Thanks to "Engineer" from HF with link 1 and link 2 and the translation for the articles
Basically, Robert Nilsson is to join Team Sweden on a try-out basis for the World Championships held this May in Canada. The experience certainly can't hurt.
Robert Nilsson is quoted in the second article:
"It's been a blast - the last 20-30 games are the most fun I've had in my hockey life."
Negotiations on a new multi-year deal are expected to begin any day now. "I do not want to play anywhere else but Edmonton, and it would be nice to have the new contract in place before the Worlds."
Jarret Stoll was also quoted the other day:
"I hope things work out because I don't want to leave here. I love playing here. I've enjoyed every second of it. Even through the tough times of this year, it's still fun coming to the rink, being around the guys, playing for fans like Edmonton fans."
Then there are some nice Horcoff quotes in the blog entry below.
Quite a turnaround from previous years - players wanting to play in Edmonton.
That most certainly helps the team going forward, with the developed chemistry.
Or at the very least, can't hurt.
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3 comments:
It's certainly a welcome change when our young up and coming players like Nilsson don't want to play elsewhere. Row-bert knows he's got a good shot at cherry ice time with Gagner and Cogliano here, and wants to be a part of it. I'd be okay with giving him Pisani's contract, and I think he'd have a good chance of performing well enough to deserve it after year 1.
Stoll is going to have to learn to be a checking center real fast, because that's the only spot I see for him on this roster. Problem with this is we can't pay him like a checker and leaves me to believe we're better off without him.
Good stuff pjo.
I always though the "Guys don't want to play in Edmonton" was overblown.
Roli, Staios, Souray, Horc, Hemsky, Moreau, Torres, Pisani - all of these guys signed for three years or more. Reasoner came back. Smyth wanted to stay. LeGG wanted to stay. Dvorak wanted to stay. Spacek's choice came down to the Sabres being a better bet to win at the time.
Hell, Pronger signed a five year deal and I would bet if he was single he would still be here.
Having said that I think that the Nilsson quotes are terrific - hopefully they can keep the core together for an extended period of time. If they do we may see some good things happen.
From an Oilers standpoint, it's probably wise to offer Nilsson a contract AFTER the World Championships are over, in the case of any injury.
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