She’s been a busy weekend here in Taipei and I haven’t had the chance to comment on the Strome/Spooner trade. So I’d like to do that right now and also address some possibility of future moves being made by the team.
The Trade
I like the trade but how much longer will Peter Chiarelli put up with Todd McLellan’s BS? More on that in a second.
Ryan Strome was spinning his wheels in Edmonton on the third line and the PK. Funny, this was the second season in a row where the elder Strome started the year horribly. Remember when Nick Kypreos went on Hockey Night in Canada early last year and let it be known that the Oilers weren’t happy with Strome’s performances and might be looking to move on from him?
Well, I guess Chiarelli didn’t want to wait for Kyper to get his meathooks stuck in again this year and pulled the trigger on a deal to bring in a former 2nd round pick of his.
Full disclosure, I have never really paid close attention (or any attention at all really) to the career of Ryan Spooner so I had nothing to really go on until I watched him vs. Calgary last night and what I saw didn’t disappoint me. Although, he’s got to tie his man up a bit better than that in front of the net.
He’s quick and he looks like he doesn’t mind taking a shot which is good. I think the Oilers could use a few more shoot-first players.
Getting back to Strome a bit here. I never really minded his game but one of my pet peeves regarding how he played was that he spent far too much time on the perimeter. He can skate and he can stickhandle and shoot but he really had no time for the interior of the ice and that’s not how you’re going impress the coach. I thought he could’ve done more to become a more dominant defensive player though.
More Deals Coming?
Maybe. What I was told was that if the Oilers keep up with the sub-par performances, changes will come. They still want that PP QB and possibly another centre.
The way I interpret that is the coach will be replaced. We can talk about how the Oilers could move Zack Kassian or Milan Lucic but trades are difficult to make I feel. Axing the coach and bringing in a new one is just a matter of getting the owners approval because it’s going to hit him in the wallet.
Now, I can’t say one way or another if the Oilers would hire Joel Quenneville but I will say with certainty, if the Oilers do go out and get him, they’ll be paying a very dear price to hire him on.
My question would be, do you think he’d only come in on the interim basis? The reason I ask that is that Pittsburgh is absolutely floundering right now. Would they axe their coach and bring Quenneville in? Which sort of team would Coach Q prefer?
Before I end this, I just want to float a few names your way and you tell me if you think they’re too far-fetched, ok?
- Nikita Zadorov (COL) – LHD – The hard-hitting Russian is in Bednar’s doghouse.
- Phil Kessel (PIT) – RW – How long will Rutherford keep Phil the Thrill during this slump?
- Jeff Carter (LA) – C – How far will LA go in dismantling things?
Lots of questions to be asked and so… We wait.
