Rate our bottom pairing plugs over the years

[T-Funk]

Andy Sutton
Jim Vandermeer
Eric Gryba
Mark Fistric
Mark Fraser

Andrew Ference

 

[OF17]

Is it strange that Sutton might've been Tambellini's best trade? Getting him for Foster was a steal. Also, I can't remember an Oilers defenseman since Smith so universally lauded as Sutton. Even Souray and Visnovsky had more detractors. Sutton was a freaking beauty though.

 

[Mr Positive]

Sutton, Gryba, Vandermeer: great physical role players. Sutton arguably a 2nd pairing quality guy. (if we are including Sutton we may as well put Reinhart...)

Barker, Whitney: top 4 type players too terrible for top 4. Not the right philosophy for your bottom pairing AT ALL.

Fistric, Potter, Ference (not counting this season): Underrated players often looking bad when forced in top 4 role.

Strudwick, Peckham, Aulie: Flashes of greatness exemplifying depth role players, but overall not so hot.

Fraser, Teubert: didn't work out.

Some people mentioned Larsen, Foster and Belov, who I'm not sure were in bottom pairing roles but if so I would put them in the Whitney/Barker category.

 

[The Nuge]

Is it strange that Sutton might've been Tambellini's best trade? Getting him for Foster was a steal. Also, I can't remember an Oilers defenseman since Smith so universally lauded as Sutton. Even Souray and Visnovsky had more detractors. Sutton was a freaking beauty though.

It's also a trade that was agreed upon on HF not long before going down. I don't think there's ever been a player to have that big of impact on a fanbase in less games. He only played 52 games for us, and if you ask any Oiler fan about Sutton, they'll rave about his massive hits, and sweet dangles. It's really too bad he was hurt the entire following year...

 

[Bryanbryoil]

I am curious about everyones opinion of our plugs that we've had. Most specifically i'm not rating Ference as he has a longer term deal but guys who were on 1 year deals.

Andy Sutton
Mark Fistric
Jim Vandermeer
Mark Fraser
Eric Gryba

is how I rate the ones I can think of, Gryba is quite literally the worst defenseman we've had since the 2010 rebuild though, really wish they'd stop giving him playing time. Also man I loved Sutton dangles

The fact that you think that Fraser and even Vandermeer were better than Gryba makes me question your memory first of all and your ability to assess defenseman secondly in the event that you claim to have a good memory.

For me Sutton and Gryba are not plugs at all with Sutton being the best of this group. Fistric IMO was a serviceable #6/7 guy who played a more physical game than Gryba does at least in terms of hitting, but Gryba is far and away better at everything else.

Sutton

Gryba

Fistric/Peckham

Vandermeer
Aulie

Strudwick




Fraser

 

[Burnt Biscuits]

Took a shot at my own list (+Mark Fraser who I missed)

Best to Worst

1. Andy Sutton
2. Eric Gryba
3. Anton Belov (I believe he had a place in this league if not for friction between him and the coach)
4. Philip Larsen
5. Jim Vandermeer
6. Corey Potter
7. Jason Strudwick (god awful in his last year here, but his two seasons before that he was serviceable and a good leader in the room)
8. Theo Peckham (very mixed bag- a Jekyl and Hyde player, went from really good in his role to horrible)
9. Mark Fistric
10. Cam Barker
11. Keith Aulie
12. Ryan Whitney (broken wheel version)
13. Kurtis Foster
14. Mark Fraser
15. Colten Teubert

 

[Burnt Biscuits]

The fact that you think that Fraser and even Vandermeer were better than Gryba makes me question your memory first of all and your ability to assess defenseman secondly in the event that you claim to have a good memory.

For me Sutton and Gryba are not plugs at all with Sutton being the best of this group. Fistric IMO was a serviceable #6/7 guy who played a more physical game than Gryba does at least in terms of hitting, but Gryba is far and away better at everything else.

Sutton

Gryba

Fistric/Peckham

Vandermeer
Aulie

Strudwick




Fraser

I'm surprised you are so high on Fistric, he was often physical just for the sake of it, throwing himself wildly out of position just to make a check and one of the worst players I've ever seen make the NHL in terms of his ability to receive a pass and make a pass. His defense when he wasn't hitting though seemed about on par with most 3rd pairing d-men and when he occasionally lined up a hit that didn't cost the team it was a beautiful thing.

 

[obglim]

I expanded it to every D Men with > 20 Games Played for the Oilers Since 05/06. (Plus some notables that were close.)

Chris Pronger
Sheldon Souray
Darnell Nurse
Lubomir Visnovsky
Jason Smith
Jaroslav Spacek
Jeff Petry
Joni Pitkanen
Andrei Sekera
Oscar Klefbom
Steve Staios
Tom Gilbert
Jan Hejda
Ladislav Smid
Matt Greene
Igor Ulanov
Martin Marincin
Justin Shultz
Ryan Whitney
Mark Fayne
Andy Sutton
Marc-Andre Bergeron
Brandon Davidson
Alexei Semenov
Anton Belov
Nick Shultz
Eric Gryba
Dennis Grebeshkov
Dick Tarnstrom
Keith Aulie
Jim Vandermeer
Mark Fistric
Andrew Ference
Theo Peckham
Cory Cross
Daniel Tjarnqvist
Kurtis Foster
Niki Nikitin
Aaron Johnson
Taylor Chorney
Brad Hunt
Corey Potter
Phil Larsen
Colton Teubert
Cam Barker
Matt Fraser
Jason Strudwick

Whitney is tough to list, would probably be top 5 if he had been healthy. I listed One-footed Whitney.

Some guys didn't quite make 20 games or are currently in the system, I just listed listed them for comparison.

Davidson and Nurse get a pretty strong push for potential.

 

[The Nuge]

Whitney with 2 feet is #2 on the list imo. One footed Whitney is down with the likes of Foster and Nikitin

 

[abootzky]

Sutton, Gryba and maybe Fistric are about the only ones that are/were legit NHLers. Belov might have been if not for Eakins, but we'll never know.

the rest are all bums.

When the Oilers got Gryba, I thought he'd be okay as long as he wasn't overused. My thoughts haven't changed.

Nobody in the NHL was willing to take a chance on Belov before or after his time here. To me, that's way more on him than on Eakins (and believe me, I'm no Eakins fan).

 

[BoldNewLettuce]

I was a fan of Lennart Petrell for no discernable reason but that's a story for another day

Vandermeer
Sutton
Peckham
Belov
Strudwick
Fistric