I'd have to say the start of the disaster was shortly after 2006. The minute Pronger left, bad things started to happen all around this team.
Can someone refresh my memory, was it Lowe who did all the damage after that and then handed over the reins to Tambo who then finished the disaster that had already begun.
Looking back, it was like a soap opera for about 3 years and then we just plain gave up and started the beginning of a very long rebuild. That being said, I will never be sorry that we acquired Hall, Eblere, Nuge and Yak. Some comfort for the suckle we watched.
The next two are gonna be gamers as well so I guess silver linings folks.
The only part i blame Lowe for in spring of 06 is not looking at the future while we were winning playoff games. Even without knowing that we had already recieved a trade request from Pronger in January...you just had to look at the UFAs and RFAs on the roster to know a tough decision had to be made.
I remember talking with friends during the finals and telling them that we might have to trade Pronger...well before his trade request. Peca, Spacek, Roli, Samsonov, Pisani were flat out UFAs while Hemsky, Smith, Greene, and another key name were RFAs. We were a cap team already and the cap was expected to increase by only six mill.
Im trying to remember the situations.
Had i been GM, i would be in constant touch with my franchise players agent. I wouldnt even think that he would go to the oress, which he did, but id want the agent and i to be in open talks at all times. Its a big time asset. Pronger was coming off an injury so there was a question about how he would recover when we traded for him and signed him to that sweet extension. I still felt tentative about his long term health but id want a king ransom for him. If his agent and him truly still wanted out of the team i would have asked that they simply give me time so as to not destroy the good feelings we built up...like wait a week and ill close a deal.
Instead Lowe didnt talk to either Pronger or his agent since the week of the innitial request. Like a child...he hoped that if he ignored the problem things would go rosey. He thought the playoff success changed things. He never bothered to ask. Prongers agent then went to strachan in the press and value plummeted.
Pronger had dominated Lidstrom, and Niedermayer. He was the best player in the world...yet alot of Oiler fans agreed with my feeling that Pronger on that deal and at his level of play but health risks...he had to be the player dealt. The returns should have been astronomical. At the time i remember clearly suggesting...even on radio 630ched being met with virptriolic responses...that we trade CP and deal the rights to Pisani. Focus on retaining Hemsky and Samsonov as a pairing and our d corps and Roli...add in a top young dman in Pronger deal (established though..not a smid prospect).
I hate. HATE that Lowe wasnt keeping the pulse of that issue. That was bad management. Lowe had a great mind in some ways for deals but from what i heard from insiders...MacT hand picked the 2006 acquisition targets not Lowe...althought they agreed and it was Lowe who made the deals.
After
cP players chose east coast locations. Peca loved MacT but didnt like the travel of the west, same with Spacek...as for Samsonov he as well wanted the Eastern travel and turned down a bigger offer from us to go to Montreal.
That was that. The beginning of realizing that Edmonton wasnt a destination of choice anymire. In the 90s, Doug Weights era it was a different feel. I am not surprised, looking back that we didnt have guys dying to stay. You had a bunch of guys that had already checked out.
At the draft Lowe should have had a bidding war on Pronger and expecting a big package. Not just the top player in the world, but in a pivotal position, and on a rediculously cheap contract.
I partially agree. When Tambellini was brought in in 2008, the Oilers were still "tweaking" and figured they could make the playoffs by adding one or two pieces. He had two seasons at the helm where this was his mandate, and the team was very poor. Most damning was the Oilers' abysmal failure in 2010, right after MacTavish was dismissed (and Tambo kind of roasted him in the press conference, what goes around comes around I guess).
After that, despite a lot of fans here losing patience, I agree with you completely; Tambellini was instructed to rebuild the team, and he did that quite well, in a sense. He traded out established NHL players, iced lousy teams, went with youth, and the result was Hall-RNH-Yakupov. It seemed like he wasn't able to do anything else, though.
MacT had cancer and had had enough. You could tell early in the year that he was unhappy with more than just Penner... There were lots of off ice issues that happen in the years 2007 and 2008... And to be honest i think MacT was still mad about the CP fiasco. Penner himself, although not a part of the deal, was a reminder of the Oilers desperation from the CP fallout.
I think MacT has acknowledged that Tambo added a lot of stuff to the amateur scouting and IMO the drafting has gotten noticeable better since 2008-2009. Part of that is luck though....
But they've managed to get 1-3 guys after the 1st round each year from 2010-2013 who seem to be impressing....
He sat on his hands a bit too much and really failed to get decent FA's or veterans.
I'm not sure if any future success will be a matter of shrewd and intelligent MacT GMing or just a matter of Tambo adds panning out over time....ie. the first overall picks, 2-5th round depth guys, and the acquisition of Schultz...
Tambo acquired NSchultz but had nothing to do with JSchultz.
I am liking MacTs drafts more than Tambos.
when you posted this comment.
