TEAM LOSES ANOTHER ‘CHARACTER’ GUY
Letestu trade makes sense, but much like Hendricks, his value transcends numbers
Yes, the Edmonton Oilers needed to add speed and skill in an already developing player.
No, Edmonton can’t afford 30-something veterans who aren’t able to contribute consistency and provide points.
But as general manager Peter Chiarelli goes into Monday’s trade deadline, let’s consider for a moment what’s been lost.
Last year the Oilers said goodbye to Matt Hendricks. Sunday they traded away Mark Letestu.
They both brought character to this team. They provided a presence in the dressing room that was obviously missed this year with Hendricks adding that element very successfully in Winnipeg with the Jets.
Now Letestu had been traded and the Oilers take another hit in that department.
On trade deadline day, the tendency for fans is to get optimistic about the potential of the new guy and not see the value of the guy going out the door.
And there’s no suggestion here that Chiarelli ought not have done the deal that brings 24-year-old ‘Pope’ Pontus Aberg, a Swedish winger with speed and skill from the Nashville Predators coming off 25 and 31-goal seasons in the American Hockey League.
It was a three-way deal that saw Letestu moved to the Columbus Blue Jackets for a fourthround draft pick.
In other words, Letestu was traded for a fourth-round draft pick.
The day before Brandon Davidson (obtained off waivers) was shipped to the New York Islanders for a third-round pick.
Aberg, while he’s been up with Nashville this year, is not a proven NHL player. He is, however, a proven AHL goal scorer. His assist totals aren’t high, but Edmonton needs trigger guys with speed to go with play-making centres Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Ryan NugentHopkins.
Pope Pontus (gotta love his nickname) certainly fits the description of the kind of player Chiarelli was looking for at this deadline when he addressed the media Friday.
“Our primary objective of this deadline is to find prospects with speed close to playing if not ready to play,” he said.
Aberg had hardly become a prime-time player in Nashville, although he did play 16 playoff games and scored the Game 5 winner in the Western Conference Final against Anaheim.
With eight points to show for 37 games this year and not a lot of ice time, nobody should be expecting him to be a prized prospect.
At $650,000 a year with a year to go on the contract, the price is right. And he fits the specs.
Letestu at 33, a former Bonnyville Pontiac from Elk Point, has eight goals and 17 points and is at the end of his contract. He has no future here.
Hendricks is 36. He had five goals and 12 points and four goals and nine points in his last two years in Edmonton. But he also had leadership and character coming out of his pores that has very much been missed this season and is being heralded in Winnipeg.
Your correspondent saw it for all it was worth when I covered the 2015 IIHF World Championship in Prague. Hendricks was chosen to captain Team USA and scored two goals in his first tournament game to beat Finland and led the Americans to a rare bronze medal against host Czech Republic.
Letestu, who coach Todd McLellan says has a definite future as a coach ahead of him, brought the same kind of qualities to the team.
When the trade was revealed Sunday morning, our Jim Matheson sent out the following tweet:
“Letestu was a great guy on the ice and for every media person. Always accessible, astute. The team and media will miss him for sure.”
Yes, we will. And some people may roll their eyes and say boo hoo the media is losing a go-to guy.
The thing is, like Hendricks, the message got delivered to teammates who respected where it was coming from.
That’s what has been missed this year without Hendricks around and what will be missed even more going forward without Letestu here.
They were both good Oilers. Hopefully, the same will one day be said about the young, faster fellas the team so desperately needs to develop going forward.