I dont know, a 40 year old that can play anywhere on the top 3 lines, teach the kids what it takes to have a long and productive career, prevent the Oilers from naming Horc Captain, help on our brutal PP or PK...doesnt sound that bad.

Touche sir!

I guess we can now start lining up on the parade route - again. With all the gushing of the sports writers over the Eskimo win, it seems that the Oilers might be able to borrow the celebration plans Rick L.

I refuse to say F---t!

Damn and I'm not

Hall, Paajarvi & Eberle have 3 years deals, so no, they won't be up for new deals at the same time... Gagner will need a new deal 1 year before their deals expire. Quite simply, it was either a 2 or 4 year deal for Gagner.

LMAO!

Those other vets you might want at present time can/should remain on hold probably till trade deadline ! Then team can accurately and more cheaply add those type talents if we make the playoffs .

That's bass-ackwards. Give up nothing to sign a guy now, or give up something to trade for him at the deadline... hmm... yep, it'll be cheaper at the deadline.

I assume that the Flames are going to fail to make the playoffs again this year. In the offseason they will likely fire Sutter and begin searching for a new GM.

Madjam - I strongly suggest you apply for this job. We will all give you sterling references and endorsements.

Nice deal for both... next up: Cogliano 1yr, amilli less (ish)...?

I am surprised at how,Tambellni has done a real good job this off season.

I'd be more willing to give him props if it wasn't August freaking 29th, but he's done okay. We'll see.

Take off 'real good' and you are closer.

Too many dregs re-signed and too many possible cheap vets who could help the young'uns not signed for us to call it a good summer.

It is the summer where management showed us they think the team should roll over and die before Christmas. But also they think the kids should play in that situation too.

Glad Sam is back, nevertheless.

This is happy fun time news. Nice to have it finally taken care of.

I don't see why people think we should have signed more vets.

What so we can place 10th again? So we can sign vets who will be here for 3yrs then retire just when we need them for when this team is challenging? Hey, maybe none of these so called "vets" (whoever they were) didn't want to come here. This team has moved further ahead in 6 months then it has in 10yrs! And trust me 06' wasn't a reflection of a great team, we were an 8th place team that had a great run. This team needs to build for the future and Sam is the future, not some nameless vet.

Is there bonus points for having Gagner signed any earlier? It's not like he or Cogliano are/were the only RFA's not signed - Bobby Ryan, Carey Price, James Neal, Chris Stewart, Peter Mueller, Martin Hanzal, Marc Staal are just half the guys that remain unsigned.

Atleast its a short term contract. I dont think he was or is as impressive as everyone makes him out to be.

I'm not sure if you've noticed this or not, but NOBODY is signing these vets to 3 year deals. The purpose of adding a vet up front & on the back-end is to relieve some pressure from the kids & help mentor the kids. Guys like Bill Guerin & Paul Mara would be a perfect additions for these reasons. The kids that aren't ready for primetime (Chorney, Petry, Plante, Hartikainen, Omark) will benefit far more from playing significant minutes in OKC than they will riding pine or making mistakes & losing confidence up here. We're not talking about taking minutes away from guys like Gagner, Brule or Smid here... just adding some support.

Not to mention, guy's like Guerin or Mara (or the like) may just fetch you a nice little draft pick come February... Money For Nothing... and the chicks for free.

How about getting some expendable vets who can handle some of the tough minutes so the young kids can go out and play a good game rather than having their confidence destroyed by the good players of each and every team that is more completely put together than the Oilers.

Or you could just read Ross Creek's reply for something well put together.

The only worry I have about this one is the term. Should we not have done a one year deal, see how he plays this year and then gave him a 4-5 year deal at "bigger" bucks? Now we are gonna have everybody up for contracts at the same time...if they(the rookies) all play well how the hell will we be able to pay them?? But never the less...good signing, Tambi, I gotta say..you have impressed this summer..And just when we were all ready to throw you off a cliff...

But at this point Sam shouldn't be one of the kids that is protected. If they were going to do that they should have done it sometime during his first 3 years. At this point it would be detrimental to give him bottom 6 minutes. Now is the time to see if he can legitimately take a top 6 role and succeed with it. Not to mention that there aren't really too many free agents out there to pick up that would be an upgrade on our top 6 right now. Unless the Oilers overpay on an RFA like they did with Penner and I don't see that happening.

So you are pretty confident a guy like Guerin would come to Edmonton? You really think vets are lined up to come spend a year in Edm? I highly doubt it, and if 29 other teams want nothing to do with them at this point and the only team calling is the last placed team what does that say about the so-called quality of these vets.

If they're gonna sign a vet go hard after a 30yr old who can come in with experience and mentor and mesh with the rookies. He'll be far more effective if he's long term and builds a strong relationship with the rookies. I just don't see the advantage of a Guerin, and I really don't think he'd come here anyway, I'd say he goes to a contender or retires.

No, I'm not confident that Guerin would come here... I just used him as an example. Given the facts that he enjoyed his time here, he doesn't seem to have a ton of options and the Oilers could offer him a tad more money than some other teams, I'd say its at least somewhat possible. Vets sign all the time with poor teams with the thought they could be moved to a contender at the deadline.

You want a 30 year old... Mike Comrie's his name.

Ya Mike can enjoy married life in LA, sure he plays hard but I don't see him playing here very long.

How old is Guerin again? 40? I'll pass.

He's a horrible example. Sorry.

How's he a horrible example. A vet that's won a Cup & played in the city before, never saying a bad word about it, that plays a gritty game (read: looking after the kids) and had 21 goals last year while only missing 4 games all season... ya, terrible. Oh... and maybe you add another draft pick 6 months down the road, after his leadership qualities rub off on the kids a bit. He'd be a good Captain for those 6 months, too... stop-gap guy until someone else steps up... or they could just give it to Horcoff.

He may not be the perfect fit, but he's far from a horrible one.

BTW, his 21 goals & 45 pts last year would have both been good for 2nd on the Oilers. Sure, another year older, without the benefit of Crosby would almost certainly bring those totals down, but they wouldn't be bringing him in for that purpose anyways.

I'd prefer to not have 40yr olds on the team.

I'd prefer not to hang the success of my team on kids half that age.

And I don't think that Gagner needs sheltering but everyone drafted in a year after him playing for the Oilers this year does.

If Bill Guerin can do all that, then I wonder why he hasn't been signed.

Possible reasons:

Nobody wants him He doesn't want to go to teams that aren't contenders

Any other reasons you can think of?

Tambellini has flushed the season with more of an eye to the bottom line than to player development?

Uhm..... He might want too much money Uhm..... Could be considering retirement Uhm..... Holding out for a particular team Uhm..... Holding out for an offer from the Oilers..LOL

I think it would have more to do with him only wanting to go to contenders. In that respect, I agree that it seems unlikely that Oilerville is his preferred destination.

How about Owen Nolan.

i don't think any vet would really signing avoid here for a year if the money was right and their options limited.

they'd be signing to play here until the trade deadline.

still, playing for a contender is surely preferable for the vets, rather than moving through edmonton. less risky.

but i still think edm should sign vets to one year contracts where they can. trading for picks at the deadline is good.

Maybe because seemingly every NHL team took a 5 week sabbatical from signing just about ANYONE.

Nolan was a flame an we alredy hav to many of those disgusting things in coaching and management

I like this signing. Muchly.

Gagner has been under the microscope these past couple of years because he's one of the "kids" who were supposed to be pumping in goals by the buttload.

But, I can see pressure being a bit of a thorny mistress when you crack an NHL line-up at only 18.

Now, there are a whole new group of "kids". Sam will be able to play calmly, and grow into his game, while all of the focus will be on guys like Hall, Eberle and MPS.

A positive. I'm calling a 65 point season for Sam.

You have the Gunn Show guarantee.

If there was one player that I would sign an offer sheet to it would be James Neal out of Dallas. This kid had flown under the radar being in Big D the last few years, until he comes into Edmonton and lights it up--every game they've played! Size, skill, and grit which is exactly what the Oilers need up front.

I know Joe Nieuwendyk isn't an idiot so he would probably match any offer, but if there was one that I personally would shoot for it would be him.

I like what Sam-I-Am brings to the table for an undersized forward. I am hoping that this year he can have some of the attention drawn off him, and onto Hall & Co. which should help his numbers. Exciting hockey to come from the Oil this year, but still a few years away from being pretenders.

You guys are wasting your time with this Free Agent talk, Tamby said were not signing anyone else

http://communities.canada.com/edmontonjournal/blogs/hockey/archive/2010/08/25/tambellini-not-in-the-hunt-for-any-more-players-on-oilers.aspx

You SHOULD be talking about this Penner and/or Souray and/or Cogliano to L.A for Johnson and/or Smytty (I'm not sure how much of it is true but it's a rumour that's swirling around that would be fun to talk about) all this free agent and $&@coff talk is getting boring(can't wait for camp to open)

Well put Shaner,

I have no idea why you guys are going on about free agent washed up forwards, when we are knee deep in forwards. Are they of quality? Definitely not. But it doesn't matter, Tambi said no more, and that's that. Tank another season without a fossil slowing the kids down and grab another lottery pick.

Now for the Rumor - I would let Penner/Souray/Cogs walk for Johnson/Smyth in a heart beat. There is your leadership/captain right there.

Yes, GM's should ALWAYS be taken at face value when they say something and never with a grain of salt. Just because Tambo told Stauffer he wasn't interested in signing any more forwards doesn't mean he won't. Sure, he may not, but what else is he supposed to say... "yes, we're desperate to sign a veteran forward at all costs"? What kind of bargainig position would that put himself into? How would that temper fans expectations when it comes to adding another body... especially if he didn't end up signing someone. Then fans would be all over him for not signing a vet.

As for the rumour, until I hear anything from a credible source, its to be taken with a grain of salt.

Maybe it's just me, but after watching Guerin in last years playoffs looking like a pylon on the ice unable to keep up, I have little desire to see him back here. The Oilers already have veteran presence. They don't need anymore at this time. I'd bring in an older Stanley Cup veteran closer to the point when they are ready to contend. Those guys are always available at trade deadlines from non-contending teams.

I find all this talk of signing Vets like Nolan and Guerin hilarious,at the end of the day I'm not sure what this accomplishes. This is not ateam that is a player or two away from a lengthy playoff run this is a team in full rebuild mode. That said I don't think the team will be as bad as they were last year. I'm thinking 9th or 10th in the West, and for all those Tamby haters out there I think he has done a tremendous job considering the mess he was handed when K-Lowe kicked himself upstairs a couple of years ago

We gave Nilsson a similar deal when the cap was lower and after very little proof of what Nilsson was worth, so this deal for Gagner who has been pretty consistent offensively and has show improvements over the last 3 years is pretty good.

Lady Gaga's comments were "holy mother of laughter"

http://twitpic.com/2ixeqy

Is this a new marketing strategy to get players to sign in Edmonton.

Her tweet went out to over 5 million people. Great guerila marketing by Edmonton.

~exactly. because no GM has ever not told the truth to reporters in an interview. what is reported is always the truth~

***facepalm***

I guess it is a good term and price, and it does seem that Tambo has become an effective manager sticking to a plan! WOW, I am actually shocked because I thought for sure he was gonna get canned. I thing Guerrin or another vet makes a yon of sense both in terms of adding presense in the room and getting another asset at the deadlne. One other thing about the vets of the league, there are alot less jobs for them now unless they are willng to sign for alot less than they used to, welcome to the new NHL!!!! The elite get rich, everyone else gets squeezed or eliminated.

What's the arbitrary date you are using to say Lowe kicked himself upstairs?

Was it before or after the Cole for O'Sullivan and Kotalik trade?

Was it before of after the Khabibulin contract?

Not every move is an out of the park home run. Any successful businessman or in this case NHL GM will have his share of questionable decisions that they would like to take back. If a GM has a track record of many poor trades or head-scratching moves aka Mike Milbury, then it's fair to criticize. Otherwise, just cherry-picking the bad decisions while ignoring the good ones doesn't seem to be very objective.

ST's moves over the past 4 months make up for a prolonged period inactivity where it probably was fair to question his ability. I think he's more than made up for it.

I hope Gagner steps up this year and lives up to his raise... or... or...

I'll drown him with cuddles.

o O (so cute)

o O (I hope they can't hear my thoughts)

o O (Gagner, the cuddle bear)