Grange on Oilers-Leafs: Different approaches
Posted February 6, 2012 10:00 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Somebody should have rented a barn.
On Monday night, the Edmonton Oilers arrive in Toronto for more than simply a hockey game.
The Oilers and Leafs are a clash of cultures representing two very different approaches to (theoretically) building a championship contender in the post-lockout, hard-cap NHL.
In the copper-and-blue corner you have Kevin Lowe’s Oilers, card-carriers for the NBA-style burn-it-to-the-ground-in-the-hopes-of-drafting-enough-franchise-players-to-make-it-worthwhile school.
In the Blue-and-White corner you have Brian Burke’s rebuild on the fly approach; where he tests his belief that you can construct a Stanley Cup winner without touching bottom or waiting for the draft to bless your franchise with riches — or is that fool’s gold?
Each approach is in its fourth season — both Burke and Oilers general manager Steve Tambellini (who moved Lowe into the president’s role) were hired in 2008. But as the 2012 trade deadline approaches only the Leafs look to be buyers as it’s only the Leafs that have a realistic chance at making the playoffs this year.
So by that measure, the Leafs and Burke would seem to have the upper hand. But which roster would you rather have?
The Leafs — deep and young but minus the kind of franchise-defining players that teams like Chicago and Pittsburgh built Cup winners around?
Or the Oilers — who just might have the elite talent in the form of No. 1 picks Taylor Hall and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins — but lack the organizational depth at this stage to leverage it?
Tonight marks the meeting of two teams playing some good hockey — both clubs have earned nine points in their past five games — but it’s not a rivalry. The NHL schedule makes it nearly impossible for teams from different conferences to truly become embittered with one another, unless they happen to meet in the Stanley Cup final, as the hate between the Boston Bruins and the Vancouver Canucks would demonstrate.
But wouldn’t it be wild — okay a pharmaceutically-powered fantasy — if one day in the not-so-distant future the Oilers and Leafs met in a Cup final?
First of all hockey fans would be treated to two weeks of the club’s respective presidents tugging at their ties and asking the other if they wanted to take it outside.
Old-time hockey!
The bad blood between the two men dates to their verbal sparring over Lowe’s decision to sign restricted free agent Dustin Penner to an offer sheet when Penner was playing for Burke’s Anaheim Ducks in the summer of 2007.
At its peak, Burke revealed recently, he was ready to set a time and place for the beef to be settled, telling an interviewer he was going to rent a barn for him and Lowe to fight.
They’ve since made amends, but the different paths the two teams have is a barroom argument that won’t be settled until one of the teams begin making deep playoff runs.
There are certainly some holes in Burke’s approach. Not only have the Leafs missed the playoffs in the three years he’s been in charge and six straight, if Toronto does make the playoffs this year it will likely be as a low seed. Given Toronto has the ninth-highest payroll in the league, according to capgeek.com, and has $51 million committed to 16 players for next season, Burke is not in an easy position to use money to fill the roster’s gaps.
Having forgone the chance to draft Tyler Seguin or Dougie Hamilton (the players drafted with picks acquired from the Leafs, No. 2 in 2010 and No. 9 in 2011, respectively); the Leafs’ franchise players are guys other teams have given up on — Phil Kessel (Boston) and Dion Phaneuf (Calgary).
It would seem the Leafs are a team that will taste playoff success before the Oilers, but can they win a Cup with those two?
Meanwhile, as promising as the likes of Hall and Nugent-Hopkins are, they’re still just 20 and 19, respectively, so still a few years away from franchise-carrying duties.
And regardless of how high their stars climb, it’s worth noting that even a team like the Pittsburgh Penguins, who drafted high and well in the form of top picks like Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Marc-Andre Fleury, only became a Cup contender when later-round finds like Ryan Malone (115th overall) and Kris Letang (62nd overall) became regular contributors.
Maybe that’s why the most important player the Oilers have drafted recently is Jordan Eberle, their leading scorer at 21-years old and delivering unexpected value for the 22nd overall choice in the 2008 draft.
Drafting high isn’t enough. Columbus has picked eighth or better 10 times in its 12-year history but has never won a playoff game. The Islanders have picked ninth or better five times in the past six years but will be picking high again this season. The Panthers picked fourth or better for four straight years beginning in 2001 but haven’t made the playoffs since. They might make it this season but only after they went out and signed a handful of veteran free agents.
In a 30-team league with a hard-cap, there has been no proven model that guarantees deep playoff runs. The Oilers and Leafs are well down very different paths their combative club presidents hope will end in a Stanley Cup parade.
Ahead on points — for now — are Burke and his Leafs.
