14 replies to this topic

[GWTLAH]

Would you trade the top-scoring player on your team if you thought it would help your team get better in the long run? This could be the question that the Edmonton Oilers are facing with regard to center Sam Gagner, and it’s an intriguing one.

Gagner has been the source of trade rumors off and on the past couple seasons because he has not progressed the way that fans and the organization had hoped he would have done by now. Taken with the sixth overall pick in the 2007 Draft, it was assumed at one time that Gagner would grow to be one of the Oilers’ top scorers, especially after he tallied a career-high 49 points in 79 games during his rookie season. In the seasons that have followed, however, he has been a 41- or 42-point player, and if his eight-point game against the Chicago Blackhawks last season was cut by five or six points, he would have been right at 41 or 42 points again.

So why would the Oilers entertain the idea of trading someone who appears to have finally found his scoring touch, tallying 17 points in the season’s first 17 games? At 23 years old, he still has room to grow and find his game, and you can argue that he is finally finding it this season and that his recent success could translate into future dividends for an Oilers club that perennially seems to be near the bottom of the league in scoring despite all their offensive talent. Of course the other side of that coin is that he is just in the middle of an insanely hot streak, isn’t really going to get any better in the coming years, and might be worth shipping off while his value is higher than usual.

 

Read more at http://www.rantsport...PUVUOedAsx1a.99

 

Well, wouldja?

 

 

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[Deezy]

Tough decision the organization needs to make on this one. With the top line struging and Gagner leading the team in points it will be hard to move him now but if the Oilers fall out of playoff contention they should think about it.

[Craig Simpson]

Again, as JR has said many times, if you trade him, who replaces him?  They don't really have someone to step in.  However, if you can land a #1 or #2 defenseman that is under the age of 30, you really have to consider it.  Still, I don't see them moving him at this point.

[RussJericho23]

No. We don't have anyone that can immediately fill the position, firstly.

If we trade Gagner, we need to at least acquire someone of the same position, who are capable of a earning a point per game, able to win faceoffs and are generally bigger than the 5'11" Samwise...

This point has been edited by RussJericho23: 26 February 2013 - 11:35 PM

[**LS**]

Good centermen are hard to find. Oilers would be nuts to trade this kid.

[JR Ewing]

Again, as JR has said many times, if you trade him, who replaces him?  They don't really have someone to step in.  However, if you can land a #1 or #2 defenseman that is under the age of 30, you really have to consider it.  Still, I don't see them moving him at this point.

 

Maybe it's just been me spending the last 25 years of watching the Oilers trade players for whom there is no replacement, but yeah, I definitely think it's a bad idea to trade Gagner for anything other than another centre. For me, I'd really only do it if they got something back in like: another centre. They don't have great depth down the middle, and can't afford to give it up.

 

Now... They're stronger on the wings, which would be my preferred place to see them deal from at this point. I've become fairly well convinced that Yakupov needs to play RW to have real success, and he's now roadblocked by Eberle and Hemsky.

 

JR

[RussJericho23]

Maybe it's just been me spending the last 25 years of watching the Oilers trade players for whom there is no replacement, but yeah, I definitely think it's a bad idea to trade Gagner for anything other than another centre. For me, I'd really only do it if they got something back in like: another centre. They don't have great depth down the middle, and can't afford to give it up.

 

Pretty much what I said, but better. MUCH better.

 

lol

[damned]

At some point 1 or 2 of the Oilers top 6 smurfs will have to be traded, replaced via the draft then traded, or replaced via free agency and traded.

 

The time isn't here yet however IMO, but tough decisions are coming down the road here.

[RussJericho23]

At some point 1 or 2 of the Oilers top 6 smurfs will have to be traded, replaced via the draft then traded, or replaced via free agency and traded.

 

The time isn't here yet however IMO, but tough decisions are coming down the road here.

 

Hall stays. He's an Oiler forever. Eberle stays too. The rest... Well... We'll have to wait and see who doesn't fit.

[damned]

I still think between the draft, moving Hemsky/Gagner or both, and hopefully some willingness of free agents to come here down the road, the club can make this work without having to consider trading any of the 4 players that make us cringe.

[RussJericho23]

I know we have a need for centremen, but is there anyone else that thinks we should've perhaps drafted Adam Larsson with our #1 pick and maybe see if someone like Mark McNeill was available at #19, back in 2011?

Sounds silly, I know...

This point has been edited by RussJericho23: 27 February 2013 - 01:23 PM

[damned]

If the Oilers finish where they more then likely will this year and drat 5-10, there is a real chance they take another center I think.

[RussJericho23]

If the Oilers finish where they more then likely will this year and drat 5-10, there is a real chance they take another center I think.

 

Speaking of which. I'm pretty certain they'll use a 2nd round pick to select Eric Comrie and go 3-for-3 on drafting members of the Comrie family.

[damned]

If the Oilers finish where they more then likely will this year and drat 5-10, there is a real chance they take another center I think.

 

Sean Monahan, that's the ticket.

[JR Ewing]

I know we have a need for centremen, but is there anyone else that thinks we should've perhaps drafted Adam Larsson with our #1 pick and maybe see if someone like Mark McNeill was available at #19, back in 2011?

Sounds silly, I know...

 

Nothing against Adam Larsson, but I'm glad they drafted RNH.

 

-Nugent-Hopkins was the concensus #1 pick, and when there's that much agreement about who the best player is, I really think you require Carnak-like fortune telling abilities to go off the board.

-I'm NOT a fan of taking defensemen with the #1 pick unless they're preposterously better than everybody else, or are also the consensus #1. D-men take such crooked development paths, are much more prone to injury and are more difficult to project than are forwards. With the most valuable pick you can get, you want to do as much as you can to reduce risk and guess work.

 

JR