RealGM

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/article. ... 55519_5208

Oilers sign Souray

Good pick up...no details

A good pickup??

Souray had the 2nd worst +/- rating in the NHL last year (a VERY important stat for defensemen) and is just a complete liability on the back end. He's a one-trick pony with a hard, accurate shot from the point on the PP. He's certainly not a top 2 defenseman.

If they paid any more than $3.5M/yr for him, they got ripped off.

juucer wrote:A good pickup??

Souray had the 2nd worst +/- rating in the NHL last year (a VERY important stat for defensemen) and is just a complete liability on the back end. He's a one-trick pony with a hard, accurate shot from the point on the PP. He's certainly not a top 2 defenseman.

If they paid any more than $3.5M/yr for him, they got ripped off.

You're right, he sucks on defense but he knows how to score goals... if people want an offensive defenseman they certainly get one with him. If you think he got anything close to 3.5 Mill ... lol. Look for him to be making closer to double that.

juucer wrote:A good pickup??

Souray had the 2nd worst +/- rating in the NHL last year (a VERY important stat for defensemen) and is just a complete liability on the back end. He's a one-trick pony with a hard, accurate shot from the point on the PP. He's certainly not a top 2 defenseman.

If they paid any more than $3.5M/yr for him, they got ripped off.

27.5 mil over 5 years

When you've lost so much of your fire power up front in fowards like Smyth and Lupul he does give some from the back end...

He's no Pronger but he wants to go to Edmonton and few players do...

"lost firepower in Lupul"

You're killing me here

UTMCretin wrote::rofl: "lost firepower in Lupul"
You're killing me here

Lupul may not have been a force in Edmonton but every word I'm hearing is he has the potential to be a very good player and one I think, Edmonton gave up on too quickly...

The signing of Souray however will give you some scoring from the back end and if teamed with Pitkanen on the power play will become a very potent unit..

Scoring is going to be important when players that Scored well Smyth, Sykora and yes Lupul (potentially) have not been successfully replaced as yet...

I think one of the biggest problems facing the Oilers is the deletion of 2 team leaders Smyth and Smith and until someone steps forward to wear the "C" it is a ship without a leader, maybe one of the "A's" can do it (Moreau, Horccoff or Pisani)...

As you might assume, I'm a Toronto fan but my second team is Edmonton and I follow them with some interest and have since the great teams and the Wayne Gretzky era and I have family Ties it that area...

Tor-Rap-Tor wrote:-= original quote snipped =-



Lupul may not have been a force in Edmonton but every word I'm hearing is he has the potential to be a very good player and one I think, Edmonton gave up on too quickly...

The signing of Souray however will give you some scoring from the back end and if teamed with Pitkanen on the power play will become a very potent unit..

Scoring is going to be important when players that Scored well Smyth, Sykora and yes Lupul (potentially) have not been successfully replaced as yet...

I think one of the biggest problems facing the Oilers is the deletion of 2 team leaders Smyth and Smith and until someone steps forward to wear the "C" it is a ship without a leader, maybe one of the "A's" can do it (Moreau, Horccoff or Pisani)...

As you might assume, I'm a Toronto fan but my second team is Edmonton and I follow them with some interest and have since the great teams and the Wayne Gretzky era and I have family Ties it that area...

Well, Lupul does have potential. That's probably the only thing that kept me from turning on him during the season when he was completely lost out there, liable on defense and irrelevant on offense. An absoutely despicable year, there was no possible way for him to get the fans back on his side, so dealing him was probably the right move. He just plain sucked. And yet, with the Oilers luck, he'll score 40 goals next season with the Flyers.

Lupul massacre aside, scoring is still a huge issue with this team. Looking at the roster right now, even reaching 200 goals seems like a stretch, which is what makes Souray a good pickup. As a defenseman, he scored more goals than anyone currently on the Oil last year. In fact, before the Souray signing this team didn't even have a 20 goal scorer on it. Plus, Souray will prove a strong addition to one of the league's worst powerplays. The offense will still likely falter badly due to both its complete lack of firepower and MacTavish's defense-first schemes, but at least its something.

UTMCretin wrote:-= original quote snipped =-



Well, Lupul does have potential. That's probably the only thing that kept me from turning on him during the season when he was completely lost out there, liable on defense and irrelevant on offense. An absoutely despicable year, there was no possible way for him to get the fans back on his side, so dealing him was probably the right move. He just plain sucked. And yet, with the Oilers luck, he'll score 40 goals next season with the Flyers.

Lupul massacre aside, scoring is still a huge issue with this team. Looking at the roster right now, even reaching 200 goals seems like a stretch, which is what makes Souray a good pickup. As a defenseman, he scored more goals than anyone currently on the Oil last year. In fact, before the Souray signing this team didn't even have a 20 goal scorer on it. Plus, Souray will prove a strong addition to one of the league's worst powerplays. The offense will still likely falter badly due to both its complete lack of firepower and MacTavish's defense-first schemes, but at least its something.

Gonna be hard to play defensively with Souray on the ice alot. Lol.

Snayr wrote:-= original quote snipped =-



Gonna be hard to play defensively with Souray on the ice alot. Lol.

That was just in reference to the offensive players, who held a lot more responsibility on the defensive end last year because of how bad the defense really was. No way Souray's any worse defensively than MAB or any of the scrub blueliners (and Toby Peterson, lol) who got in for 15 games due to massive amounts of injury

The bottom line is that on this team Sheldon Souray is BIG upgrade compared to all players on the roster last season

i think its a good signing because he will really help our horrible powerplay and because of that i'll overlook his horrible defense. Five mil a season is little much for a speacialist but he helps our team out big time.