Tag Archives: Jeff Marek

Armchair GM, Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, Rumors, Trades

Lucic to Vancouver? Plus More Oilers Takeaways From the 31 Thoughts Podcast

Tough game for the Oilers last night. ‘Twas a shame to waste that glorious goal from Connor McDavid, that PP laser from Leon Draisaitl, and Milan Lucic’s best performance in a very very long time. The goal is coming, you can feel it. 27 games on but mark my words, it won’t be much longer especially with the Rangers coming up who have Marc Staal and a bunch of AHLers manning their blueline.

Did you know: Even though the Oilers PK is last in the NHL (that won’t last, they’ll catch the Islanders), the only month that they were the worst PK in the league for the whole month was October. In fact, they had the 14th BEST PK in the league in February. #silverlinings

BEAR WITH ME

Ethan Bear had a tough game last night. I wouldn’t say he was directly responsible for 2 of the Predators goals but he was definitely part of the reason they were scored and I would say that’s fine given the circumstances. It’s not like the Oilers are trying to lock down a playoff spot here.

Bear’s stat line read like this:

  • No points
  • minus 3
  • 14:42 TOI
  • 1 shot
  • 2 blocks
  • 1 giveaways

That said, he was noticeably out of his depth but on the plus side, that boy can pass a puck and I didn’t see any panic in his game! If he gets a few more games (hopefully not paired with Sekera), I hope to see that cannon of his. The former WHL defenseman of the year is one player I think all of us are eager to see more and more.

PUL-ME? PULJU! 

When is Todd McLellan going to put Jesse Puljujarvi in the top-6? When will Jesse get his shot on the first PP?

Since he joined the Oilers, I’ve gotten the impression that McLellan was the type of coach who would give TOI where TOI was earned. Well, what I’ve noticed is that isn’t really the case. He’ll move players up and down from Lines 1 and 2 or Lines 3 and 4 or sometimes from lines 2 and 3 he’ll swap a bit but not often.

If ice time is earned, what does Jesse Puljujarvi have to do to get some ice time with Leon Draisaitl or Connor McDavid? And if that isn’t something that is in the coaches plans, then can he keep some linemates for more than a game? I thought that the Aberg/Strome/Puljujarvi line looked very dangerous against San Jose.

I just don’t understand how McLellan is “rewarding” his players…

31 THOUGHTS PODCAST TAKEAWAYS

  • Milan Lucic for Loui Eriksson

This was something near the end of the podcast that Friedman had suggested reasoning it with the notion that he thought they could both use a change of scenery. Marek added that the Oilers would have to “sweeten” the deal because Lucic had more term.

I have to decline on this one. We saw last night what kind of physical impact Milan Lucic can have on a game and just because he didn’t score doesn’t mean he wasn’t useful and that’s the difference between the two really. When Eriksson isn’t scoring, what else is he doing to impact the game?

IF Loui Eriksson was the shooting machine he used to be, then that might be a different story but it looks like he’s lost confidence there or he could be dealing with some physical ailments.

As it stands, Lucic brings more to the table than Eriksson.

  • Marek mentioned that the Blues were asking organizations other than the Jets about BIG LH’d dman Logan Stanley before they dealt Paul Stastny to Winnipeg for picks and prospect Erik Foley. 

The Oilers have a few LH’d dmen they’d like to move but this SO weird because it seems like the Blues only have LH’d dmen in their system. According to rosterresource.com, the only RHers playing defense for St.Louis are on their parent roster…

But I mean if they’re looking to add to that stable of lefties, I think the Oilers could help there 🙂

  • The cost for Pacioretty is HIGH!!!

Friedman says he believed MTL asked LA for Toffoli, Vilardi, a 1st rounder this year and maybe a 1st rounder next year and LA for good reasons said no. He also mentioned the Habs wanted Charlie Coyle plus and Minnesota said no. Lastly, Florida was one of the teams that Max Pacioretty wanted to go to but Montreal wanted Trocheck and so no deal was made because the Panthers turned that down.

So if the Oilers are looking at Max Pacioretty, I’m not sure it’s going to be a worthwhile trade because it’ll cost players like Yamamoto, Puljujarvi, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins or more.

It’s not worth it to deal that much future out for a guy whose contract is up shortly. Not only that but it sounds like Pacioretty is willing to make it work in MTL. Who knows if that’s true or not? Maybe Max is doing his GM a solid by saying that publicly and something at the draft happens like a 3-way between Montreal, Ottawa, and Edmonton…

  • Could the Blackhawks trade a core player?

Friedman and Marek pontificated upon what Chicago might do this summer. Are Bowman’s and Quenneville’s jobs safe? Could the move Toews because of the season he’s having? Is Duncan Keith an option to go because he’s got the easiest contract to move?

Friedman said he’d give Toews one more year before moving on him but that he’d check the market on Saad, Anisimov, and Duncan Keith.

Keith and Toews have NMC’s on their deals which means they’re not going anywhere w/o consent. Anisimov’s NMC lifts July 1 but Saad is clause-free.

Keith and Saad jump out to me for a couple of reasons:

  1. Duncan Keith is the type of General that the Oilers blueline is desperate for. There isnt’ a go-to guy in that defense. Not one. A lot of “complimentary” dmen back there but no alpha. It needs one and Duncan Keith would be that guy.

    He’s 34 years old, makes $5M+ per yer and his contract goes for another 5 years but the real money comes way down starting in 2019/20.

    He can’t score 50pts a year anymore but I’d say he’s still good for 40 at least. He’s one of the NHL’s great dmen and I could see him playing at a 1st pairing pace until he’s 39 too. What would you give up for him?

  2. Brandon Saad is only 26 years old and has another 3 years @$6M per on that deal left. He’s got the wheels, we know that. And he can shoot the pill. That’s pretty apparent.

    In order to get a guy like Saad, some major futures would have to go. What I mean by that is exactly the kind of players that the Oilers are looking for right now. I think Puljujarvi or Yamamoto for sure. But then the Oilers would have to get Chicago to take a contract back too.

    Or maybe the only deal would be Saad for Nuge… Both players contracts are the same term and dollar…

    I still think RNH on McDavid’s wing would yield the Oilers a 50pt winger, so why move a guy that could do that for you AND provide you with a kickass centre if one of McDavid or Draisaitl goes down or if McLellan wants to move Leon up to Connor’s line…

Anyways, those are a few of the trade murmurs that Marek and Friedman talked about on this weeks 31 Thoughts Podcast.

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Sportsnet’s Reaction to Whitney/Armstrong Comments on Ryan Smyth

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Millard: And were you waiting for the phone to ring from the boss?
Marek: Ummm, no! No.
Millard: Bosses call?
Marek: One, yes. He said he had our back.

This is from the March 3rd Hockey Central @ Noon podcast hosted by Darren Millard. Disgusting that there’s nobody being held accountable for the embarrassing performances from Armstrong, Whitney and now Marek. I actually was okay with Marek’s response during the telecast but after listening to this podcast, I can’t side with him on this one. I like the guy and I think he’s the heir apparent to Ron MacLean but his judgment on this one is right bloody terrible.

Could you imagine if Whitney or Armstrong would’ve made fun of Wendel Clark, Mats Sundin, Doug Gilmour, Saku Koivu, or Ray Bourque? There’d be backlash no doubt. But since it was Ryan Smyth and he’s from out west, that’s fine.

Weird that Whitney and Armstrong haven’t been heard from since…

“I told Horcoff I wouldn’t do it!” – Ryan Whitney

That’s two times in a week he’s taken a shot at Horcoff. Whitney and Taylor Hall had a good chuckle at the former Oilers’ captain’s expense on the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast last week. Now, Gretzky AND Smytty… Wonder what kind of gems Whitney has up his sleeve next? Maybe he takes a shot at Messier’s guarantee at some point? Or maybe this is a gentleman (barely) that is so sickened with himself and his career as an NHLer that he has to revert to taking pot shots at some of the classiest players to put on an NHL sweater.

So, this is what was said if u don’t want to listen to the link in the tweet above.

Marek: At the intermission we thought we’d do a little bit about pranking players, chirping players, that kinda stuff. Ryan (Whitney) told a story about Ryan Malone about how whenever he’d see Whitney come by the bench, he’d you know, loosen the Gatorade bottle and sure enough, dump all over him.

And Colby told a funny story when he played in Atlanta in a game against the Colorado Avalanche and Ryan Smyth was a member of the Avalanche. And all in unison, like all 16 guys all along the bench, started crying. Like doing the Ryan Smyth 2007 press conference when he was an Islander.

**Somehow I don’t think that these two stories equate… Maybe it’s just me.**

Millard: Oh, when he was traded from Edmonton and he was at the airport?

Marek: Correct, when he decided to turn down the offer to stay in Edmonton and ended up getting traded instead and then Ryan Whitney jumped on it and talked more about, you know, cause in the press conference Ryan Smyth talked about bringing the Cup back to Edmonton. He (Whitney) said,

“The Islanders? Potvin’s not there anymore, Billy Smith’s not there anymore.”

And Twitter was not amused. The nerves were close to the skin. We just thought it was a harmless chirp story involving the Atlanta Thrashers and a member of the Avalanche.

**The thing that pisses me off here is that Marek insists on identifying Smyth as an Islander in this instance. Technically, that’s true but come on… He knows very well that even he played for the Islanders, the Avs, and the Kings, that Ryan Smyth was really an Oiler his whole career. And Kevin Lowe could’ve very easily kept Smyth if HE were willing to pay him a little bit more at that time.**

Millard: Here’s how deep it went. Elliotte Friedman was MC-ing a charity dinner in Winnipeg last night and Scott Oake was being honored, Darcy Oake was there as well. And Elliotte looks at his phone and he’s starting to get troll tweets,

“You’ve never played the game. Why are you chirping Ryan Smyth?”

Elliotte said what the hell happened, so we brought him up to date. So…

Stellick: You kid Eddie Olczyk about his speech right? Like he knows… (inaudible)… When the emotion of when the Jets left, “We’re gonna bring it back”, and we said, “Eddie, what were you going to bring back exactly? Were you gonna win it in Arizona and bring it back or?” anyway, people get caught up in the emotion.

**Jesus… They’re comparing Olczyk’s speech to what happened to Smyth? Reaching much?**

Marek:  I understand the nerves are close to the skin in certain markets. We all do. I think we all know where those markets are.

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Millar: The idea of crying after a trade, that’s a long gone, uh, habit. This year, Curtis Lazar was skipping out of Ottawa.

Marek: Oh I know. But that was a new lease on life and he was going back out west.

Millar: But your first trade is always supposed to be this shocker.

Marek: Well Colby mentioned up in strategy room on trade deadline day that when his mom called him to tell him that he was traded from Pittsburgh to Atlanta, that he cried.

Millard: Colby cries when the weather changes more than three degrees.

Marek: I know… When the waitress messes up his order at the restaurant for breakfast, “I asked for the hash browns, what has the world come to? What kind of god would allow this to happen?”

Stellick: Devante Smith-Pelly, he cried. Got caught up in the emotion right? It’s part of realizing he was going. You know other guys… Whatever.

**So this is how they justify it? Armstrong cried… Is that right? So why weren’t we hearing THAT story? Can they honestly compare Colby Armstrong and Devante Smith-Pelly to Ryan Smyth in any way, shape, or form apart from they all played NHL hockey?**

Millard: So, do you apologize?

Marek: For what?

Millard: For taking up Twitter’s valuable space and time last night.

**I’m pretty certain this isn’t what Millard wanted to say. There was a little pause before he forced this out and that’s too bad. I would’ve like to have heard Marek’s response to the real question that wasn’t asked here.**

Marek: I didn’t send out any tweets about it. I responded to a couple. Man did we hear it. Just when you think, like, your summing up; no, you’re still adding up. I got a note from Colby this morning, he’s flying home to Pittsburgh; he’s in the air and he’s sending me the tweets. He goes,

“Still coming in.”

Millard: When did you realize last night was becoming something?

Marek: Right away. As soon as the intermission was over, we went back upstairs to the next period and BOOM! Timeline explosion. Timeline bomb. Boom!

Millard: My first inclination is, because I’m panicky worry wort, all that kinda stuff, was ‘oh no, oh no’. Then there’s other kind of people, Doug MacLean would be that, where were you guys?

Marek: Uhhh Colby was a little surprised at the reaction because he’s loveable, nice guy Colb. Right? He’s everyone’s buddy. I think he was surprised at the nature of the negativity.

Millard: That’s a little worried to me.

Marek: A little bit worried, yeah. Ryan (Whitney) just kinda ‘unh’. Boston boy, shrug it off. Big deal, hit by a pitch, you know, no autopsy-no foul.

Millard: And were you waiting for the phone to ring from the boss?

Marek: Ummm, no! No.

Millard: Bosses call?

Marek: One, yes. He said he had our back.

**One called. I wonder how the other bosses communicated their opinion on the matter?**

Millard: GOOD!

Marek: It’s what you want from a boss.

Millard: So, did you pile on after that?

Marek: No, we left it. I said,

“Guys, back up, phones down. We gotta watch the game anyway.”

Millard: Hey guys, have you ever had an entire city mad at you? Well yeah, actually you did. Sorry Gord (Gord Stellick was the GM of the Maple Leafs for a short time from April of ’88 to August of ’89).

Millard: Do you know Ryan Smyth?

Marek: I’ve talked to him on radio a couple of different times.

Millard: I think he’d find it funny.

**Well Mr.Millard, he didn’t find it funny. At all. Did he?**

https://soundcloud.com/thejasongregorshow/gregor-show-mar-3-ryan-smyth#t=9:00

Some of the interesting comments from Smyth re: Whitney/Armstrong:

  • You know obviously I’m not going to stoop to that level. Not appropriate. They do what they want on the panel and I let them be.
  • There is a time and a place for it (chirping) in my opinion and in this situation, that’s how they obviously felt and let ’em be.

THAT is how you respond to clowns like Whitney and Armstrong.

Ryan Smyth is a class act and has always been a class act. Not only for the Edmonton Oilers but for every hockey team he’s every played for, including Team Canada.

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