Whip out your Oilers swag from 2006 folks because I reckon there’s a chance we might be taking a trip down memory lane at this upcoming season’s training camp! I’ve been told there’s a chance that Shawn Horcoff and Eric Gryba will be offered a chance to make the 2016/17 Edmonton Oilers if they choose to accept a PTO.
Eric Gryba has, in fact, been offered a PTO by the #Oilers. I'm not sure, however, if he has accepted yet. Likely hoping for a contract.
— Kurt Leavins (@KurtLeavins) August 24, 2016
Now we know that Gryba fared pretty well and was a good chap for the Oilers last year. He spent the majority of last year playing alongside Brandon Davidson and according to Stats.HockeyAnalysis.com, they put up a very respectable CA/60 of 47.84 in 283 minutes. Perhaps if Gryba decides to join the team for one more season, this could be a pairing. Unfortunately, Gryba’s Corsi Against was pretty shite with the other dmen on the squad. But Edmonton is in need of another right-handed defender and Chiarelli loves him some size and physicality, right? I’m only on board of the beard stays though.
As for Horcoff, hearing that he’d like to come back and give it another shot with the Oilers has me mind split like a watermelon on Gallagher’s stage. On one hand, Shawn Horcoff is getting older and his experience, work ethic, and locker room presence would be invaluable. On the other hand, Horcs is going to be 38 years old and how much of an impact can he have on the ice today?
Going back to Stats.HockeyAnalysis.com, the numbers are telling me that this guy cannot play a lick of offense anymore. His WOWYs say that his linemates do a helluva lot better when they are away from him. On the defensive side of the puck, he played quite well with Andrew Cogliano in the 363 minutes of 5×5 even strength time together:
CF/60 – 55.35
CA/60 – 46.92
Horcoff Away from Cogliano:
CF/60 – 45.27 (YIKES!)
CA/60 – 53.09
Cogliano Away from Horcoff:
CF/60 – 57.79 (Holy Snikees!)
CA/60 – 52.5
In 2015/16, Horcoff had the best even strength CA/60 on the ducks apart from Ryan Getzlaf (minimum 600 minutes TOI). Horcoff had 49.67 and Getzy had 48.73.
SHOULD WE KEEP OUR SHIRTS ON?
The thing is we’re going to have to consider the impact on the roster’s make up if Horcoff were to make the team.
L1: Pouliot – McDavid – Eberle
L2: Lucic – Nugent-Hopkins – Draisaitl
L3: Maroon – Horcoff – Puljujarvi/Yakupov
L4: Hendricks – Letestu – Kassian
So the rub is that anybody who plays with Horcoff is going to see their numbers absolutely nosedive. I don’t even really know how much of an upgrade he is on Letestu. But what he would do is work his ass off, go to the areas that need to be addressed on the ice, provide a defensive presence, and be a reliable face-off man.
The one thing that keeps cropping into my mind though is, could Shawn Horcoff be Derek Roy v2? Is this a guy that could possibly bring something out in Yakupov similar to what Roy did. Horcoff loves the Oilers and being a former captain of the club, he knows about accountability and that’s something that Roy made Yakupov aware of in that short time they played together. Horcoff doesn’t have the skills to be like Derek Roy but maybe that was only a small part of it before…
If the Oilers are intending on keeping Yak for the majority of this season, I’d much rather see Draisaitl with Horcoff, Eberle with Nuge, and Yak with Connor. That’s just me, though. The numbers back-up those combinations and Draisaitl could learn a thing or two playing alongside Horcoff.
What do you think about the Oilers possibly offering Shawn Horcoff and Eric Gryba PTOs to come and try out for the team? Let us know in the comments below!
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If Horc is on the 3rd line, then the 3rd line isn’t a scoring line and that’s bad.
Maybe Horc beats out Letestu for the 4th?
Yeah, Horcs isn’t coming… lol
Bring on the PTOs! What harm can it do except push the other guys to play better as well?
If Horc can’t hack it you say no thanks, if it looks like he could offer something then give him a two-way 1 year deal.
I’d give Gryba a contract but no problem with the PTO as I think he’d make the team.