Confirmed with Link: Roman Horak to the KHL Vityaz Podolsk

[Jumptheshark]

On the main trade board it is being speculated that Roman Horak is about to sign in the KHL

Vityaz Podolsk

If anyone think the oilers are poorly managed--Podolsk is ten times worse

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HC_Vityaz

main board speculation

http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=1668733

http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/20...ak-acquired-in-ladi-smid-deal-signs-with-khl/

Click to read more...

 

[Babula]

confirmed.

 

[Beerfish]

Horak and Lander are the same player the oilers kept Lander. Smid for a long shot 6th round goalie eh? Makes sense.

 

[Cold Dome Beers]

If anyone think the oilers are poorly managed--Podolsk is ten times worse

I think that says more about the Oilers organisation than it does those other guys. Horak isn't exactly a hot commodity, but even he doesn't want to stick around.

 

[rboomercat90]

Horak and Lander are the same player the oilers kept Lander. Smid for a long shot 6th round goalie eh? Makes sense.

Mactavish sure has an impressive long term plan for this team.

 

[sportsdynasty]

Who wouldn't want out of this joke of an organization? Can't blame the players for wanting out of a poorly managed team. A couple more basement finishes and Hall will want out.

 

[flashy]

Mactavish sure has an impressive long term plan for this team.

LOL. Hey apparently smid was garbage. And getting a non-nhler for an NHLer should never be looked at as odd.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

There's that whole Smid is an NHLer thing again... Kinda sad to watch Petry carry him.

 

[Paralyzer]

Deleted.

 

[Philly85*]

Who cares.

 

[rboomercat90]

Why does every person think Smid for Horak and Brossoit was a bad trade? I know everyone's argument "Smid is a NHL player, Horak and Brossoit isn't. Blah Blah Blah". So would you rather have a declining Dman in Smid for 3 more years at 3.5M and be the next Staios? Give me a break. If Horak goes to the KHL, we still retain his rights. Maybe the Oilers said it would be best for him to go to the KHL for 1 year then come back. Then there's Brossoit, who is doing very well in the ECHL and has next year to shine at the AHL level. I have never been excited for a goaltending prospect ever. Even if he doesn't turn out, I have always liked Brossoit.

Regardless of what happens to Horak, I'm glad we freed ourselves from 3.5M of SMid for 3 more years.

Isn't this what was said about Hartikainnen last year? He didn't want to come back here either and Mactavish ended up trading him for Fraser who made Smid look like an all star. This is more bad asset management. This trade was sold all year long as being necessary because the Oilers needed to acquire depth in the system. Horak bolts as soon as he can and the depth is a problem again and you don't have Smid as an asset anymore.

 

[BleedingOil]

Smid has been replaced

 

[Aerchon]

Why does every person think Smid for Horak and Brossoit was a bad trade? I know everyone's argument "Smid is a NHL player, Horak and Brossoit isn't. Blah Blah Blah". So would you rather have a declining Dman in Smid for 3 more years at 3.5M and be the next Staios? Give me a break. If Horak goes to the KHL, we still retain his rights. Maybe the Oilers said it would be best for him to go to the KHL for 1 year then come back. Then there's Brossoit, who is doing very well in the ECHL and has next year to shine at the AHL level. I have never been excited for a goaltending prospect ever. Even if he doesn't turn out, I have always liked Brossoit.

Regardless of what happens to Horak, I'm glad we freed ourselves from 3.5M of SMid for 3 more years.

Smid is 28 year old NHL defenseman in the prime (age wise) of his career.

He has declined noticeably in the lockout year and this year.

His best play was when he was 26 under Renny and looked very good. And then he fell into the Krueger/Eakins pit of despair.

There is absolutely no reason why a team with a decent coach/system can't get Smid back to form quickly enough.

The people on these boards have greatly exaggerated how poor his current level of play is as well. Smid when playing like Smid is a solid #4 on any team in the NHL. Smid even playing as poor as he has been is a #5 on any team in the NHL.

His contract isn't good but really isn't bad because of the premium on NHL defenders.

That trade was bad for the Oilers before Horak left for the KHL. The only way it evens up is if we get an NHL level goalie out of this mess.

 

[Samus44]

Calm down people, i bet this has more to do with Horak than the Oilers. Horak has a chance to set himself up with a multi million dollar contract i'd imagine, as a guy who's no sure thing but still a valuable player in Europe it's probably a pretty smart move for him as a young man.

 

[StoveTopStauffer]

Smid is 28 year old NHL defenseman in the prime (age wise) of his career.

He has declined noticeably in the lockout year and this year.

His best play was when he was 26 under Renny and looked very good. And then he fell into the Krueger/Eakins pit of despair.

There is absolutely no reason why a team with a decent coach/system can't get Smid back to form quickly enough.

The people on these boards have greatly exaggerated how poor his current level of play is as well. Smid when playing like Smid is a solid #4 on any team in the NHL. Smid even playing as poor as he has been is a #5 on any team in the NHL.

His contract isn't good but really isn't bad because of the premium on NHL defenders.

That trade was bad for the Oilers before Horak left for the KHL. The only way it evens up is if we get an NHL level goalie out of this mess.

Despair for one was not quite like the other. We got stat comparisons on Smids performance under Renney vs Krueger? I thought he and Petry did quite well under Kreuger.

 

[Aerchon]

Despair for one was not quite like the other. We got stat comparisons on Smids performance under Renney vs Krueger? I thought he and Petry did quite well under Kreuger.

They did much much better under Renny. Krueger was the beginning of Smids declining play Eakins took it to an all time low.

 

[Paralyzer]

Deleted.

 

[Digger12]

Calm down people, i bet this has more to do with Horak than the Oilers. Horak has a chance to set himself up with a multi million dollar contract i'd imagine, as a guy who's no sure thing but still a valuable player in Europe it's probably a pretty smart move for him as a young man.

Yeah, no kidding. Some fans seem to have a hard time understanding that for professional hockey players, they really only have a limited window of opportunity to make big dollars, and for Euros by and large they're not all that picky about whether they make that money here or in other leagues.

For a tweener like Horak, the odds were against him being a full time NHL player. I'm not saying he couldn't do it, but it'd take the right situation and he's obviously not inclined to wait around hoping for that chance, not when he can hit the KHL and make some quick dollars that are closer to home.

I really don't think it's anything more complicated than that.

Best of luck to him, but he won't be missed.

 

[Paralyzer008]

I don't really care, he wasn't that good IMO.

The main parts of the Smid deal are Brossoit and the cap space anyways.

 

[Rejean31]

Hey, that may be the case that because of coaching, he declined and I can believe that. But the fact that he couldn't even be off-loaded from Calgary even for a 7th round pick, tells me he wasn't worth keeping any ways. If he does well under a new coach, great. Good for him. But as far as I'm concerned, I am fine and happy he is gone. Remember, if Smid was still here, Klefbom and Marincin wouldn't have got a shot at the NHL this year. Something to keep in mind...

Don't get your point. When was Calgary ever trying to off load Smid? Calgary was quite happy with Smid, they certainly weren't trying to off load for a seventh round pick. Where did you ever hear that?

 

[sepHF]

Why does every person think Smid for Horak and Brossoit was a bad trade? I know everyone's argument "Smid is a NHL player, Horak and Brossoit isn't. Blah Blah Blah". So would you rather have a declining Dman in Smid for 3 more years at 3.5M and be the next Staios? Give me a break. If Horak goes to the KHL, we still retain his rights. Maybe the Oilers said it would be best for him to go to the KHL for 1 year then come back. Then there's Brossoit, who is doing very well in the ECHL and has next year to shine at the AHL level. I have never been excited for a goaltending prospect ever. Even if he doesn't turn out, I have always liked Brossoit.

Regardless of what happens to Horak, I'm glad we freed ourselves from 3.5M of SMid for 3 more years.

Probably because MacTavish didn't even try to shop Smid around, he had such a hard on for an ex-OilKing that he just HAD to have him.

 

[randylahey]

Probably because MacTavish didn't even try to shop Smid around, he had such a hard on for an ex-OilKing that he just HAD to have him.

And that's what scares me about the Reinhart to Edmonton rumors. I'm scared to see the gross overpayment we make to get him.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Probably because MacTavish didn't even try to shop Smid around, he had such a hard on for an ex-OilKing that he just HAD to have him.

As has been stated many, many times, there was a similar player on the Coyotes that was waived twice with no takers.

 

[Tyrolean]

Isn't this what was said about Hartikainnen last year? He didn't want to come back here either and Mactavish ended up trading him for Fraser who made Smid look like an all star. This is more bad asset management. This trade was sold all year long as being necessary because the Oilers needed to acquire depth in the system. Horak bolts as soon as he can and the depth is a problem again and you don't have Smid as an asset anymore.

Also Belov did too. The organization cannot have success under the current management regime.

 

[Tyrolean]

Yeah, no kidding. Some fans seem to have a hard time understanding that for professional hockey players, they really only have a limited window of opportunity to make big dollars, and for Euros by and large they're not all that picky about whether they make that money here or in other leagues.

For a tweener like Horak, the odds were against him being a full time NHL player. I'm not saying he couldn't do it, but it'd take the right situation and he's obviously not inclined to wait around hoping for that chance, not when he can hit the KHL and make some quick dollars that are closer to home.

I really don't think it's anything more complicated than that.

Best of luck to him, but he won't be missed.

I think he was a promising young player and will be missed. People are just rationalizing here.