Lubomir Visnovsky was my favorite Oiler. The trade for Ryan Whitney was an overpayment in my opinion, considering there's only $1.6 million in savings and the throw-in pick was a sixth.
The trade with Steve Staios to a division rival was also a mysterious decision.
But what do you propose Tambellini do instead?
Consider this chart of salaries for NHL defensemen.
There are only 14 D-men that make more money than Visnovsky. In order to pick up a D-man with $5.6 million in cap hit until 2012-13 you better have a damn good reason—and that reason is Scott Neidermayer.
Watching Neidermayer at the Olympics, he looks like a guy who should've stayed retired and he looks like he's not entirely unconvinced that this is untrue himself.
Was there any other team in the NHL that was potentially looking for a top pairing D-man who costs more than Visnovsky? A team that needs such a player and can fit it under their cap?
Of players who have more years left on their contract, guys like Ed Jovanovski, Andrei Markov, and Bryan McCabe (who makes less than Vis) come to mind. All see their contracts expire in 2010-11. With Florida look ...
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Article written by Antony Ta
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