David Perron to be dealt in the next few days

[yave1964]

The Edmonton Oilers are looking to shop one of the underrated two way forwards in the game, david Perron for a center. Supposedly it is going to happen soon.

Edmonton forward David Perron said the Oilers own script is getting awfully tired.

"Something has to change," he said. "When you are making those mistakes, something needs to happen. They are the same mistakes we were doing last year. We keep talking about how much better we are this year, but for me it is the same record now that we had last year. It is not better."

 

  This is what Perron said after the team lost 2-0 to the Devils to run their current streak to 5 losses in a row. Apparently what you have to do to get dealt out of Edmonton is to complain that the team needs to do something to try to win.

 

  Anyway, the hottest rumor now for Perron is Columbus which makes sense as Perron would slot in very nicely on the top line next to Johansson and Artem Anisimov, the center rumored to be coming back in place of Perron, while nobody will ever confuse him with a superstar is a solid responsible two way center that would allow Leon Draisaitl to slide to the number three slot and Boyd gordon, one of the top fourth line centers in the game to go back to his natural role. Gordon thrives as a number 4 and Draisaitl could use the relief to grow under a lot less pressure packed situation. IMHO the Oilers should seek another piece, the Jackets are actually loaded on defense, body wise anyway, not a lot of star power but guys who are trapped in that 7th slot or down in the AHL. Maybe Anisimov and Erixon would be a good deal. It would fill two holes for the Oilers in one deal.

 

NOW

 While the Oilers have said they are not looking to trade one of their key cogs Jordan Eberle keeps coming up in rumors. The return for Eberle should be a lot higher than Perron. Dont get me wrong, I love Perron, a solid 200 foot player, oppurtunistic, plays a Canadian version of hockey, all situations, but 20ish goals and around 50 points is a realistic goal for him. Eberle, warts and all has 30 goals and 70 points written all over him.

  If the whispers are true and he is on the market in spite of management stating he is not,  the return should be a top pair d-man, a young goalie and a forward or at minimum 2 of the 3. Anything less I would pass and hold onto the talent Eberle.

 

[JR Ewing]

If the Oilers trade Perron for Anisimov, I'd be more tempted to

 

-Move Action Saxon over to LW, since with Perron gone and Pouliot out for 6 weeks with a broken foot, the club would need the help there. Because the Oilers have this bizarre insistence on using the NHL as a development league, it's obvious that Draisaitl is going nowhere. Given this ugly reality, there's nothing wrong with letting him learn the NHL game on wing, with less defensive responsibility.

-Call up Anton Lander to play the remaining minutes. Gordon is technically what they call a 4C, but he play 3C minutes.

[yave1964]

@JR Ewing

 

Two years ago the Oilers went out and stole Perron from the Blues, signed Gordon and Ferrence and declared themselves fixed. While I love Perron and Gordon, (Ferrence to me gets too much credit drawing off the fact that he played for the Bruins and is overrated) I sighed, yes Gordon is a great pest, yes Perron is responsible all over the ice and knows how to play, but the kids they have never learned how to play in the NHL. Signing the AHL coach to teach seemed like a good idea too, but that has not exactly worked out as planned.

 

  I dont really know what these guys need. A real jerk veteran coach, a Bruce Boudreau type maybe, he turned Washington around, they were terrible with Ovie before he came and became perenial President trophy contenders and the Ducks were slipping towards mediocrity in spite of having Getzlaf/Perry and now they are a top Western conference team. A Barry Trotz type, you play defense of you sit, period type of coach. I am so puzzled by this team.

[JR Ewing]

@JR Ewing

 

Two years ago the Oilers went out and stole Perron from the Blues, signed Gordon and Ferrence and declared themselves fixed. While I love Perron and Gordon, (Ferrence to me gets too much credit drawing off the fact that he played for the Bruins and is overrated) I sighed, yes Gordon is a great pest, yes Perron is responsible all over the ice and knows how to play, but the kids they have never learned how to play in the NHL. Signing the AHL coach to teach seemed like a good idea too, but that has not exactly worked out as planned.

-Am very happy with the Gordon signing. He's a hockey player and damned good at his job: taking the toughest draws in his end, winning most of them, and getting the puck out of there. He's performed marvelously.

-I agree 100% with your assessment of Perron.

-I wasn't thrilled with the Ference signing. If your team has struggled with a shallow blue line, the answer to your prayers is NOT generally a 34-yr old "character guy". The miles add up very quickly on them, particularly if he's small. Ference is under both 6-feet and 190 lbs, and the Oilers already had enough small.

 

I dont really know what these guys need. A real jerk veteran coach, a Bruce Boudreau type maybe, he turned Washington around, they were terrible with Ovie before he came and became perenial President trophy contenders and the Ducks were slipping towards mediocrity in spite of having Getzlaf/Perry and now they are a top Western conference team. A Barry Trotz type, you play defense of you sit, period type of coach. I am so puzzled by this team.

What do they need? Some top needs come to mind:

-Justin Schultz needs to be gone. Now. He's not a good defenseman, full-stop. The tremendous irony is that MacTavish's belief is the complete opposite of the situation; he sees him as a Norris Trophy quality player, and he gets the minutes to go along with it. He lollygags all over the place, is frequently caught up ice while playing rover, and is a tire fire in his own end. My dream is that some GM out there, sees his boxcar numbers, doesn't notice that gets those points because he gets so many at bats, and pays too much for him.

I don't know if Eakins has been terrible, but this team has sincere issues with breaking in rookies all over the place: all of the kids, their last two GMs, and their last two head coaches. Hell, even their new goalie coach is a rookie. THE NHL IS NOT A DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE. I think Eakins has an obsession with fitness (even though it's important) that sometimes broaches the bizarre, showing with Martin Marincin's uneven treatment this year: he went from starting the year in the minors, to playing the toughest comp in the league, to sitting 7 games, back to toughest comp. Mark Fayne is a good shutdown defenseman, has been for a long time, but doesn't play as much as you'd think, and not close to as much as their worst (Schultz). He's shown inconsistency with how he treats players. Yakupov has been all stick, no carrot, and the kid responded by changing his game quite a bit. But he's allowed other players to consistently turnover pucks at the opposition blue line with no punishment. That's a mistake, and that's what David Perron was talking about when he talked about accountability. It's an issue.

The good with Eakins: within the 1.25 seasons he's coached, the team has gone from possession numbers around 40% to around 50%. It's the roster, more than anything, that lets them down. MacTavish has given Eakins an extremely unbalanced roster. They have about 7 good wingers, but only two NHL centres, one of whom is barely more than a boy himself. There's no goaltending. Hell, last night Fasth let in one from centre. You can have the puck more, but when you're so thin up the middle, have only two defenseman (Petry and Marincin) who get the puck out of their zone quickly, you won't score much. And when the goalteding is so weak, you'll give up too many. MacTavish added more NHL players, but needs them in the most important areas still.

Would a ball buster help? I honestly don't know. The accountability issue would perhaps get itself worked out, which would be nice. I think the goaltending and centre depth has cost them more than the coach, though, even if Eakins isn't exactly the greatest coach in the league.

[Podein25]

@JR Ewing

 

What a bloody mess.

[JR Ewing]

From Elliote Friedman's twitter account this morning:

"Further to @Aportzline tweet, was told this am CLB is not at all keen on trading Anisimov. Good player."

I wouldn't really want to give up Perron, as he think he's the sort of player that EDM needs more of, but would have really liked to have Anisimov.

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

@JR Ewing

 

Two years ago the Oilers went out and stole Perron from the Blues, signed Gordon and Ferrence and declared themselves fixed. While I love Perron and Gordon, (Ferrence to me gets too much credit drawing off the fact that he played for the Bruins and is overrated) I sighed, yes Gordon is a great pest, yes Perron is responsible all over the ice and knows how to play, but the kids they have never learned how to play in the NHL. Signing the AHL coach to teach seemed like a good idea too, but that has not exactly worked out as planned.

 

  I dont really know what these guys need. A real jerk veteran coach, a Bruce Boudreau type maybe, he turned Washington around, they were terrible with Ovie before he came and became perenial President trophy contenders and the Ducks were slipping towards mediocrity in spite of having Getzlaf/Perry and now they are a top Western conference team. A Barry Trotz type, you play defense of you sit, period type of coach. I am so puzzled by this team.

 

Heh...maybe the Oilers need an unfiltered John Tortorella running the show from behind the bench....and the GM and management giving him whatever he needs.

 

Sure, Tortorella may piss off a ton of people along the way and there may be some so-called "untouchables" finding their way out of Edmonton (save for those talents that can actually access their inner aggressive side), but the bottom line is, under Torts, the team would definitely have a bit more attitude, much more commitment to defense, and just a general feeling of "we can play with anyone and we should win every night....and we don't care how many rings players on the other team has".

 

Forget the debacle that was Vancouver....that was a case of trapezoid peg in a triangular hole.

The Canucks wanted to keep things going "the Vancouver way" while bringing in a task master like Tortorella with his OWN methods...bad combo.

They wanted to filter the coach and limited what he could do or who he was allowed to have on his roster.

 

One need only look at the turnarounds he helped in both Tampa Bay and New York....two teams with talent, but were terrible  in trying to win games consistently.

He molded young guys, shaped up or shipped out dead weight vets, angered more than a few fans, media members and players along the way, but dammmit, got those organizations WINNING because both were willing at the time, to let Torts do what Torts does.

 

Eventually a coach like him wears on a team, but once he can show the franchise the light on how to be a real 'son of a b**** winner', even after he is shown the door, perhaps that franchise can continue on, because they LIKED the feeling of being a winner.

 

 

Sorry I rambled a bit and even got off topic a bit, but I think the Oiler's problems go WELL BEYOND a simple replacement of forwards.

I really believe, as an outsider looking in, that their issues reside in the management/coaching and defense/goaltending realm.

Fix those (and what I mean by fix is, get the right guys in with the RIGHT mindsets), and I think everyone will see this team make real, honest to goodness strides towards being a competitive organization again.

 

Attitude and solid defense and goaltending have taken lesser talented teams quite far in the past, can't see why a talented bunch like this can't benefit from a strong armed, yet successful guy behind the bench who can rub off his attitude on the players and add that to their already considerable on-ice talents.

[JR Ewing]

Sorry I rambled a bit and even got off topic a bit, but I think the Oiler's problems go WELL BEYOND a simple replacement of forwards.

I really believe, as an outsider looking in, that their issues reside in the management/coaching and defense/goaltending realm.

Fix those (and what I mean by fix is, get the right guys in with the RIGHT mindsets), and I think everyone will see this team make real, honest to goodness strides towards being a competitive organization again.

 

Attitude and solid defense and goaltending have taken lesser talented teams quite far in the past, can't see why a talented bunch like this can't benefit from a strong armed, yet successful guy behind the bench who can rub off his attitude on the players and add that to their already considerable on-ice talents.

Agreed, and I said as much in another thread from a few days ago. On ice, the big issues are in filling out the roster. The REAL issues? Management, and the biggest problem is with the President of Hockey Ops, Kevin Lowe. Outside of the spring/summer of 2006, he was poor as a GM, and nothing has improved since being bumped up the corporate ladder.

But... Because he's been best friends with the owner since the early 80s, he's not going anywhere. That's job security you can't buy.