Racki:
Chucker: I’ll disagree on this 4th line center in our org stuff….

One of my complaints has been that the Oilers have put TOO MUCH effort into trying to make our internal players work at 4th line center. The only exception to that is Brodziak, whom I think they fucked up royally on. But I think in a lot of cases I’ve been frustrated with seeing guys like Pouliot given too much rope. 4th liners are a dime a dozen. I don’t think it’s really even that hard to find a decent 4th line fo/pker in free agency, and they come cheap enough. I’d rather that we give lots of time for our in-the-system 4th liners to develop in OKC and fill the role with a cheap free agent signing for a bit that has proven to know what they’re doing. But I guess it kind of depends on your definition of 4th line C too. I see that as a guy who’s skillset is being solid on the PK and draw, like Eric Belanger. The Oilers were stupid to cut Brodziak loose though.. although I think he wanted to be more than a 4th liner. But having a 4th line C that can put up 10-15 goals was money.

You are right that these guys come cheap and are always part of the free agency pool. Signing a guy that you know is good at his role is likely less risk than inserting a rookie or forcing a guy into that role like Pouliot. Pouliot definitely benefitted from there being no other options on a crappy team and was given way more chance than a player will now in this org.

One of my complaints has been that the Oilers have put TOO MUCH effort into trying to make our internal players work at 4th line center. The only exception to that is Brodziak, whom I think they fucked up royally on. But I think in a lot of cases I’ve been frustrated with seeing guys like Pouliot given too much rope. 4th liners are a dime a dozen. I don’t think it’s really even that hard to find a decent 4th line fo/pker in free agency, and they come cheap enough. I’d rather that we give lots of time for our in-the-system 4th liners to develop in OKC and fill the role with a cheap free agent signing for a bit that has proven to know what they’re doing. But I guess it kind of depends on your definition of 4th line C too. I see that as a guy who’s skillset is being solid on the PK and draw, like Eric Belanger. The Oilers were stupid to cut Brodziak loose though.. although I think he wanted to be more than a 4th liner. But having a 4th line C that can put up 10-15 goals was money.

Racki:
*Don Taylor voice*…. “Wearing Lee Foglin’s old number 2..”

Yah I dont see them being big impact players at the NHL level probably ever either. But I wouldn’t mind seeing VV try and get himself into a line 4 role one day. And you never know about Plante.. could work out to be an OK fillerhere and there on the bottom pairing.

I din’t get why the Oil don’t recognize that a fourth line centre has always been in our organization. O’Marra, to me, is a guy who could have been a great fit. VV seems the same. Brodziak was really good. Even a case could be made for Pouliot or Potulny. I think there’s lots of these level of guys around. Some are just lucky enough to keep getting contracts. Belanger has been a great addition for the PK and faceoffs. It just seems like the fourth Lin centre should be one of the easiest positions to always fill internally. Heck, even Lander now, although I think he is likely more a third line guy, but still.

As for Plante, he seems destined to be an AHL/Euroleague guy. Too bad because he is physical but his skating is not goog enough for the NHL. Too many guys are ahead of him now on the depth chart.