Message sent to Season Ticket Holders from Kevin Lowe

[The Rage]

1) If we traded for Luongo we could have spent the Roloson money somewhere else
2) Roloson is simply going to become worse. People talk about Smyth breaking down at 36, what about Roli at 39?

 

[Gusher]

Chara, Lindstrom, and Richards got their big pay days last offseason. That was the market, and Pronger was far under it. What false info did I provide?

The CAP went up lots after last season. Pronger was signed in the summer of '05. Pronger was signed at one of the higher rates at the time. Those you mentioned were signed in the summer of '06. Had Pronger been signed in '06 after the run he had in the Playoffs, he would have been getting $7.5 - 8million. The markets were in two different places at the times of the Pronger vs. Chara/Lidstrom/Richards deals.

That's why you can't really compare the two.

 

[Nols]

The disaster is we don't have a franchise/superstar caliber player anymore and those are not easy to obtain, unless you develop them within your system. Which at our present rate will take another 3-4 years.

You also have to factor in if we had Luongo instead of Vancouver having him, we'd probably be in their playoff spot, and they'd be sitting where we are.

Our 1-5 record vs. Luongo compared to what the season series vs. Vancouver was the year prior is basically the difference between making the playoffs and not making the playoffs.

Luongo would have given us 15 more points than Roly? With this team and all the injuries.

Pure speculation but: I highly doubt it. Luongo would likely be gearing up for golf season early again.

 

[Gusher]

1) If we traded for Luongo we could have spent the Roloson money somewhere else
2) Roloson is simply going to become worse. People talk about Smyth breaking down at 36, what about Roli at 39?

And if the Oilers would have traded for Crosby, Fleury, Ovechkin and Neidermayer we would win the Cup. NOT every player traded in the NHL had a chance to come to the Oilers first. Get real.

Yes, Roloson is going to be getting worse with age, that's why his contract goes down by a million or more a season.

 

[Soundwave]

Luongo would have given us 15 more points than Roly? With this team and all the injuries.

Pure speculation but: I highly doubt it. Luongo would likely be gearing up for golf season early again.

Injuries happen .... so be it. Though yes, I do think we could have probably snuck into the playoffs this year. If Pronger was in Florida rather than Anaheim, and Luongo in Edmonton rather than Vancouver, you have to figure one playoff spot at least opens up there.

But beyond that, for next 4 years .... we'd have Luongo to build around. And he's an MVP caliber player, equally as valuable as Pronger if not moreso (and younger to boot). Would you rather have that, or would you rather be where we are at right now, where we will probably have to beg to get a Hartnell-type UFA to sign here.

It's better to have that superstar, regardless of what position they play and then just build from there rather than trying to be just "decent" in all three areas (decent forwards, decent defense, decent goaltending).

 

[Nols]

1) If we traded for Luongo we could have spent the Roloson money somewhere else2) Roloson is simply going to become worse. People talk about Smyth breaking down at 36, what about Roli at 39?

ummm.... like spending it on Luongo?


Clearly Lowe was looking to improve other aspects of the team with the Pronger trade and felt Roly was surely good enough to last a couple season's. By then maybe one of JDD or DD would be ready to compete.

 

[razman22]

Luongo was traded on the same day Pronger asked for the trade and added to that what the hell is the point of trading Luongo if we were in the process of resigning Roli. What did Edmonton want for Pronger ? GET IT THROUGH YOU _____ HEAD - A GOOD FORWARD AND A GOOD D MAN hense why they asked for Jbo and Horton from Florida instead of Luongo. I am done with your garbage because no matter what you sit there and talk about trades that never were on the table and ignore facts.

Go back to playing NHL 07

Luongo would have given us 15 more points than Roly? With this team and all the injuries.

Pure speculation but: I highly doubt it. Luongo would likely be gearing up for golf season early again.

Roloson has had a less than average season. After his great start, from December on he has been very inconsistant. I think he get's cut a lot of slack due to the playoff run and the first two months of the season. With Luongo, the playoffs are attainable plus there is a goaltender to carry the load for the long term. With Roloson there are no playoffs and nobody to carry the load.

 

[gr8haluschak]

1) If we traded for Luongo we could have spent the Roloson money somewhere else
2) Roloson is simply going to become worse. People talk about Smyth breaking down at 36, what about Roli at 39?

how hypocritical are you you talk about spending Roli's money elsewhere when we had Prongers money and could not spend it. Added to that tell me this since we are talking about ifs if Lowe got Horton and Bouwmeester what is better Luongo or Roli + Horton + Bouwmeester ?

 

[Gusher]

Roloson has had a less than average season. After his great start, from December on he has been very inconsistant. I think he get's cut a lot of slack due to the playoff run and the first two months of the season. With Luongo, the playoffs are attainable plus there is a goaltender to carry the load for the long term. With Roloson there are no playoffs and nobody to carry the load.

The defence last season helped Roloson more than anyone. Under a below-average defence Roloson was average. With an above-average defence last season and specially in the Playoffs, Roloson was solid. He needs a good defence in front of him.

 

[Soundwave]

Horton and Bouweemester were not on the market. Luongo was. That's the difference.

 

[gr8haluschak]

Roloson has had a less than average season. After his great start, from December on he has been very inconsistant. I think he get's cut a lot of slack due to the playoff run and the first two months of the season. With Luongo, the playoffs are attainable plus there is a goaltender to carry the load for the long term. With Roloson there are no playoffs and nobody to carry the load.

less than average season ? give me a break and added to that show me this inconsistancy sure he has had great games and crappy games but the latter are few and far between added to that did Loungo do anything in Florida being a very similar situation as to what he would face this year with the Oilers ?

 

[Nols]

Injuries happen .... so be it. Though yes, I do think we could have probably snuck into the playoffs this year. If Pronger was in Florida rather than Anaheim, and Luongo in Edmonton rather than Vancouver, you have to figure one playoff spot at least opens up there..

I'm not convinced. Luongo started slow and overall I really doubt with him in net rather than Roly that we make up that much ground. As stated earlier, goaltending wasn't the problem this season and therefore probly wouldn't have changed much.

But beyond that, for next 4 years .... we'd have Luongo to build around. And he's an MVP caliber player, equally as valuable as Pronger if not moreso (and younger to boot). Would you rather have that, or would you rather be where we are at right now, where we will probably have to beg to get a Hartnell-type UFA to sign here.

This I can agree with.

You can bulid around Luongo, but with 2 goaltender prospects on the rise and not so many on defence or up front on forward Lowe chose otherwise.

 

[Gusher]

Horton and Bouweemester were not on the market. Luongo was. That's the difference.

Not every player is on the market or off the market. Was Smid and Lupul "on the market" at the time of the Pronger trade. I doubt it, but they were still traded anyways.

My point being that you do not have to be on the market to be traded in the NHL.

Lowe was confident with signing Roloson after the huge Cup run he had just had. Would Luongo be a better goalie to have than Roloson? Of course. Was it possible for the Oilers to land Luongo before he went to the Canucks? Maybe, but we don't know if Lowe tried for Luongo or didn't try. The Canucks had something the Panthers wanted, perhaps the Oilers didn't.

 

[Soundwave]

Are our goaltending prospects even that great? No one really seems all that impressed with Deslauriers or Dubnyk.

Hell, I think one of our top priorities in the summer has to be to make sure we have a reliable no.2 goalie .... if Roli ever gets hurt (at age 38 no less), we are completely screwed, even if Lowe pulled off a miracle and landed say Lecavalier + Redden upfront. Has Deslauriers ever even played an NHL game? What happens if we have to rely on him to play 20-30 starts?

 

[Nols]

Roloson has had a less than average season. After his great start, from December on he has been very inconsistant. I think he get's cut a lot of slack due to the playoff run and the first two months of the season. With Luongo, the playoffs are attainable plus there is a goaltender to carry the load for the long term. With Roloson there are no playoffs and nobody to carry the load.

I don't think I'd be alone if I stated he has played fine this season. And often starting with half of his defenceman being rookies. That would affect any goalies numbers.

To say he's been bad this season is a joke.

 

[Nols]

Whatever, these arguments are all based on a WHAT IF and there is nothing concrete to any of it.

Garbage.

Good day.

 

[Soundwave]

I think it's fair to ask as a fan looking back at the summer.

The two top players who were traded during last season's open season during the summer were Luongo and Pronger. So if Luongo was the best player available on the trade block outside of Pronger, it's fair to ask now why we didn't move on that.

I like Lowe, I don't blame him for the Smyth situation. It was the right call there.

But that doesn't make him above reproach from the fans. We made some bad calls in the summer, that will probably take a few years to fix. It's fair game as a fan to definitely look back and ask "why?". Especailly seeing what Luongo has done in Vancouver, even with Naslund having a poor season.

There's been three instances that I think of where a team has taken the bait and traded "superstar" talent for a "package deal" under the new CBA. Boston did it for Thornton. Edmonton did it for Pronger. Florida did it for Luongo. In every one of those cases ... look at where those franchises ended up. I don't think it's coincidence.

 

[gr8haluschak]

I think it's fair to ask as a fan looking back at the summer.

The two top players who were traded during last season's open season during the summer were Luongo and Pronger. So if Luongo was the best player available on the trade block outside of Pronger, it's fair to ask now why we didn't move on that.

I like Lowe, I don't blame him for the Smyth situation. It was the right call there.

But that doesn't make him above reproach from the fans. We made some bad calls in the summer, that will probably take a few years to fix. It's fair game as a fan to definitely look back and ask "why?". Especailly seeing what Luongo has done in Vancouver, even with Naslund having a poor season.

WHY you ask because Lowe was not asking for Luongo what Lowe was asking for was what the Oilers needed - Forward help and D help that is why we did not trade for Luongo. Your argument would make more sense if you centred it around the trade deadline when we did need a goalie. Added to that tell me what is there to say that Roberto would have signed here for the extra 4 years ?

 

[PuckNut]

I think it's fair to ask as a fan looking back at the summer.

The two top players who were traded during last season's open season during the summer were Luongo and Pronger. So if Luongo was the best player available on the trade block outside of Pronger, it's fair to ask now why we didn't move on that.

I like Lowe, I don't blame him for the Smyth situation. It was the right call there.

But that doesn't make him above reproach from the fans. We made some bad calls in the summer, that will probably take a few years to fix. It's fair game as a fan to definitely look back and ask "why?". Especailly seeing what Luongo has done in Vancouver, even with Naslund having a poor season.

You're right there. It is fair to look back at it like that. But when asking why, you have to consider everything. Of course we would be a better team with Luongo. Slightly better this year (our hole on defence would be bigger I think, but that's up for argument) and definitely better a few years down the road. But most people, including Lowe, saw Roli as a capable starter who could be depended on and wanted to fill other holes that we had. I think we can all agree that, in hindsight, Lowe could have done a better job.

 

[razman22]

less than average season ? give me a break and added to that show me this inconsistancy sure he has had great games and crappy games but the latter are few and far between added to that did Loungo do anything in Florida being a very similar situation as to what he would face this year with the Oilers ?

For Roloson, from the start of the season till November 28 (21 games played), the GAA was 2.25 and the SV% was 0.924. From November 30 to present day (37 games played), the GAA is 3.00 and the SV% is 0.899. That was a hot start followed with a lot of inconsistancy. The first 21 games he was pulled early once, the next 37 games he was pulled early 5 times. If Roloson played all season like he did the first 20 games, the Oilers are buyers at the deadline. People forget that the same defense that had the Oilers in first when he was hot is the same defense that has them out of the playoffs when his game began to waiver.

 

[gr8haluschak]

For Roloson, from the start of the season till November 28 (21 games played), the GAA was 2.25 and the SV% was 0.924. From November 30 to present day (37 games played), the GAA is 3.00 and the SV% is 0.899. That was a hot start followed with a lot of inconsistancy. The first 21 games he was pulled early once, the next 37 games he was pulled early 5 times. If Roloson played all season like he did the first 20 games, the Oilers are buyers at the deadline.

how many of those games are his fault ? how was it then he was a molson cup winner during the last segment when he had not been before either. The reason his numbers dropped to below what we would expact was the fact that he had some bad games but to say he was inconsistent is garbage, inconsitant means he was on one or two games off one one two games off one, which he was not.

 

[guymez]

For Roloson, from the start of the season till November 28 (21 games played), the GAA was 2.25 and the SV% was 0.924. From November 30 to present day (37 games played), the GAA is 3.00 and the SV% is 0.899. That was a hot start followed with a lot of inconsistancy. The first 21 games he was pulled early once, the next 37 games he was pulled early 5 times. If Roloson played all season like he did the first 20 games, the Oilers are buyers at the deadline. People forget that the same defense that had the Oilers in first when he was hot is the same defense that has them out of the playoffs when his game began to waiver.

Thats a little simplistic...isn't it? Too bad there wasn't a stat for "quality of scoring chances given up" because if there was you would likely find that it went up about 30 games into the season. The defensive zone coverage started to fade badly after the 1st couple of months and that is certainly not Rolosons fault.

 

[Matts]

PLummer isn't a good comparison

Then those GMs would have been on the phone calling Kevin themselves, and we would have heard more rumours of suspected trade proposals.

Pronger also came with question marks. There were rumours he had a list of teams that he'd accept being traded to, and you can't just say "Pfft, he didn't have a no trade clause." Look at the Jake Plummer situation in the NFL. Trade rumours popped up, and he stated an intention of retiring should he be traded, so his value plummetted. Turns out it was for good reason, since upon being traded to Tampa Bay, he retired shortly afterwards.

Didn't the same thing happen with Doug Weight? He wasn't under contract, but he told the Oilers he'd only accept a trade to a legitimate contender. I'm pretty sure, as an RFA, he wasn't even allowed to have a NTC in his contract, but he was still able to pick a spot where he wanted to go.

Do you trade a player that's been a royal pain in the ass about his intentions to sign (Luongo) for a player that has recently become a royal pain in the ass and seems intent on not honouring the final 4 years of his contract, and perhaps doesn't want to play in Flordia either?

You're talking about a guy who just lost his starting QB job in one city and now he was gonna be dealt to another place where he was expected to compete for that job again.

Totally different sports and circumstances

 

[PunjabiOil*]

I don't mind Roloson - I do think he is better than his sv% (.909) indicates. He's an average to an above average goaltender.

Would I take Luongo over him? You bet. You spend Pronger's 6.25M + a little change on Luongo. You still have 3-4M on Roloson's salary to spend on a defenceman.

Luongo + Markov vs Roloson + Lupul + Smid.

Hell, we're still not even considering Lupul's 2.6M next year, and 2.9M salary the year after. Yikes. I know which deal I would do.

Very bad asset management.

If one of the bigger apologists in the Edmonton media (Jim Matheson) can admit the Oilers should have waited a few more months to get a higher return, you'd expect some of the Lowe/Oilers apologists on this board to admit the deal was a mistake. It's not even using hindsight - for most, it was a bad deal then. Today the beliefs are just being confirmed.

 

[Matts]

It's not about one player

If you lose fan support for one guy getting traded than the Oilers don't need those fans do they? The support should come from dedicated fans, fans who aren't just fans of one player on the Oilers but fans of the Oilers as a whole. The Smyth supporters can leave if they want, there will always be more Oilers fans next in line to support this club.

Smyth isn't the kind of player you build a franchise around.

As much as it's about a player that made a difference and you're in this new era where we weren't supposed to be poor anymore and now a guy's dumped over a 100K? I'd imagine some ticket holders are smart enough to put things together like the Oilers finishing nearly 4 mill under cap after having just come off a super long playoff run.