The Oilers signed Nikolai Khabibulin to a 4 year/15 million dollar deal today shortly after Roloson signed with the New York Islanders after the Oilers wouldn’t give him a 2 year term. Khabibulin was arguably the most talented goalie on the Unrestricted Free Agent list this year and this deal should take him to the end of his contract. The question is now whether or not Khabibulin will be able to keep that form up until the end of his contract and if it will be worth the $3.75 at the end. The contract kind of feels like the Edmonton Oilers are pressing the rewind button and signing a goalie like Roloson to a term that they wanted 4 years ago with Roloson 4 years ago.
One interesting thing about the deal that I noticed was that the Edmonton Oilers official website has had a picture of Khabibulin up on their main page since Monday.
There are a lot of reasons why a 1 year deal to Roloson is a smart move by Steve Tambellini. The most obvious reason is that Roloson is at the end of his career and may only have one more good year left in him. Some people suggested a 2 year front-loaded deal might be enough to convince Roloson to stay but you have to give Tambellini credit for possibly taking into consideration next year’s free agent goalie crop:
The Oilers selected Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson today with the 10th pick overall in the 2009 entry draft. He has a lot of speed and drives to the net hard. He was ranked 2nd in the International rankings by NHL Central Scouting.
EJ McGuire on Paajarvi-Svensson: “Magnus perhaps is the stereotype if the skilled Swede coming over here in recent years – outside speed extraordinaire, ability to freeze defenders and make all his good moves work even more effectively…He showed at the World Championships why the 1980 comparisons to Mats Naslund, Kent Nilsson and more recently a Peter Forsberg will follow him over to his NHL team.”
Here is a example of his speed in a Timra game against Modo:
International Stats:
Year
Team
Event
GP
G
A
Pts
PIM
2008
Sweden
WJC
6
1
1
2
0
2008
Sweden
WJC U18
6
2
3
5
6
2009
Sweden
WJC
6
2
5
7
6
2009
Sweden
WJC U18
6
6
6
12
0
Junior Int’ totals
64
28
39
67
22
Paajarvi admitted in a interview before being selected by Edmonton that he didn’t know where Edmonton was but he knew it was in Canada. In another interview he said he wouldn’t mind the cold in Edmonton because he is from northern Sweden. Hopefully he will be a solid Oiler for years to come!
The 2009 NHL Entry Draft is coming up this Friday and I thought it would be fun to try and outdraft the teams drafting in the first round. How will this work? I am going to select who I think is the best prospect available at that position at the time while the draft is underway and then post the results here. Obviously, I won’t know how my picks turn out compared to the NHL team’s picks until a couple years down the road but it should be a fun experiment.
Here are my picks (updated during the draft):
1
New York Islanders: Jonathan Tavares
2
Tampa Bay Lightning: Victor Hedman
3
Colorado Avalanche: Matt Duchene
4
Atlanta Thrashers: Evander Kane
5
Los Angeles Kings: Brayden Schenn
6
Phoenix Coyotes: Jared Cowen
7
Toronto Maple Leafs: Jared Cowen
8
Dallas Stars: Jared Cowen
9
Ottawa Senators: Jared Cowen
10
Edmonton Oilers: Magnus Paarjarvi-Svensson
11
Nashville Predators: Ryan Ellis
12
Minnesota Wild/NY Islanders: Jacob Josefson
13
Buffalo Sabres: Jacob Josefson
14
Florida Panthers: Jacob Josefson
15
Anaheim Ducks: Jacob Josefson
16
Columbus Blue Jackets/Minnesota: Jacob Josefson
17
St. Louis Blues: Jacob Josefson
18
Montreal Canadiens: Jacob Josefson
19
New York Rangers: Jacob Josefson
20
Calgary Flames/NJ Devils: Jacob Josefson
21
Philadelphia Flyers/Anaheim/Columbus: Jordan Schroeder
22
Vancouver Canucks: Jordan Schroeder
23
New Jersey Devils/Calgary Flames: Carter Ashton
24
Washington Capitals: Carter Ashton
25
Boston Bruins: Carter Ashton
26
New York Islanders (SJ-OTT)/Columbus/Anaheim Ducks: Carter Ashton
27
Carolina Hurricanes: Carter Ashton
28
Chicago Blackhawks: Carter Ashton
29
Detroit Red Wings/Tampa Bay Lightning: Carter Ashton
30
Pittsburgh Penguins: Simon Depres
Actual Picks
1
New York Islanders: Jonathan Tavares
2
Tampa Bay Lightning: Victor Hedman
3
Colorado Avalanche: Matt Duchene
4
Atlanta Thrashers: Evander Kane
5
Los Angeles Kings: Brayden Schenn
6
Phoenix Coyotes: Oliver Ekman-Larsson
7
Toronto Maple Leafs: Nazem Kadri
8
Dallas Stars: Scott Glennie
9
Ottawa Senators: Jared Cowen
10
Edmonton Oilers: Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson
11
Nashville Predators: Ryan Ellis
12
Minnesota Wild/NY Islanders: Calvin De Haan
13
Buffalo Sabres: Zack Kassian
14
Florida Panthers: Dmitri Kulikov
15
Anaheim Ducks: Peter Holland
16
Columbus Blue Jackets/Minnesota Wild: Nick Leddy
17
St. Louis Blues: David Rundblad
18
Montreal Canadiens: Louis Leblanc
19
New York Rangers: Chris Kreider
20
Calgary Flames/New Jersey Devils: Jacob Josefson
21
Philadelphia Flyers/Anaheim Ducks/Columbus Blue Jackets: John Moore
22
Vancouver Canucks: Jordan Schroeder
23
New Jersey Devils/Calgary Flames: Tim Erixon
24
Washington Capitals: Marcus Johansson
25
Boston Bruins: Jordan Caron
26
New York Islanders (SJ-OTT)/CBJ/Anaheim Ducks: Kyle Palmieri
27
Carolina Hurricanes: Philippe Paradis
28
Chicago Blackhawks: Dylan Olsen
29
Detroit Red Wings/Tampa Bay Lightning: Carter Ashton