Erik Gustafsson?

[belair]

It's possible that he wasn't very good defensively.

It's also possible that they really didn't know what they had in him all the way over in Sweden.

And it's also possible that the old regime thought that the Schultz acquisition made him irrelevant as a puck moving defenseman. They were pretty high on Schultz...

Either way, good for the kid. He found a home and is playing well.

 

[Draiskull]

It's possible that he wasn't very good defensively.

It's also possible that they really didn't know what they had in him all the way over in Sweden.

And it's also possible that the old regime thought that the Schultz acquisition made him irrelevant as a puck moving defenseman. They were pretty high on Schultz...

Either way, good for the kid. He found a home and is playing well.

It is also possible that he STILL ISNT VERY GOOD defensively
Play behind the 3 Elite Dmen and that forward group and even Brad friggin Hunt could look like a legit NHL Dmen.

IMO Gustaffson doesnt crack a healthy Oilers lineup.

 

[BarDownBobo]

As much as it sucks having a guy we picked playing well for one of the best teams in the league, I really can't be mad about anything the old regime did anymore. It's just another on the long list of **** ups by MacT and co. I just hope we're not having the same discussion about Jones, Bear or Paigin a couple years from now.

 

[Beerfish]

Usual excuse mongering for the worst front office in the history of hockey. Petry, not their fault! Reider not their fault ! Gustafsson..not their fault!

The object of the game is to get good players, realize who the wheat is and who the chaff is and keep the wheat. The oilers are good at keeping the chaff.

 

[Zaddy]

Classic Oilers to piss away the few players they actually found in the mid/late rounds in the draft.

It is also possible that he STILL ISNT VERY GOOD defensively
Play behind the 3 Elite Dmen and that forward group and even Brad friggin Hunt could look like a legit NHL Dmen.

IMO Gustaffson doesnt crack a healthy Oilers lineup.

Gustafsson doesn't crack the Oilers lineup but he cracks the reigning Stanley Cup champions blueline, in a top4 role nontheless. What a joke.

meh whatever... Chorney 2.0
In Edmonton he wouldnt be much higher than Musil, Simpson, Davidson.
Good for him that he found a home in NHL

Musil and Simpson aren't NHLers. Davidson is probably a closer comparison.

It's possible that he wasn't very good defensively.

It's also possible that they really didn't know what they had in him all the way over in Sweden.

And it's also possible that the old regime thought that the Schultz acquisition made him irrelevant as a puck moving defenseman. They were pretty high on Schultz...

Either way, good for the kid. He found a home and is playing well.

The only explanation you need is pure and utter incompetence. A team lacking puck-moving defensemen who can play on the PP decides not to sign the only guy in the system that has a chance of becoming just that.

 

[belair]

Usual excuse mongering for the worst front office in the history of hockey. Petry, not their fault! Reider not their fault ! Gustafsson..not their fault!

The object of the game is to get good players, realize who the wheat is and who the chaff is and keep the wheat. The oilers are good at keeping the chaff.

In each of those instances, who has backed up the management?

The majority of the management in charge of those three decisions are no longer employed or have been severely demoted by the club.

MacTavish apologists are a tough find, my friend.

 

[McDNicks17]

He's leading the Hawks D in Scoring Chance %, Corsi % and Goal % while playing most of his minutes on the second pairing with Seabrook.

Looking like a pretty nice find for the Blackhawks.

 

[The Nuge]

meh whatever... Chorney 2.0
In Edmonton he wouldnt be much higher than Musil, Simpson, Davidson.
Good for him that he found a home in NHL

Agreed. He's competing for minutes in the AHL, not the NHL if he signed here. Chicago is a good fit for a young dman looking to break into the NHL quickly.

He's got to prove it for longer than he has before I'm worried we lost out. Remember Corey Power Potter Play? That basically took a full season before he showed his true form. When he signed his extension it was unanimously thought that we stole a top 4 dman, and signed him for pennies

 

[Draiskull]

Classic Oilers to piss away the few players they actually found in the mid/late rounds in the draft.
Almost every team has done this.. some players bloom late and need stars to align for things to work out.
Gustafsson doesn't crack the Oilers lineup but he cracks the reigning Stanley Cup champions blueline, in a top4 role nontheless. What a joke.
Chorney has cracked Caps lineup, Fedun cracked SJ lineup.. Every contender needs a couple fillers making under a million in cap world. Gustaffson doesnt crack Oilers LD if Klefbom, Sekera, Nurse are all healthy and playing LD. He might not even make the top 4 of AHL bako team. Things have just worked out for him which is great for the kid.
Musil and Simpson aren't NHLers. Davidson is probably a closer comparison.

The only explanation you need is pure and utter incompetence. A team lacking puck-moving defensemen who can play on the PP decides not to sign the only guy in the system that has a chance of becoming just that.

The kid has 0PPP in CHI but yeh lets keep the hate going... screw Oilers organization!! gave away yet another future Hall of Fame!!

 

[Zaddy]

The kid has 0PPP in CHI but yeh lets keep the hate going... screw Oilers organization!! gave away yet another future Hall of Fame!!

Wouldn't even make Bako top4? This is a kid who has played 105 games in SHL the last 2 years which is a league that's better than the AHL. He's also currently playing on the 2nd pairing in Chicago and doing it quite well, but yeah he's a bum.

Signing Gustafsson was a no-brainer to me and there really was no good reason not to.

Yes, it's not the end of the world, he is not going to be a difference maker in that sense but small moves like these add up. That's how a team like Chicago can keep being competitive year in and year out. They got a player for free that they shouldn't have had and if all goes well he will be a mainstay on their 2nd pairing. That's a pretty big deal.

If this organization would've been able to string a couple of small moves together like that we'd have been at least a respectable team by now. Just hoping the stupidity will end with Chiarelli but with the Reinhart trade I'm not sold on that it will just yet.

 

[McAsuno]

Actually annoys me when the oilers manage to draft somebody outside the first round who becomes an NHLer yet isn't playing as an oiler. Another Tobias Rieder and of course the blackhawks are fortunate once again to have Gustafsson.

 

[Oilhawks]

Gustafsson would not look any better than Schultz on this team. Meanwhile, on one of the best teams in the league he looks like he might be a good/great player. We need D that don't need to be sheltered to reach their potential.

 

[BleedingOil]

Hes getting sheltered minutes playing with one of the best teams in hockey...

 

[Senor Catface]

Usual excuse mongering for the worst front office in the history of hockey. Petry, not their fault! Reider not their fault ! Gustafsson..not their fault!

The object of the game is to get good players, realize who the wheat is and who the chaff is and keep the wheat. The oilers are good at keeping the chaff.

Again....Reeeeeesearch. His agent and him asked for a trade because they didn't feel they would break the forward depth. They weren't going to sign here.

It was well documented.

Stating facts doesn't have to be defending these clowns.

 

[MurrayBannerman]

Hes getting sheltered minutes playing with one of the best teams in hockey...

Everyone on our team is sheltered. Might as well be the Chicago Homeless Ice Men.

 

[Louis Cypher]

Nobody but management knows what the player didn't sign. To speculate and blame is silly. Maybe he looked at our horrible team and said no thanks I'll play in Sweeden. Then along comes Chicago and the he reconsiders. Also there was no guarantee Petry was signing again. He knew how bad things were and how he was expected to be a #1 guy. If I was him I would have explored my options also. If we signed him for what Montreal did this board would have lost it.

 

[rasarhdasd]

Oilers think every good skating defensemen who can move the puck is too soft. You have to be a poor skating big, no offense defensemen for the Oilers to be interested in signing you.

They only seem to have 1 'puck-moving' guy with offense on the roster at one time and really he's not all that offensive to begin with, meanwhile every other team in the league realizes how important these players are while the Oilers keep thinking they need to find the next Weber but really they're all Luke Schenn's and Erik Gudbransons.

 

[Zaddy]

Nobody but management knows what the player didn't sign. To speculate and blame is silly. Maybe he looked at our horrible team and said no thanks I'll play in Sweeden. Then along comes Chicago and the he reconsiders. Also there was no guarantee Petry was signing again. He knew how bad things were and how he was expected to be a #1 guy. If I was him I would have explored my options also. If we signed him for what Montreal did this board would have lost it.

I've seen this spewed more than a couple of times on this board already but I have yet to see a source for it. As far as I know Gustafsson was very much interested in signing with the Oilers. I read an interview with him a few months after the Oilers let him go and he was very disappointed at the whole situation...so I'd be shocked if it turned out to be him saying no to the Oilers and not vice versa. I mean, come on, he was a 4th round pick. When was the last time a 4th rounder refused to sign with the team that drafted them? Much more likely Oilers just didn't want to sign him for whatever reason.