Post by BurntOrangeOiler on Aug 18, 2006 14:58:33 GMT -5
Here's a few various pieces of information I ran across written by Dan Tencer of 630CHED (taken from an interview with Oilers Assistant GM Scott Howson) ........
I had a conversation Wednesday night with Scott Howson, Assistant GM of the Edmonton Oilers. He had some very promising news concerning the minor league situation with Oilers are in with no current AHL or ECHL affiliates. He said deals are being finalized with 5 AHL franchises and they hope to put 5 or 6 players on one squad and spread the rest around the other 4. The club is most concerned it seems about getting goaltending prospect Jeff Drouins-Deslauriers back on the right track. Apparently the club wasn't entirely thrilled with his consistency (though they admit he did get the short end of the stick as far as playing time) but they say he's matured and should have a much better season. He also told me that we should expect an announcement shortly about an agreement with an ECHL hockey club for the upcoming season. (Utah Grizzlies?)
Lupul negotiations still haven’t made any progress from the initial talks. He mentioned that fans don’t have anything to worry about as far as Joffrey missing any time.
They are still working on a contract with Alexei Mikhnov, though it is clear now that the contract won’t be the big issue. He doesn’t anticipate the Malkin situation having a huge impact on the Mikhnov transfer because the Russian Ice Hockey Federation isn’t paying as close attention to Mikhnov.
I asked him point blank about Brian Leetch and, guess what, they’ve made the intial call to Jay Grossman. They put in a call on July 1 to express their interest and have recently followed up on the call. The Leetch discussions, he stressed, are still in their very preliminary stages. Scott seemed more open tonight to an addition on defense than he had in previous conversations. He mentioned that they were fine going into the regular season with the roster they had but if an improvement could be made via free agent signing or trade, they’d look at it. If Leetch was priced right and wanted to come, the Oilers will make the move by the sounds of it. I’m still against the signing. I’d like to see them roll with the potential until (if at all) a problem arises.
I was also surprised that he included the phrase ‘via trade’ in his description. I don’t think I’m reading too much into it because in past conversations his MO has always been to improve the team by free agent signings. I’m not sure if something is up or not, but he sounded more open to making a pre-regular season trade than he had in the past. I’ve heard that Boston may be willing to part with Brad Stuart for the right price and the Oilers certainly have a bevy of prospects and draft picks to bargain with. Something to watch anyway.
If you’d like to hear the interview which was done live on 630 CHED Inside Sports in Edmonton, go here: 630ched.com/station/inside_sports.cfm?rem=45935&jor=45935
I had a conversation Wednesday night with Scott Howson, Assistant GM of the Edmonton Oilers. He had some very promising news concerning the minor league situation with Oilers are in with no current AHL or ECHL affiliates. He said deals are being finalized with 5 AHL franchises and they hope to put 5 or 6 players on one squad and spread the rest around the other 4. The club is most concerned it seems about getting goaltending prospect Jeff Drouins-Deslauriers back on the right track. Apparently the club wasn't entirely thrilled with his consistency (though they admit he did get the short end of the stick as far as playing time) but they say he's matured and should have a much better season. He also told me that we should expect an announcement shortly about an agreement with an ECHL hockey club for the upcoming season. (Utah Grizzlies?)
Lupul negotiations still haven’t made any progress from the initial talks. He mentioned that fans don’t have anything to worry about as far as Joffrey missing any time.
They are still working on a contract with Alexei Mikhnov, though it is clear now that the contract won’t be the big issue. He doesn’t anticipate the Malkin situation having a huge impact on the Mikhnov transfer because the Russian Ice Hockey Federation isn’t paying as close attention to Mikhnov.
I asked him point blank about Brian Leetch and, guess what, they’ve made the intial call to Jay Grossman. They put in a call on July 1 to express their interest and have recently followed up on the call. The Leetch discussions, he stressed, are still in their very preliminary stages. Scott seemed more open tonight to an addition on defense than he had in previous conversations. He mentioned that they were fine going into the regular season with the roster they had but if an improvement could be made via free agent signing or trade, they’d look at it. If Leetch was priced right and wanted to come, the Oilers will make the move by the sounds of it. I’m still against the signing. I’d like to see them roll with the potential until (if at all) a problem arises.
I was also surprised that he included the phrase ‘via trade’ in his description. I don’t think I’m reading too much into it because in past conversations his MO has always been to improve the team by free agent signings. I’m not sure if something is up or not, but he sounded more open to making a pre-regular season trade than he had in the past. I’ve heard that Boston may be willing to part with Brad Stuart for the right price and the Oilers certainly have a bevy of prospects and draft picks to bargain with. Something to watch anyway.
If you’d like to hear the interview which was done live on 630 CHED Inside Sports in Edmonton, go here: 630ched.com/station/inside_sports.cfm?rem=45935&jor=45935
