Player Discussion Robert Nilsson

[Eye of Ra]

Anyone here remember this guy?

What are you guys memories of him? What did he bring to the ice?

just curious. I have a thing for retired swedes.

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[AUAIOMRN]

I was disappointed that no one else wanted to call Cogliano/Nilsson/Gagner the Conga Line.

 

[Pucklington]

I remember being excited we got him. Then disappointed.

 

[BarDownBobo]

The fact that he married Khabibulin’s daughter will always be kind of funny to me.

 

[McRpro]

Had an absolute beauty goal VS Detroit. That's all I (want to) remember.

 

[La Bamba]

1/3 of the "Kid Line" with Gagner & Cogliano. He was the oldest of the bunch but I thought he was the most well-rounded with his skill and skating

Like the rest of the kid line, he had a great end to the 07/08 season and there were high hopes that he would be a big part of the future going forward. He never really improved and got bounced around in the line-up. I remember he played on a line with Ryan Stone & maybe Zach Stortini? towards the end of his tenure and people called it the snap/crackle/pop line lol. I think with his decreased role and cap hit, the Oilers moved on. His departure kinda reminds of me of Yamamoto's

this is my most memorable play from him



this reminiscing is showing me how low our standards were back then relative to what we watch now lol

 

[Fourier]

One thing to note in Nilsson's tenure to a degree was that he was part of the Smyth trade. That deal was very controversial at the time. (I was at the Messier jersey retirement and it was like a morgue.)

I think people really wanted him to succeed and he did have a solid first year with the Oilers so there was hope that he would be a long term contributor. But he kind of flamed out with the rest of the team.

 

[DavidHasselhoffsFist]

I remember he would always make an extra move at the blue line instead of just SKATING OVER THE DAMN LINE ROBERT!!! Sorry PTSD kicked in. He always went offside, I remember he always went offside.

 

[JordanGalhanth]

Saw him get a goal and assist vs. Phoenix back in 2007-08. One of many guys from that era (along with Omark and Paajarvi) who had plenty of talent, but no desire to improve to the next level.

 

[Morpheus]

Had an absolute beauty goal VS Detroit. That's all I (want to) remember.

Was that the one time when he actually headed to the net, made a couple dekes and scored??

Nilsson had talent but no drive and softer than baby shit.

 

[StoveTopStauffer]

I have seen his name on the roster and in the line up.

 

[Took a pill in Sbisa]

My memory of him was that he looked very skilled offensively, like you notice him out there. But it didn't translate to production.

 

[Oilslick941611]

Not good enough and part of the misguided “the oilers suck now but they have a bright future” cope that was obviously not true.

 

[rboomercat90]

One thing to note in Nilsson's tenure to a degree was that he was part of the Smyth trade. That deal was very controversial at the time. (I was at the Messier jersey retirement and it was like a morgue.)

I think people really wanted him to succeed and he did have a solid first year with the Oilers so there was hope that he would be a long term contributor. But he kind of flamed out with the rest of the team.

That trade was the one that convinced me Kevin Lowe had no idea what he was doing running the Oilers. That was when he should have been fired. The return for Smyth was irrelevant. It was that he was so stupid to make it on the day of the Messier jersey retirement and ruin a once in a lifetime event for Oiler fans. I remember the media talking about that ceremony being on the night of the trade deadline months in advance and bringing up the possibility of a Smyth trade that day marring it and the organization laughing it off. Should have never happened. Sign Smyth, trade him earlier or better yet hold the ceremony any other time then they did. For some bizarre reason they felt it was more important to cater to the Rangers than their own fans. Absolutely brain dead decision from the organization. Wasn’t the first and certainly wasn’t the last but that one was unforgivable and I soured on Lowe forever for it.

 

[Perfect_Drug]

Craig MacTavish used to call him Row-bear in interviews.

I was hoping he would be like his Dad. Magic Man. But yeah he was un-remarkable in every way.

 

[Fourier]

That trade was the one that convinced me Kevin Lowe had no idea what he was doing running the Oilers. That was when he should have been fired. The return for Smyth was irrelevant. It was that he was so stupid to make it on the day of the Messier jersey retirement and ruin a once in a lifetime event for Oiler fans. I remember the media talking about that ceremony being on the night of the trade deadline months in advance and bringing up the possibility of a Smyth trade that day marring it and the organization laughing it off. Should have never happened. Sign Smyth, trade him earlier or better yet hold the ceremony any other time then they did. For some bizarre reason they felt it was more important to cater to the Rangers than their own fans. Absolutely brain dead decision from the organization. Wasn’t the first and certainly wasn’t the last but that one was unforgivable and I soured on Lowe forever for it.

Lowe never showed up for the ceremony which tells you everything you need to know about how he was viewed after that move. Had he been there I suspect that he would have been pelted from the stands. It really was a surreal night. What a brutal way to celebrate one of the team greats.

Craig MacTavish used to call him Row-bear in interviews.

I was hoping he would be like his Dad. Magic Man. But yeah he was un-remarkable in every way.

Kent was a fantastic player, but like his son, his fire did not always burn that hot.

 

[guymez]

That trade was the one that convinced me Kevin Lowe had no idea what he was doing running the Oilers. That was when he should have been fired. The return for Smyth was irrelevant. It was that he was so stupid to make it on the day of the Messier jersey retirement and ruin a once in a lifetime event for Oiler fans. I remember the media talking about that ceremony being on the night of the trade deadline months in advance and bringing up the possibility of a Smyth trade that day marring it and the organization laughing it off. Should have never happened. Sign Smyth, trade him earlier or better yet hold the ceremony any other time then they did. For some bizarre reason they felt it was more important to cater to the Rangers than their own fans. Absolutely brain dead decision from the organization. Wasn’t the first and certainly wasn’t the last but that one was unforgivable and I soured on Lowe forever for it.

I agree.
I was at that ceremony and it was like the energy had been sucked out of the building.
I was pretty pissed at Lowe.

 

[Spawn]

Man the future looked bright coming out of Nilsson's first season.

The Oilers had just missed the playoffs by 3 points despite Horcoff only playing 53 games and Souray only 26 largely on the backs of the kid line and the 4th line of Glencross-Brodziak-Stortini.

The team had so many rookies/young players play well that season.

Gagner, Cogliano, Nilsson, Gilbert, Grebeshkov, Brodziak, Penner, Hemsky, Pitkanen, Smid and Glencross were all 24 or younger.

We had no idea the decade of darkness was just in its infancy.

 

[JordanGalhanth]

Man the future looked bright coming out of Nilsson's first season.

The Oilers had just missed the playoffs by 3 points despite Horcoff only playing 53 games and Souray only 26 largely on the backs of the kid line and the 4th line of Glencross-Brodziak-Stortini.

The team had so many rookies/young players play well that season.

Gagner, Cogliano, Nilsson, Gilbert, Grebeshkov, Brodziak, Penner, Hemsky, Pitkanen, Smid and Glencross were all 24 or younger.

We had no idea the decade of darkness was just in its infancy.

And Garon looked like a half-decent goalie too.

So many "if only's" that year.

If only Horcoff doesn't injure his shoulder at the ASG...

If only Roloson doesn't implode and lose his starter role...

If only the rookies didn't all slump at the same time in 08-09...

...I need to stop before I have a meltdown...

 

[trojansoilers]

I recall we had Nilsson, Rob Schremp, and O'Sullivan on the roster at some point.
All extremely talented, but soft as shit.

 

[McDrai]

Dude had a ton of talent but soft as hell and the drive wasn’t there to adapt to this league. He absolutely crushed it in the Swiss League though.

 

[joestevens29]

I remember him being a part of the original kid line as well as one of 10 guys listed as a centerman although none of them could effectively be centers.

Wasn't the best of times that's for sure.

 

[Eye of Ra]

Dude had a ton of talent but soft as hell and the drive wasn’t there to adapt to this league. He absolutely crushed it in the Swiss League though.

 

[ManofSteel55]

He had so much skill, but he always seemed to want to overthink things or make fancier plays than necessary, and it burnt us a lot. And soft. Oh, how soft was he, ha ha ha.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Dude had a ton of talent but soft as hell and the drive wasn’t there to adapt to this league. He absolutely crushed it in the Swiss League though.

Was soft as well so that the NHL didn't suit him and Swiss league did.

What I remember most about Nilsson in the one best year here, the Gagner rookie year is that it was Gagner driving the train. Both Sam and Cogliano were engines. Like a typical kidline they had all kinds of flies on pucks pace and could create open ice for fun.

The intent of the team that year was to grow Gagner in AHL but he was so good he made the team and was one of best players on team, in his rookie season. The sum of the ingredients worked, and Nillsons obvious skill worked as well. But Cogs and Sam could have worked with a lot of players and later for instance Sam and Penner doing some magic.

I recall we had Nilsson, Rob Schremp, and O'Sullivan on the roster at some point.
All extremely talented, but soft as shit.

Omark has to be on this list too. lol Paajarvi was butter as well. he melted.