Oilers Acquire Lubomir Visnovsky

[R.Middleton]

The Edmonton Oilers have acquired defenceman Lubomir Visnovsky from the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for defenceman Matt Greene and forward Jarret Stoll.

Selected by the Kings in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft (4th choice, 118th overall), Visnovsky led the Kings in defencemen scoring for the third consecutive season in 2007-08, collecting eight goals and 33 assists for 41 points, while playing in a career-high 82 games.

Oilers’ General Manager Kevin Lowe says, “Although it is tough to see good players and good people move on, we feel we’ve made a step towards improving our overall offense. Lubomir is a world-class defencemen who has been one of the premier offensive defencemen over the past five years.”

The 5-10, 188-pound native of Topolcany, Slovakia, has played in 499 games over seven seasons, all with the Kings and he ranks fourth all-time in goals (70), assists (209) and points (279) by a Kings defenceman.

Visnovsky, 30, finished the 2006-07 season with 18-40-58 in 69 games. His 18 goals were a career-high and his eight power-play goals ranked second among Kings defencemen and fifth overall on the club. In addition, Visnovsky was named to the 2007 NHL All-Star Game.

Visnovsky is the only defenceman to ever lead the Kings in scoring after recording a career-high 67 points (17-50-67) in 2005-06. His 67 points represented the fourth-highest single-season total ever produced by a Kings defenceman, while his 50 assists led the team and established a new career-high. That same season, Visnovsky was the only defenceman in the NHL to lead his team in scoring.

Internationally, Visnovsky led Slovakia in scoring at the 2008 World Championships with nine points (2-7-9) and a +5 rating in five games. He also represented his country at the Olympic Winter Games in 2002 and 2006.

[Thrillhouse]

What the hell! They've got to be trading Pitkanen, I'll reserve my judgment until we see what's done with him.

[R.Middleton]

Oilers win this one. But the Kings do get younger and tougher which fits their rebuilding plans.

[skacore]

Originally Posted by WildyCoyote34

Oilers win this one easily. But the Kings do get younger and tougher which fits their rebuilding plans.

I don't know about that... they all had sub par years, the difference being that Visnovsky did it for 5.6 mill while Greene and Stoll were much cheaper. Stoll is a good utility guy to have on a squad and could fit into the L.A. rebuild.

We'll see how it works out but right now the Oilers have used quite a bit of cap space up on their defense core which still isn't very strong.

[Snipes19]

Pretty big trade here. I wasn't expecting this.

We'll have to wait and see how this deal plays out I suppose, but as of now I like this deal for the Oilers. Visnovsky is a young and very good offensive d-man that should impact their team a lot. One thing's for sure - Edmonton will have a ton of firepower on their blueline now with Souray, Pitkanen, and Visnovsky. Wow - that's a good defense. But then again, this probably means that Pitkanen is on the way out. I would not be surprised to see him get traded soon.

Not a terrible trade for LA though. They add some grit while picking up a solid offensive player in Stoll and a pretty solid d-man in Matt Greene. LA has plenty of solid defenseman prospects too.

So this is an interesting deal here to say the least. There have been a lot of rumors lately saying that the Oilers have been involved in trade talks where they would acquire a high-scoring d-man or winger with Stoll being sent the other way, and now it's finally happened.

[LAKINGSNUT]

i'm on the fence on this one. its good we got two character players in Stoll and Greene, but Visnovsky may be tough to replace. it looks like they're banking on Johnson to come thru provided the new coach lets the reigns loose a bit. Doughty will have a full load in his rookie year.

[duda.radek]

Visnovsky is a very good offensive defenseman, he was playing well even when the Kings aren´t. I think the Oilers get the best of this trade.

[DaleHunter32]

Originally Posted by WildyCoyote34

Oilers win this one. But the Kings do get younger and tougher which fits their rebuilding plans.

sorry but i disagree.... on one hand at least they got something for Stoll and didn't let him walk as a FA

on the other hand, you gotta eat Lub's contract and you lose your toughness at the point, leaving only the bionic man back there now.

don't like this trade at all for the Oils

[bupz91]

god, i don't know about this one for the Oilers
Visnovsky is good, but he's expensive, and Stoll is good as is Greene
I think in the end the kings might get the better end of this deal, although they're already loaded with forwards.

[icecat]

I believe Stolls girlfriend lives in LA also, so you could be getting a super-motivated player in him. I guess only time will tell, but I expect a big year from him.

[Isles4life]

This deal caught me by surprise. Visnovsky does give the Oilers a dangerous weapon on the blueline, but Stoll and Greene look like they could fit in nicely in the LA rebuilding project. Even with Visnovsky gone, the Kings are assembling the makings of a very good blueline. Assuming their picks this year pan out, Greene will be a very effective guy toward the back end of that defense down the road.

[OilersHockey]

Originally Posted by DaleHunter32

sorry but i disagree.... on one hand at least they got something for Stoll and didn't let him walk as a FA

on the other hand, you gotta eat Lub's contract and you lose your toughness at the point, leaving only the bionic man back there now.

don't like this trade at all for the Oils

It's pretty simple to digest from the Oilers point of view - I can't answer for the Kings, but the Oilers side is simple..

Stolli has struggled BIGTIME for two years - he's had three concussions - the bigggest problem is that he has visibly slipped to fourth on the Oilers depth chart at centre behind Horcoff, Cogliano, Gagne, and has a host of young guys knipping at his heals to make the squad as well - Stolli was an RFA who they had ZERO intention of resigning, and was absolutely expendable. The loss of Stolli to the Oilers, based on his place on this team, is minimal. Is he a great utility guy to have around? Sure. But he could no longer be assumed to be the number 2 centre on this team, which is what he was signed to be.

In essence, from the Oilers standpoint, this trade becomes Greene for Visnovsky (since they were letting Stolli go no matter what). From that angle, this makes tons of sense.

As Thrill said above - let's see what the Oilers do with Pitkanen - there are tons of rumours surrounding his status - I wouldn't be surprised to see him moved now.

The one thing that doesn't make sense to me is toughness angle, unless there is another move in the works from UFA signings or something - Kevin Lowe has gone on record at least a half dozen times that I've heard since May 1st talking about how he absolutely wants this team in September to be tougher - constantly refers to "addressing the toughness issue" - then, he goes and trades the one D man who was willing to fight anyone last year when asked (see Godard) - I know Matt Greene isn't the next heavyweight champion or anything, but I don't understand how this makes the Oilers any tougher???

Watch for a legit heavy to be signed AND DRESS for the Oilers in the first half of July - that's the only thing that makes sense here.

I LOVE Stolli and Greene and will miss seeing them in an Oilers uni - but I get this trade, and quite frankly I'm happy. Stolli's time was over, and I'd trade Greene for Visnovsky in a heartbeat.

I think it's win/win - The Oilers as stated above, and the Kings get a guy who has shown flashes of brilliance in Stolli and just needs a change, and a solid young D man in Greener.

[Thrillhouse]

I'm sure I can sum it up from a Kings fan point of view. LA has drafted a handful of great defencemen prospects so they wanted to drop Lubo and his big contract before his NTC kicked in July 1. Hopefully Stoll can rebound and maybe it'll help that he's now living close to girlfriend Rachel Hunter. Greene will provide some toughness from the point and both him and Stoll are still pretty young.

For the Oilers, no doubt they got the best of this trade as far as value goes. But we'll have to see the actual build of this team after Pitkanen is dealt. Like OilersHockey said, we're a whole lot softer today. If they can send Joni off for a hard-nosed top 6 forward and then sign a HW fighter (maybe Laraque will return), I'll be satisfied.

Lubo's NTC kicks in tomorrow...now he's stuck in Edmonton. Haha sucker!

[canuckfan]

I think everyone knew Vishnovsky's days with the Kings were numbered after we saw how they were drafting last week - the King are absolutely loaded on the back end with a ton of talented young d-men. If the Oilers decide to dump Pitkanen, they've got a pretty decent replacement and an upgrade, imo, in Vishnovsky.

Trading away Stoll was no surprise - it will be interesting to see if he can bounce back (and stay healthy) in a new environment. I firmly believe he still has the potential and ability to be a valuable contributor to any team. But dealing away Greene is a bit of a shocker - I thought he'd be an Oiler for a long time and represents an element their blue line in now in sore need of. Greene's going to look good in LA with all those other young d-men.

[GIANTSFAN]

Good trade for both teams. Personally, I'd rather have Stoll & Greene. Watch out for the Los Angeles Kings & the much improved Phoenix Coyotes to battle for the 8th playoff spot.