On Nail Yakupov, the plus/minus stat, and the trade market. 

A small trade rumor storm was created last week when Don Cherry commented that the Edmonton Oilers should be looking to trade Jordan Eberle because there is no market for Nail Yakupov. The good people at Sportsnet have the audio/video here "Cherry: Oilers need to make big trade now”.

Regarding Yakupov, "He was minus 33 last year and you expect him to… anybody's going to take him?" said Cherry while talking to Bob McCowan and Stephen Brunt of Prime Time Sports.

Cherry continued, "You can't trade Yakupov, because nobody's going to take him. Eberle or one of those guys have got to go."

Well that sent www.csnne.com's Bruins Insider, Joe Haggerty to speculate that the Bruins should offer up Chris Kelly and Matt Bartkowski along with other draft picks and prospects for Eberle. He crunches the numbers and makes everything fit within the cap.

Returning to Cherry, "They'll never learn. They take those Russians and expect that they'll come through."

Let's start with his assertion about picking Russians. Here is a table of the Edmonton Oilers roster sorted by +/- with the country of the player listed.

If the only thing that mattered was the country of birth then why didn't the 18 Canadian's do a better job leading the Oilers to some more success?

Here is a table of the 15 worst plus/minus value players from last year.

This list has some notable names that many teams would be interested in, such as Jason Spezza who was traded to Dallas.

The Oiler's problem isn't a result of where Nail was born and the issue that his terrible plus/minus rating is not going to stop other teams from being interested in him.

As for Haggerty's trade thought, Mark Easson of My NHL Trade Rumors found some counterpoints. He identifies that Jonathan Willis of the Edmonton Journal would expect the Oilers would ask for "Someone who solves an immediate problem for a long time, not bit pieces and futures" and Bob Stauffer who is part of the Oilers broadcast team puts it "If they move out a scoring W it will be for a talented W with size or a good C."

This prompted Haggerty to alter his trade suggestion to, "Kelly, [Bartkowski], Malcolm Subban & 1^st would get them a good RW somewhere, Bob. I guess we'll have to see. Oil has to do something". I suppose Tyler Seguin wasn't a good enough RW for the Bruins.

The sentiment by both Cherry and Haggerty is that the Oilers need to do something because they are losing but what they both suggest won't solve the problem. They almost make it sound like the Oilers are ready to hit the panic button, or in Haggerty's case, he hopes they do. Elliot Friedman's latest 30 thoughts column, has the following point in it "One exec on the Oilers: 'They are making [fewer] trade calls than you would think.'"

So what has happened? Under former GM Steve Tambellini, the Oilers drafted the best available player. The Edmonton Sun's Robert Tychkowski wrote, "Edmonton Oilers GM Criag MacTavish will move the team's draft pick, but not too far" on June 25, 2013. He writes in the caption that "Steve Tambellini, had it fairly simple at the past three drafts: keep the No. 1 pick and take the best player available".

We do the same thing in our fantasy pools too. Sometimes we stockpile on a certain position in the hopes that we will trade the surplus for something we could not draft for. In the NHL, one cannot select an experienced goaltender at the draft.

Sometimes we have to wait for other dominoes to drop, either injuries or a team decides to rebuild. We sometimes can foresee who might run into problems and be ready to pounce. Other times it comes out of nowhere and you have to be lucky. "Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity" – said roman philosopher Seneca.

The Oilers have been prepared but the opportunity hasn't presented itself or it is possible that they've missed it and have to wait for it again.

Fantasy owners can only do so much. We don't control how many games a player participates in, who his line mates will be or even how much ice time they will get but NHL managers and coaches do. They can showcase guys and place them in the best available light in order to entice a trade but in this instance it does not appear that Yakupov is being showcased. Whatever the situation is, fantasy owners try to be ready.

For instance, this just came in; Laying the Law has made me a trade offer of Jonas Hiller for Kevin Shattenkirk in the Dobber Hockey Experts League.

He's got an oversupply of goalies, Carey Price, Jonas Hiller, Darcy Kuemper and Braden Holtby. He doesn't have an extra defenseman but he could put Radko Gudas on IR and pick up a free agent. He has only made two moves so far (capped at 25) so he has plenty of breathing room and he is in first place.

I on the other hand only have two goalies, Jonathan Quick and Pekka Rinne. My extra defenseman is Jake Muzzin who was dealing with a day-to-day injury but now looks to be healthy. While it would be nice to secure a goalie for insurance I am not prepared to give Shattenkirk for it.

I believe that I am the only one who is using two goalies; however, there are two other owners who have four net minders on their rosters, Edler's Mind Tricks and the Edmonton Clowns.

So is there a demand for Hiller (or Kuemper/Holtby)? My guess is that there isn't, but it is only a guess, and I am of the belief that what is happening in Calgary will not last. If I offer him one of my spare forwards that doesn't solve his want to get a defenseman.

If instead of being in first pretend Laying the Law were in last place, would that alter things? I don't think so. He still wouldn't want my scrap forwards.

That is my point, why would Edmonton want what Haggerty suggested? It doesn't address their needs. Even Cherry gets caught up with Yakupov and Eberle when he identified the true issue at the start of the interview, "You don't have a goalie. You don't have a chance." Which NHL team out there is willing to trade a good goalie away?

Edmonton had a terrible start to the season but they haven't started to panic. The opportunity they are looking for has not yet developed. They will nurse their rusty Nail until the last call.