So Sportsnet is reporting a story from the Edmonton Journal today concerning Tom Gilbert and how he could possibly command up to $3 million next year and the Oilers cannot possibly afford him. He’s hasn’t even played 40 games yet. Yes he’s been very solid and smart in his inexperience but let’s be serious. First of all, this kid is not going to get over $3 million. He won’t be getting $2 million. He’ll get closer to Matt Greene money I think or slightly more. The Oil can afford that. The real concern with defensemen is Joni Pitkanen. He’s the restricted free-agent I think the Oilers are a helleva lot more worried about. Good job by the Journal and Matheson to stay on top of the story.
And last night’s game verses the Avalanche….it was the WORST 40 minutes (periods 1&2) of hockey I have ever seen the Oilers play. This is not an exaggeration. I have never seen them play that dreadful before. NEVER!!! This team doesn’t have the talent of other teams but at least compete. Where is your pride? Anaheim comes to town tomorrow, they’d better pull their heads out of their asses before!!
He hasn’t even played 40 games yet.
Well, I don’t know if that’s the main criterion. I could have said the same thing about Dustin Penner a year ago.
It’s a changing marketplace, and K. Lowe was a big part of the change. Everyone likes to pick on Burke for opening his mouth, but I still gotta say, it was a tough move for Lowe to make. I’d think the last team who’d want to increase the price for RFAs (and thus decrease the price for UFAs) would be the GM for a team who has trouble attracting UFAs in the first place.
We’ll see–$3M might be too high for the kid, but paying for kids is part of the marketplace now, for better or worse.
Was it worse than that game against Detroit last year? It couldn’t have been.
If Gilbert plays like this all year, he’ll be worth $3 million. Him and Pitkanen look really good together. I’d love for them to be signed long-term. Stoll, Torres, Souray and Greene can all be shown the door, as far as I’m concerned.
andy,
giving up on souray already? we’ve only seen 6 games out of the guy. i am not saying he is anywhere near his price tag but i think he’s going to contribute something once he gets back in the line up. i wasn’t too happy with the signing either but after seeing that slap shot live, i almost peed myself with glee. it is truly something to behold.
I’d be surprised if this kid got $3 million. I also think the Oilers could afford it if it happened. In my mind, he’s still a rookie and how can you give him that much? Yeah I can’t get that out of my mouth before I start thinking of Penner. $3 million is almost a deal in these days.
This was without a doubt the worst I’ve ever seen them. Yes, worse than the Detroit game. Although they are quite comparable. And yes, the more I think about this, $3 mill for Gilbert might not be so bad.
At first I thought the Detroit game was worse, but at least, even though twe had that shotless peorid, the wings had to work a bit for their scoring chances. Against the Avs last night, we handed all four goals to them on a shiny platter.
3 mil is a lot to pay forGilbert but the way he’s playing, he will make it. If we want to keep building the team from within rather than relying on the UFA and RFA market every year we’re going to have to buck up.
I don’t think he’s worth 3 million. No way. He has a long ways to go in my mind before he’s remotely ready.