Why the Oilers cut ties with Andrew Cogliano in Ducks trade

With his arbitration hearing looming on July 21, the Edmonton Oilers shipped the rights to center Andrew Cogliano to the Anaheim Ducks for a second-round 2013 draft pick.

Maybe he becomes a top six forward for Anaheim. It wasn't going to happen in Edmonton.

Cogliano finished his fourth year with the Oilers with 11 goals and 24 assists, which were better numbers than he had while treated like a spare part by former coach Pat Quinn in 2009-10 but still not where they should be at this stage of his development.

His faceoff winning percentage was atrocious: 41.6 percent last season (461-647) after posting a 43-percent winning percentage in the previous season. That was one reason why blogger Tyler Dellow didn't see Cogliano as a long-term prospect for the Oilers last September, the others being that "he isn't really a guy who creates a lot of offence or one who is particularly good defensively.

Upon his arbitration filing this summer, Jay Parr-Pearson of Oilers Republic wrote:

Many fans may want to wax poetically about thinking and believing that this players is kind of like another player and therefore worth keeping. Nonsense. If my aunt were my uncle she'd have balls. Cogliano is simply overrated beyond all good sense and judgment. He is a dimensionless player.

He was also a player that, looking at the Oilers roster, didn't have an obvious place in the lineup or the team's finances. (Don't look now, but the Oilers only have $7.9 million in cap space per Cap Geek). So it was time to go.

How does it fit in Anaheim? From Ducks Blog:

The Ducks have made upgrading their third line a focus of this off-season and General Manager Bob Murray opted to go the trade route rather than overpaying through free agency. Cogliano figures to become their third-line center but he'll first need to be signed to a new contract.

A third-line center who can't win draws. OK then.

Cogliano put work in last offseason, hitting the gym and working on technical aspects of his game. He's still young, which means that alluring potential is still there. But he's yet to show anything that makes one think he'll fulfill it. Maybe a change in venue, and voices in management, helps.

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