Oilers/Falcons This n' That

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Last night on TPS Dean brought up an interesting debate topic: Between the Edmonton Oilers and the Springfield Falcons, which club is closer to being a playoff team?

The Falcons finished dead last in the AHL last year but have made a ton of changes to their roster with a number of players not qualified and a handful of free agent signings coming in. The Oilers meanwhile have a new goalie... and that's it. Both teams have a new head coach to start the year.

It's an interesting question for sure and would make for a great discussion. For the record, I said the Oilers and Dean picked the Falcons. I think an argument could still be made for both teams not yet being playoff caliber considering the quality of teams in Springfield's division and that the Oilers haven't improver their team and are (so far) banking on players being "no worse" than they were last year.

Trade Rumors

I'm not a big fan of trade rumors or discussing them but the last couple of days at HF there has been a thread mentioning a "serious discussion between Florida and Edmonton" that would involve a few players from both sides. The names being mentioned include Tom Gilbert, Robert Nilsson and Rob Schremp from Edmonton with Panthers forwards Nathan Horton and Kenndal McArdle (pictured) although what the actual proposed deal might be is somewhat unclear.

Anyway... the person starting the rumor is writing a blog claiming "Inside information from the Oilers office". I have no idea who the creator of said blog is but most posters at HF are already labeling him as a fraud.

The suggested trade caught my attention though because I like Kenndal McArdle and have suggested in the past that he'd be a player I think could find some success in Edmonton. I think chemistry goes a long way and he's great friends with Gilbert Brule - another young player looking to establish himself in the NHL this year.

I spoke with McArdle a couple of times last season for a feature I did on him that was published in The Hockey News. I found him to be a guy with a lot of character and has a personality or quality about him that just makes you want to cheer for him.

So when his name came up in this mysterious rumor blog, I wanted to find out if there was anything to the names or teams being talked about.

Alas... I'm told that there isn't.

Springfield Update

The Falcons have been quiet for a few days since signing Charles Linglet and Jamie Bates but I'm led to believe there might be a couple more players still on the radar. We had Rob Daum on the show last night and he mentioned that he'd like to see another top 6 forward added to the mix and potentially another defenceman, someone who could play an offensive role on the top pairing.

Eric Bogunecki's name has been mentioned by a few people. Contrary to suggestions that a deal might be close, I'm getting the opposite sense in that Edmonton's interest in him quickly evaporated after brief initial talks and that he's not in the picture.

Wyatt Smith is though but the player wants to be patient this summer, keep talking to teams through August and make a decision once he's sure all interested parties have had their say. Edmonton is one of those clubs. Smith played for both San Antonio and Norfolk last year and scored 19 goals and 47 points in 71 games... a decent player but I don't know that he satisfies Daum's desire for a top 6 guy.

Here's another name that has come up: Ajay Baines. He's been a career minor leaguer but he's been described to me as a guy any organization would love to have to help tutor their young prospects because he's a world class individual. He played two years in Hamilton including 2006-07 when the Bulldogs won the Calder Cup as AHL Champions (Zack Stortini was also on the team).

Baines isn't a big player and probably isn't a top 6 guy either but he's is someone with a lot of valuable experience at the AHL level and has the leadership qualities that makes him attractive for the farm. He had 31 points last year through 79 games with Iowa (ANH). He was a captain in Norfolk and Iowa and is shown here with the Calder Cup and a classic playoff beard.

Another player that Edmonton/Springfield has under contract that hasn't gotten any publicity is Kelly Czuy. He's a 6'2 forward from Edmonton who has spent the vast majority of his 4-year pro career playing in the ECHL with Las Vegas. He appeared in 3 games with the Falcons last year as well.

I mentioned last week that I thought tough guy Guillaume Lefebvre, who played 70 games with the Falcons last year, might be resigned by Springfield, however, I have learned that Lefebvre has turned down Edmonton's offer and will not be back in 2009-10.

Congrats to Guy

Just wanted to send out some congrats to my co-host Guy Flaming after his story regarding Kenndal McArdle appeared in the latest edition of The Hockey News. I don't know about you, but I consider this a pretty big deal. THN was my bible growing up and it's pretty cool to work with someone who's made it into the bible....even though Guy likes that other book called the bible.

Congrats Guy, the magazine is on store shelves now.

Top 5 Tuesdays: Prospects Who Need to Move

The NHL trade deadline can be a stressful time for most players as they worry about having to uproot their families and head to a different city. For some though... a trade might be just what the doctor ordered to get a new lease on their hockey life.

Here's 5 guys we think would benefit from a trade because the future doesn't look bright where they are:

5. Benoit Pouliot - 4th overall, 2004

Taken 4th overall by Minnesota back in the Crosby Lottery draft of 2005, Pouliot was considered to be a bit rough around the edges but just scratching the surface of incredible potential. So far he's been a disappointment with the Wild and only pretty good on the farm. In the three seasons since leaving Sudbury for the pro game, Pouliot has appeared in 51 NHL games and has 14 points to his credit. At 6'3 and nearly 200 lbs he's got good size and the skills are obviosuly there but perhaps he'd benefit from moving to a team that is more willing to live with mistakes defensively as long as the offensive creativity is present. No one has ever confused Minnesota with being anything but a defence-first organization.

4. Cory Schneider - 26th overall, 2004

His brief 8-game NHL stint this year was a disaster but with only 5 losses in 28 AHL games, the former Boston College keeper is proving that he's a goalie to watch for. Schneider's biggest problem is that he's got one of the best goalies in the NHL ahead of him in Vancouver. It's a great problem to have if you're the Canucks but it's got to suck for the almost 23-year-old who knows he'll never get to play as long as Roberto Luongo is around. It might not be the best thing for the Canucks to trade him but for Schneider and his NHL career... clearly it would.

3. Alex Picard - 8th overall, 2004

2004 was one of the first drafts where I was able to really view a lot of the players in person during the season leading up to that June and Picard was a guy I liked from the first time I saw him. It was at Canada's summer WJC camp in Calgary and the first thing that stood out was his hunched over skating stride that was an exact replica of Ryan Smyth. Picard looked pretty much like a can't miss kid and I wasn't surprised at all when the Blue Jackets took him inside the top 10. Since then it's been crazy for the former Lewiston Maineiac. Really average numbers on the farm in Syracuse and only 2 points in 58 NHL games, it's not hard to imagine Columbus being willing to toss him into any sort of package at the deadline.

2. Kenndal McArdle - 20th overall, 2005

Like I said on Monday, this is a guy that it's very hard not to cheer for. I actually think he'd be an interesting fit here in Edmonton where there are obviously holes on the left wing. McArdle has speed, size, toughness and at the junior level he could carry his own weight offensively. He's also best friends with Gilbert Brule so there is some instant chemistry there too. As a pro he's really struggled with injuries; a broken jaw and ankle last year kept him to just 36 games. He appears to have been passed by others in Rochester so the Panthers might find him to be expendable now.

1. Rob Schremp - 25th overall, 2004

No doubt about it, the most hotly debated prospect in Edmonton over the last five years is losing ground to others in the system. The Oilers have a number of players his size that aren't hampered by the lack of the one trait the organization covets -speed. He's produced well in the AHL, enough that another NHL team might be willing to give him a chance that the Oilers don't seem to be either willing or able to do. Moving him to another organization might be healthy for Oilers coach Craig MacTavish too who earlier this season revealed that he was obviously fed up with the questions and the attention that Schremp generates.