I have a feeling Smid and Gilbert will be near the top in minutes for the OIL, from the back-end ofcourse. Staios and Smith are still there but who knows what will happen.

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Zorro says "vote for Dobber"
Angus is my best friend at dobberhockey..
Bruins believer since BIRTH..
Fav player: Cam Neely..

Hate to dig up old threads, but some more thoughts on this care of some chatter elsewhere.

Grebeshkov is looking to become more and more of a bigger piece of the Oiler puzzle this year. MA Bergeron was traded for this guy, along with a pick, and right at the time of year when it could be argued that the Oilers were not technically out of the playoff hunt. It is clear that the OIlers have big plans for this kid. He already has a decent amount of pro experience for a 24 year old and I would be shocked to not see him get the second PP time ahead of a guy like Gilbert.

In fact, I wouldn\'t be surprised to see Gilbert start the year off down in the AHL or being the rotating press box guy, particularly if the Oilers do sign 1 or 2 bigger name rearguards before the season starts.

Now factor in the rumours of a Tarnstrom signing in Edmonton and you have even more of a log jam back there.

Tarnstrom + (traded for dman or UFA dman)
Smid + Staios
Smith + Grebeshkov

Greene is still in the mix and Hejda is uncertain as well.

Gilbert could have a great training camp and earn himself some PP time ahead of a guy like Grebs (we\'ve seen MacT stiff Russians before with ice time *cough Mikhnov*), but he\'s going to be in real tough to earn himself quality minutes next year no matter what happens.

Bringing in a UFA would change things, i.e. Tarnstrom. However, I\'m still confident of Gilbert. His transition to the pro game was seamless. His ice time in Edmonton averaged 10-11 minutes per game for his first four games.

He averaged 23 minutes per game in his next eight games.

MacT loves him. He runs the PP. I haven\'t done my predictions yet and gone through my formulas, but I really think he is mature enough and ready to get 40 points this year.

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DobberHockey Rules
14 Team Keeper, points only, best 12 skaters 2 dman 2 G count. Playoffs count.
F - Crosby, C.Smith, Wheeler, Parenteau, Hudler, Clowe, Grabovski, Atkinson, Frolik, S. Kostitsyn, Marchand, Peverley, Tavares, Read, Brouwer, Bickell, Gionta, Setoguchi
G - Anderson, Hiller, Markstrom, Brodeur
D - Letang, Del Zotto, I. White, Kronwall, Brodin, Nikitin

Gilbert was one of their top four last year. Depending on Staios rehab he may be dropped down a peg as far as minutes go next year as he\'s getting older. Gilbert was even ahead of Smid although Smid has more potential. I see:
Smith + (Redden???/Spacek???)
Gilbert + Greene
Staios + Smid/Grebeshkov.


Grebeshkov still needs some seasoning and MacT never throws any rookie out unless he has to. So for the first part of the season I think Grebeshkov will be watching and will have to play his way (i.e. be way better than anyone else) to earn regular minutes.

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GWNHL Fantasy Cup Champs 06-07

So many questions. Should be interesting to see.

With Petry looking like a decent pick and Chorney doing well also, it seems the Oilers are figuring out how to scout defenseman at least. Forwards? Well that remains to be seen.

Yeah, now that they have their own farm team they could have a Calder Cup contender next year. As for how they will translate all the talent into improving the big club.....it\'ll be an interesting summer. Let\'s see if Dobber\'s \"Lowe is a genious\" thread will need to be brought back or will be it \"What the @#$% is Lowe doing\" :lol:

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GWNHL Fantasy Cup Champs 06-07