Then again, Brule’s looking better and better…

It all depends on what the Caps would settle for of course.

Make it bigger and say: O’Sullivan and Souray for Semin (RFA), Morrisson (UFA) and Steckel (UFA)- but then again, we’d be left with three free agents, two of which could outright reject us. And, I like O’Sullivan’s potential…

NorwegianOiler: Gr8one: That is actually one trade I wouldn’t really mind. Semin, though not the toughest character around, can score and is a very good player. Depending on his ‘new’ salary (RFA this season) I’d be rather pleased. The biggest issue for the Oilers is that Morrisson is a UFA, but depending on the salary (as always) I think he could be re-signed. If Semin would take somewhere around 5.5M it would work out quite nicely.
Then again, I’d hate to give up Cogliano – I’d rather see them take on another player. I think Cogliano shows a lot of resiliency and leadership at a very young age. His speed is undeniable, but his skill set is quite good as well. As he grows stronger and more mature I am sure he’ll be a 25 goal scorer and a valuable PKer for any team.
In any case, there’s an interesting core to that suggestion I think.

yeah, you pretty much summed up the thoughts and trepidation I had in my mind that I did not articulate in my post.

I do however believe though if we were able to wrap Semin up for a reasonable cap hit like you said, his long term value and upside could potentially reach superstar proportions.

and as much as I think Morrison would be fantastic for us, even if we were unable to re-sign him(which I hope we would) his salary would be $2.0 million off the books that we could use to sign another big shutdown D if needed.

I agree on Cogs, as I love the skill set he possesses, however, it’s the old conundrum we’ve had the last few seasons of the Oilers having too much of the same thing, and I think Cogliano is somewhat expendable in the sense that all the things we love about could help us yield some of what we are lacking.

another one I was sort of mulling about in my head that I don’t like as much, but still is intriguing to me nonetheless, is swapping Souray/Cogs to Pittsburgh for Staal/Orpik.

Then again, I’d hate to give up Cogliano – I’d rather see them take on another player. I think Cogliano shows a lot of resiliency and leadership at a very young age. His speed is undeniable, but his skill set is quite good as well. As he grows stronger and more mature I am sure he’ll be a 25 goal scorer and a valuable PKer for any team.

In any case, there’s an interesting core to that suggestion I think.

Cogliano, Souray and maybe a 3rd rnd pick for Semin and Shaone Morrison.

now, on the surface this might not make sense for Washington, but if you think about it, it gives them some more options in the future without taking away from their contender status, and it might actually help them as a contender.

Imagine with their forwards having the option of Green AND Souray on the PP?

plus you take in to account that Semin is in line for a big raise next year that the caps might not be able to afford in the sense of not having cap room to keep a good supporting cast around Ovie having so much cap space wrapped up in just Ovie and Semin, plus they get a young, speedy two way centre/winger that would likely fit in extremely well with their team dynamics.

Semin for obvious reasons would look awesome in Oiler silks, and Morrison is that big bruising shut down D we so desperately need, and the salaries in this trade are pretty much a wash for this season anyways.