a·cu·men [ak-yuh-muhn] noun: keen insight; shrewdness

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Friday 26 June 2015

06/26/15 It Won't Go Down


Crass? Maybe. True? Don't you lie.


The Calgary Flames tried to spoil our fun on Connor McDavid Day (as it shall be known henceforth and retroactively back to the fouding of Edmonton), but Chiarelli had a reply.

You have to wonder about the rationale of the Boston Bruins on this day. Dougie Hamilton's contract price must have been mighty high if the Bruins deemed him trade-worthy as a result, which is what we're now hearing. That's the player you build around, though, isn't he? So the Flames gave up #15, #45 and #52 for the future stud, which is the kind of deal you'd expect for the ninth overall draft pick that was originally used to select Hamilton, not the return on an established player of his calibre.

And then we hear that the Oilers offered #16, #33 and #57 for Hamilton and the Bruins turned them down. From where I'm sitting, that's a better deal than what Boston ultimately accepted. That 33rd pick is hugely valuable. If it was bad blood between the Bruins and Chiarelli that caused them to turn it down, then that fanbase has been done a disservice. The job of the people running a team is to do the absolute best they can with what they have. The people managing the Bruins didn't do that today because of emotions or some such malarky. Maybe they'll be the new Oilers.

It's a good move for a Flames team that has decided to ramp up the arms race in the division in response to McDavid. Soon they won't be able to compete offensively with the Oilers (at least in theory), so it makes sense to build on their strengths.

The Oilers' reply to the move was to acquire Griffin Reinhart. I'm not nearly as down on this player as many seem to be. As an AHL rookie, Reinhart had the same type of offensive season as his draft year plus-1 with the Oil Kings - when he was well established in the WHL. He's no Dougie Hamilton, to be sure, but he's a strong prospect who fits into the age range of this new cluster without being completely green.

The trouble with dealing that 16th pick in this draft is that you can't get a guy who's too established. Old dudes need not apply. Also, when you acquire veterans you pay a premium for what they've done in the past and not necessarily what they'll do in the future, not to mention the premium dollars that are attached. These days I'm much too cynical about the Oilers to give any trade a free pass, but this one strikes me as making sense.

It's also interesting because the Oilers stuck to their guns about not dealing #16 for Cam Talbot. This post from Woodguy convinced me that Talbot is a solid target for the Oilers, even at a heavy price. Then, when Ottawa got a first round pick for Robin Lehner, I was sure that the price was set. However, Chiarelli's veteran savvy showed here, as he was able to guage the market and what he should have to give up. We'll see how things shake out on this front.

The Oilers suddenly find themselves incredibly stacked at center and in high-end defense prospects. It looks good on paper, but there's a lot more work to do. Oh, and there's the matter of that goalie...

1 comment:

  1. I was wondering when we were going to see a new hockey post. :)

    ReplyDelete