Oilers acquire Tarnstrom, Spacek

Deal One: Edmonton trades Jani Rita and Cory Cross to the Pittsburgh Penguins for Dick Tarnstrom.

- Excellent deal by Lowe. Rita for all intents and purposes has been a bust in Edmonton since 99. Maybe due to not being in the MacT style of play, maybe laziness, whatever... he hasn't done shit in Edmonton and time to move him. He may discover himself in Pittsburgh, probably not.

Cory Cross is the worst defenseman in the NHL. Period. I don't know how Edmonton handed him to Pittsburgh after being stuck with this guy like the Old Maid card for years since Toronto laughed hysterically after losing him. This day has been on my wish list for years. Cory Cross is gone.

Dick Tarnstrom I'm a little skeptical of, this is a guy that was waived by the Islanders and had one decent year in Pittsburgh probably due to the fact Pittsburgh's defense blew so much that year he got that much ice time. Who knows, I'm looking forward to seeing him in Edmonton and I'll reserve my judgment until then. Another powerplay anchor and you can never have enough.

Deal Two: Edmonton trades Tony Salmelainen to Chicago for defenseman Jaroslav Spacek.

- This deal was robbery. Tony was a decent prospect but couldn't convert his AHL success to the NHL. Nothing against the guy, but he was never going to play for the Oilers again - and will remain in Finland for this season anyways. Spacek is a player how can also anchor the PP, giving Pronger and Bergeron much needed rest, and help the team out in all aspects of the defending zone. The defense is shored up for this season, and I'm excited to see how this turns out.

Both Spacek and Tarnstrom are UFA's at the end of the season so even if they don't amount to a fucking thing, no real loss. I would have rather they took a shot at Brendan Witt, but it doesn’t matter. This is a chance well worth taking and I applaud Kevin Lowe today.

The Oilers now have the ability to focus on a goalie and a goal scorer. I expect these to be addressed sooner than later with the news the ownership has given Lowe the green light to go over the team imposed salary cap of $35 million. With the trades today, the Oilers are sitting at $34.3 million, so there is room to spare.
Hopefully moves are made and the team can get itself together for the stretch and deeper in the playoffs than we've seen since 1997.

Good day for Oiler fans. More to come.