from Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal,

Edmonton Oilers’ blueliner Ladislav Smid has never been about numbers–certainly not goals and assists, rifling a puck past goalie Cory Schneider Saturday night, his first goal in a calendar year–but dollars and cents is another story. He does know what other purely defensive defencemen in the National Hockey League are making, guys who are strictly defenders of the blue-paint like Brooks Orpik, Josh Gorges and Rob Scuderi. He wants to be in their pay neighbourhood.

So, with the Oilers solidly in the playoff picture, but with the clock ticking loudly on the unrestricted free-agent before Wednesday’s 1 p.m MDT trade deadline, he is looking for between $3.5 million and $4 million a season. He might err more on the lower side than the higher end because this is where he’s played for six years and he’s put in a lot of hard miles with bad teams to get to where he can see light at the end of the tunnel, a playoff spot certainly visible with glasses not binoculars, with the Calgary Flames at Rexall Place Monday night.

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