From Oilers.nhl.com:

I have yet to see Davidson play yet, but it’s hard to ignore the kid’s great season (great point totals.. captain of the team, good size… I approve).

This shouldn’t come as any surprise that Linus Omark wants out. He sees what Edmonton is bringing in, and he sees he isn’t likely part of the plan. But I think he’s handling it all wrong. For the love of god, close your Twitter account. Anyways, here is the most recent quote:

I’d (love) to show that the “two” are wrong. but i really hope edm let me have a chance in another nhl team

I am not 100% sure what the “two” part means. Could mean a combination of Steve Tambellini, Tom Renney and Kevin Lowe. Or it could mean a couple people that were ragging on him on Twitter.

At any rate, he obviously doesn’t want to be here, and the Oilers need to find him a new home.

Being on Twitter wouldn’t have helped any, but the guy really should have ignored comments from fans. A lot of negative comments get sent to everyone, not just the divas. He’s been taking a beating on Twitter though, and I think he’s had enough. But really, he didn’t stand a chance here. The game is played on the rink, not Twitter. Got to learn to ignore that stuff and not fuel things any more. We are accustomed to players forcing their way out of here. I wish people would just keep their mouth shut and request it with the GM and be done with it. But oh well. Best of luck somewhere else. Not my kind of player. Too much drama around this fellow. Could be a decent player one day though.

Central Scouting has finalized their rankings for 2012.

Perhaps the biggest surprise is that Mikhail Grigorenko is no longer in the top 2 for North American skaters. Ryan Murray slots in at #2. Also possibly surprising is that Alex Galchenyuk is hanging in at #4 for North American skaters. This is a kid that I really, really like. I’ve seen some of his work, and he is an incredible player that could possibly disappear off radars because he missed nearly the whole year due to injury. The thing I like about him is he has a hell of a shot, but also is a physical player. He also plays center too. So really, this is the power forward up the middle that we might have been looking for.

I think many Oilers fans will be licking their chops at the idea of drafting Ryan Murray. Myself, I just don’t know. It sounds like he’s pretty good, but I also think it will take time before he’s really good enough to make a difference here. I could be way off base with my thoughts though.

Anyways, here are the rankings: Continue reading '2012 CSS Final Draft Rankings'»

The Phoenix Coyotes have claimed forward Gilbert Brule off recall waivers. This means that the Oilers will have a $925K cap hit (well, to simplify) on the year rather than $1.85M. When a player is claimed on recall waivers such as this, the original team is “on the hook” for half of the cap hit, while the new team is on the hook for half (the same goes for salary). I think this is a good thing. Gilbert Brule’s oft injured/sick/whatever situation wasn’t doing the Oilers any favors. Great guy, and I wish him well in Phoenix. I hope he can become a better NHLer there. My prediction though is the Coyotes eventually cut him loose too, and the Oilers take him back for Oklahoma City. Just a guess.

Martin Marincin was also traded today to the Regina Pats (from Prince George Cougars). This is great news for Marincin, as the Cougars are an AWFUL team, while the Pats are quite good. As a reminder, the Pats are Jordan Eberle’s old team. They have a shot at the playoffs, whereas the Cougars are definitely mailing the season in.