Quite frankly, I'm tired of constantly seeing people crap on the kid. Yeah he had an O for forever in terms of points, and yeah he may not have been very good in his time with the Oilers for a few seasons, but he is what the Oilers need going forward, and he is the opposite of what the Oilers have had too much of. What he brings to the table is a BIG and powerful winger on a cheap contract that is willing to play a physical game. A young Ethan Moreau if you will, minus the dumb penalties, maybe a little leaner on the offense, but a lot bigger and stronger.
And unlike Ethan, he doesn't cost over $2 million a year. He is what we need, a guy that makes an honest living while knocking heads and allowing the lions share of the pay to go to the offensive impact players, our solid blueline, and Shawn Horcoff :)
Going forward we need size and toughness in the bottom 6, he is a great compliment to Stortini, and he's young enough to grow with our core. Unlike Liam Reddox, he can really change the tempo of a game with a monstrous hit or a fight.
Before running this guy off, let's enjoy having someone that can knock some heads and doesn't cost so much that we are relegated to playing scrubs in the top 6 because our bottom 6 is seen as the teams biggest keys to wins and losses.
If he plays a regular shift across from Stortini next year, I expect to see both hit double digits in goals and combine for 2/3's of a hell of a 4th line going forward. Let's all remember that he played his best hockey after being out for an eternity with a major back injury and the resulting surgery. The Crazy Train maybe running late, but he's on his way to better things as a player, and hopefully better things as an Oiler.
No comments:
Post a Comment