Edmonton Oilers Lose Another Center / Is This Groundhog Day?

Last night Sam Gagner was high sticked in the face. Not only did he lose some chicklets, he broke his jaw. Obviously he will be out indefinitely. 

The Edmonton Oilers now have neither a first line center, and now no second line center. 

Sounds like to me two guys are going to get a roster spot by default. This isn't good for the new Eakins era. In fact, this is very bad. Like Gagner or not, he's pivotal to helping make this team a success right now and losing him hurts. 

Acton will now for sure be on the team at the start I the season (IMO). And I'm guess Lander is the other one that's here opening night. 

-WRITTEN BY A BUMMED OUT SMOKIN' RAY BURNT-

6 Million is the Standard?

As well all know, RNH has signed a 7 year, 42 million dollar deal a few days ago. With Hall and Eberle already making in and around there, does that make it the standard for Yakupov and Schultz?

Well, that depends on a few things. If the Oilers really do believe the cap is going up, they will probably offer them both 6 million (pending on good years.) But if Schultz has a bad year, I would think they would give him a lower dollar, 3 year deal. If he has a good season, he would probably get 6 million for 8 or 7 years like the rest of the quality guys on the Oilers. 

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My thoughts on the Nugent-Hopkins signing.

The kid is a franchise player and if he can stay healthy, he will be a dominating force for years to come. But his shoulder injury has to cause some concerns. 

I do think that maybe the Oilers should have signed him to a 1 year extension then gave him the long one just to see what he would be like in a full season.

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Rumor for today; Tomas Vanek is on the market, but the Sabres have to lower expectations if they want a deal done. An arm and a leg is just too much to ask for. 

This is written by Noah Fuchs aka NHL rumor guy

Thoughts on Oilers Lines Vs Canucks

Tonight's Oilers Forwards: 

Smyth-Hall-Hemsky

Perron-Gagner-Eberle

Hamilton-Khaira-Yakupov

Jones-Acton-Brown

Oilers Defence:

Nurse-Petry

Grebeshkov-Belov

Fedun-Hunt

Oilers Goalies (1/2 game each):

LaBarbera 

Rimmer

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I'm interested in seeing this Oilers squad tonight. 

We will see another look of Hall with Smyth and Hemsky. Possible line come the start of the season. 

The 2nd line can also be a opening night line. Gagner with Perron and Eberle on his wings. Expect at least two goals from this line tonight. 

The 3rd line is interesting. Yakupov will have to play his ass of to not make this line a liability. He's going to have to crank it up. I bet he does. 

The 4th line is another possible opening night line. I'm expecting lots of crashing and banging out of these three. All three players need to have a statement game. HNIC is the best stage there is. 

Nurse continues to impress. He's taking the left side and will slot in with Jeff Petry. These two are going to play big minutes. 

Anton Belov makes his Oilers debut alongside fellow Russian Grebeshkov. I'm excited to see Belov play. Heard lots, but I don't recall watching him ever. 

The last pairing is Fedun and Hunt. Hunt been good and this is his chance to show off his skills. 

LaBarbera and Rimmer will share the goaltending duties tonight. Each will play half a game. 

Game starts at 8pm mountain time on CBC. 

-WRITTEN BY AN OPTIMISTIC SMOKIN' RAY BURNT-

The Nuge Has Been Signed!

Word just came out the the Edmonton Oilers have signed Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to a seven year extension today worth $42 million. 

Good for Ryan. Next up is Nail Yakupov and Justin Schultz. 

-WRITTEN BY SMOKIN' RAY BURNT-

No More Tucked Jerseys? What The Hell?

It's the end of an era in the NHL. A rule has been passed, stating all players must wear coinciding uniforms. No player can have any gear showing except skates, gloves and helmets. That means, no more tucking of the jersey like many players do, including Ryan Smyth. 

This rule is one of the dumbest rules the NHL has ever enforced. If your jersey is tucked, you get an automatic two minute minor for delay of game. 

One such penalty was handed out tonight to the Columbus Blue Jackets player, Alexander Semin. 

Unbelieveable. 

I know that the tucked jersey didn't make Gretzky who he was, but it helped make him unique. Since when is it a crime to be a little different? 

Dumb rule NHL... dumb rule. 

-WRITTEN BY A PISSED OFF SMOKIN' RAY BURNT-