Leonsis has to pay the price.
I guess after being on waivers twice and no one wanting him, it was either agree to go to the AHL or rot in the pressbox for the rest of his contract.
You are partly right Racki. From Roli in July:
“If they had given me that extra year, yeah, I definitely would have signed it,” said Roloson, who first talked to Tambellini about a new contract back in January.
“I figured they didn’t want me back,” Roloson said (after stating the Oilers offered him 1 year, his agent went back to them asking if they would consider 2 years, and then at that point they never heard back from the Oilers). “I’m glad the way things worked out the way they did today.”
“I got what I wanted in a deal and I’m happy,” Roloson said on TSN. “I wanted to try and get a two-year deal and that was one of the teams that offered a two-year deal. I wanted to get that for security reasons.”
I think he would have come back. He was evasive after the season because he probably knew he would only get a one-year offer and he wanted two and he didn’t want to say anything to jeopardize negotiations.
Moving his family Feb 08 had nothing to do with where he wanted to play. He always moved them back to ON to finish the school year there, but that year they moved a bit earlier to shelter the kids from all the trade rumours before the deadline. Then at the beginning of the 08/09 season he still expected to be traded so the family stayed in ON. By the time he felt secure with the Oilers, there was no sense uprooting the kids.
At season’s end someone asked him if he would ever do that again and he said never again, that from a family perspective it was hell. He only saw his kids 3 times last season. But if the Oilers had given him 2 years he would have moved them back I think.
However, I think he’s very happy with the NYI and with the exception of last night’s game, they have played very well in front of him, scoring over 3 goals per game. Last night the announcers were commenting about how good a fit he has been with the team and how well he communicates with the young players on the ice. I think he’s almost like a player-coach – they really respond well to him and have a ton of confidence in him. And I think that has him playing better too because he has been solid and really clutch for them.
Last night however, was ugly – he probably hasn’t seen that many breakaways and odd-man rushes since he left the Oilers. Hopefully it’s just an anomoly.
Honestly, I would not have wanted Roli to get a two year contract. So I don’t think that was a poor decision. I don’t think I have to state how much more I would have liked that choice over the one they did make though.
I’m no CBA expert, but like I said, there’s GOT to be some sort of caveat in there about a players career ending due to injury not counting against the cap. whether they sign as a 60 year old or 20 year old.
if not, I can tell you it well be amended on the next one, I don’t think anybody would be opposed to it, of course as long as the player still gets paid.
I believe it was a panic signing as well but I’m not sure it was to please Heatley. Maybe that was part of it, but I think it went back a bit further than that.
I’m just going to throw this out here re how I perceive the Khabi contract went down. I may be totally off my rocker and I’ll admit there might be some bitterness as well, not because the Oilers didn’t offer a 2 year deal to Roli, but because they then turned around and offered a 4 year deal to Khabi. I thought that was a slap in the face to Roli especially after Tambi had called out most of the players for not competing during the season and Roli was one of the only players who gave 110% and played like he gave a shit about winning.
I believe a couple days before free agency chucker kind of touched on the Oilers possibly targeting Khabi. My apologies to chucker as I think I kind of blew him off on it at the time. I just felt if they didn’t want one aging goalie without a recurring injury history in Roli, they wouldn’t go for another aging goalie with more wear and tear and a recurring injury history. I would completely understand though if they had signed someone much younger than either of those two.
We know that Roli was offered a 1-year deal. He said all along he was looking for 2 years, for the sake of his family but also because he knew that the cap is going down in 2011/12 and he wanted the security of a deal that covered that year. Roli is a pretty smart guy about the business end of hockey and I can’t say I blame him, after the season he had, to push for a 2 year deal. In fact it shows more forward thinking than the Oilers demonstrated, seeing as the Oilers then forged ahead to sign Khabi for 4 years at a higher cap hit that what Roli would have had knowing the cap is going to go down.
Now, getting back to that 1 year offer to Roli – I think they made that offer because he was the team MVP last season and there was fan pressure to bring him back. So that offer was mostly for PR reasons I think. They knew he wanted 2 years and it wasn’t a big gamble for them to throw a 1 year deal his way so they could say they tried. Roli and his agent went back to the Oilers and asked for a 2 year deal and the Oilers never called him back. He said they figured the Oilers didn’t want him back so it was off to free agency. That 2nd year was his priority, even if it meant not being a guaranteed starter.
IMO, the Oilers never called him back because they were never serious about negotiating with Roli in the first place – not after they hired Quinn. Quinn’s a big name coach, he coached in the East when Khabi was in his prime. He knew Roli as a backup in BUF (mind you Roli had a part in defeating the Leafs in the finals in 98-99 but that was 1 game). I think he made sure Tambi knew who he wanted in net for this season – and it wasn’t Roli. You hire a big name coach, you make him happy and you get him a big name goalie he’s familiar with.
The Oilers knew who their coach wanted in net and they also had to appease the fans after that disappointing Heatley night before free agency. If a big name goalie would also entice Heatley to sign then that solidified Khabi as their target. Therefore, they offered Khabi a contract he couldn’t refuse. Medicals didn’t matter, they got their man, and after all, like Tambi said, he had a ring. Khabi even said no other offers came close – a very interesting comment that is in print and was initially on the interview audio but later removed from the Oilers website.
Like I said, I might be totally off my rocker here but that’s how I saw it after piecing together the timeline and all the player and management comments. I do think it was a panic signing and I think even if this rumour about back surgery is not true, this contract will haunt and tie the hands of the Oilers in the future.
Sorry for the rant.
From Low On Oil, who quoted the CBA:
Note the bolded part… especially the underlined. I think that’s the out there. If Khabi somehow dies before the end of the year, we’re off the hook, by the sounds of it. In Boston Oiler’s famous words… “get ‘er done, Tambi”.
Edit: actually the CBA is uber-complicated. I would be surprised if it was as literal as that (that if a player retired before year 2, their contract won’t count to the cap). So there’s as good a chance that this really isn’t an out.
well it’s official that Khabibulin will undergo a spinal ‘procedure’ to kickstart his recovery
So with Hemsky and Khabibulin on the IR (if I understand the legal terminology correctly), the Oilers should have the room for a 1 year ‘rent-a-goalie’ (is there one available?), or do we expect Dubnyk to be the long term back-up while the Falcons get pounded? If nothing else, they need to address the farm team rather than depleting the Falcons any further. Tambilini did mention it in a recent interview on oilers.com but he doesn’t seem to be the guy that moves quickly.
It looks like Halak is “officially” on the market.
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=302443
Doctor says Khabi needs a backeotomy…. whhhhhhyyyyy!
As far as rental goalie, I think it would be a smart idea. Goalies that could be had: Halak (1 year to RFA – Gainey seems to be realistic about the expected return on him), one of Atlanta’s goalies, Biron perhaps, Shoot Tutor.
god, if you listenin’….HELP!!!!
The thing that bugs me is that I can’t see Tambellini making a move. Should he be? I’d say so. Gainey already admitted that he doesn’t expect much of a return. He mentioned that Huet and Biron only netted a 2nd rounder.
I don’t really know how long Khabi will be out though, mind you. So if they really think he’ll be back soon, it’s best not to pick up another player. But if they figure it could be a bit, why not do it? I might overvalue Halak a bit… but I see him as Montreal’s version of Cogliano (read on) – a pretty good player that just doesn’t have enough opportunity to show what he can do because of players ahead of him. At 0.8M, I don’t think it will break the bank. But I am pretty sure that Tambellini will wait and see long enough for that ship to sail. I just hope if that is the case that Khabi is back soon. Chances are he is though, so it *should* be ok.
With regards to the contracts. Maybe the Oilers should have gotten creative the way the Hawks, Red Wings and Flyers have been. Say, giving a ridiculously long term with most of the money front loaded and the tail end being league minimum? So for Roli, give him a 6 year deal with the goal in mind that he’s the starter for 1 year and back up the next year and then he retires. Just a way to minimize the cap hit.
Question: If Khabi is sent to the minors wouldn’t that eliminate his cap hit with the Oilers? He’d still get his money but that would just be for Katz to swallow.
For 35+ though, I don’t think there’s any advantage to front loading, is there? Cause he’ll still get his cash, we’ll still get stung with the cap hit.. so what would be the point?
And from what I understand, sending him to the minors would still result in the Oil swallowing that cap hit… there doesn’t seem to be any way to avoid it, save for a couple of possible outs I’ve heard floating around (speculative, however):
1) “The Mike Rathje Trick”. Basically, put Khabibulin on LTIR permanently. The cap hit still stays there, however we basically have his cap money available as a bonus to spend on someone else (which if you simplify it is pretty much the same benefit of considering his cap hit nullified – although it really isn’t, of course). Obviously, Khabibulin has to be on board with this.
2) The CBA mentions that a player in his second or later year, blah blah, legal stuff, etc, blah, of a contract signed at 35+ would have his cap hit count toward the cap, no matter what (obviously severely paraphrased). So if Khabi retires before the end of this year, does his cap hit possibly not count then for the following years?
Patrick O’Sullivan seems to be an issue. Give them him and Pitton and be done with it. Halak is a steal at .8 million. It gives us somewhat proven goaltending and options to move around guys in goal should we need to. Halak and JDD would make a good tandem. Khabi doesn’t look good from my perspective. I’m thinking once the Christmas packs go off the market, he’ll be announced to have surgery.