WHAT NOW....

Jason Gregor
June 22 2012 07:39PM

 Despite all the rumours about potentially not taking him, the Oilers selected Nail Yakupov with the first pick. He was considered the best player in the draft, and the Oilers agreed.

Yakupov was stoked being the first pick, and was excited about the chance to play with the other young stars in Edmonton. He was very emotional talking about being the first pick, and he had to hold back the tears. He had a great line when he was asked who he would like to play with in Edmonton, "My whole team."

The Oilers now have four, young dynamic forwards, but now the focus turns to finding some solid defenders, and gritty, tough and skilled role players.

The Oilers currently hold the 32nd pick, and they are very high on Henrik Samuelsson. If he is still available in the final few picks of the first round, we might see them try and move up a few spots.

**Edited... Coyotes took Samuelsson 27th overall, so scratch that idea. ***

Another guy who is tough and rugged is D-man Dalton Thrower, best last name in hockey, who they might look at.

You can expect the Oilers to use one, if not two, of their remaining picks to draft some players with a mix of size, skill and toughness. A major void in the organization is players who have a mixture of skill, grit and nastiness.

QUICK HITS

  • Steve Tambellini needs to start re-tooling his team now that the 1st pick is in the books. The easy moves are over with, if this franchise is going to move forward he needs to get creative and make some moves that involve acquiring NHL players.
     
  • Now that the Oilers have Yakupov, I'm sure we will hear lots of chatter about possibly moving Hemsky to acquire a blueliner. In theory it makes sense, since they have Eberle and Yakupov on the RW, but I don't see the need to rush into it. I still think Hemsky's trade value might be a tad low right now, so letting him play with the kids for a few months, or a year, and see his value increase.
     
  • The Oilers own the 32nd, 63rd, 91st, 93rd, 123rd and 153rd picks.
     
  • Mitch Moroz would be a great 3rd round pick if he is there. As a 17-year-old he scored 17 goals in a 4th line role with the Oil Kings. He's also very tough. He's exactly what the Oilers need in their organization.
     
  • Here is a great story of Radek Faksa, who went 13th overall to the Stars.

 

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One of Canada's most versatile sports personalities. Jason hosts The Jason Gregor Show, weekdays from 2 to 6 p.m., on the TEAM 1260. He writes a column every Monday in the Edmonton Journal and appears every Sunday on Global TV. You can follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/JasonGregor
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Reply #51 Kevin June 22 2012, 09:38PM
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Has Taylor Hall asked to be traded, yet? wrote:

Another opportunity comes and goes. Far too little urgency in Oiler managements game. Still 4 holes to fill in the bottom of the fishing boat.

Wonder what they were working on that fell apart. Tambellini and the rest of management almost looked disappointed and thought Nail Yakupov was the last guy they'd be looking at on stage for that first selection. Moments before it became official it appeared they all remained seated for what seemed like an eternity hoping that phone would ring, but it didn't. Have to think they were working on something big and it all fell apart for them.

see below for Tambellinis contact list.....

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Reply #52 Reg Dunlop June 22 2012, 09:42PM
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What was the biggest WTF moment tonight? Either Calgary taking a kid they could have waited until round 6 to select or Galchenyuk bringing a hooker to the draft.

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Reply #53 Walter "Wes" Sobchak June 22 2012, 09:49PM
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@ Reg Dunlop

Hahahaaa She was one pricy one for sure!! Jesus

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Reply #54 Ted Sheckler June 22 2012, 09:57PM
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Everything is going to be ok. Oilers #1 employee Bob Stauffer informed everyone that now that Columbus has Ryan Murray none other that Marc Methot could be available to solve all the Oilers defensive problems!

I wish I was joking. That was his 1st statement reacting to the Oilers drafting Yakapov

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Reply #55 Ted Sheckler June 22 2012, 09:59PM
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*Yakupov

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Reply #56 Oilanderp June 22 2012, 10:07PM
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dman09 wrote:

First round almost over and Tambo further shows how F*cking useless he is. Samuelsson gone and could have easily been had if they moved up their 2nd rounder a few spots. Why is he even there. MBS could do the same thing, its his scouting team that comes up with the picks anyway. The only good thing about this team is the scouting department. Everyone else is useless and Tambo is the worst. He shouldn't even do interviews because every time he open his mouth he is full of sh*t. He always says he will do something and then does nothing. This team will never even get to the finals with this group of retards running things.

Why don't you tell us how you really feel? Don't hold back.

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Reply #57 Reg Dunlop June 22 2012, 10:10PM
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Looking ahead: do the Oilers trade the 1st overall next year for Schenn and Toronto's 1st? I will be the first to say NO, just take bpa(MacKinnon).

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Reply #58 Krusher June 22 2012, 10:11PM
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Greg the Hammer Valentine wrote:

Did you see the Calgary pick??? That kid would have still been available to them in the second round. And they passed on the chance to select Girgensons at the 14th pick!!! I guess Feaster thinks he has too many prospects coming down the pipe... I hope he'll be the Flames GM forever!

Awesome last sentence, just awesome!

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Reply #59 Oilchange64 June 22 2012, 10:12PM
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Ted Sheckler wrote:

Everything is going to be ok. Oilers #1 employee Bob Stauffer informed everyone that now that Columbus has Ryan Murray none other that Marc Methot could be available to solve all the Oilers defensive problems!

I wish I was joking. That was his 1st statement reacting to the Oilers drafting Yakapov

Well, as he was quoted as being certain the Oilers were taking Murray to begin with....

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Reply #60 DSF June 22 2012, 10:18PM
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Has Taylor Hall asked to be traded, yet? wrote:

Another opportunity comes and goes. Far too little urgency in Oiler managements game. Still 4 holes to fill in the bottom of the fishing boat.

Wonder what they were working on that fell apart. Tambellini and the rest of management almost looked disappointed and thought Nail Yakupov was the last guy they'd be looking at on stage for that first selection. Moments before it became official it appeared they all remained seated for what seemed like an eternity hoping that phone would ring, but it didn't. Have to think they were working on something big and it all fell apart for them.

Many more than 4 holes left.

Need 3 centres, 3 defensemen and 2 goaltenders.

That's 8.

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Reply #61 Draiken June 22 2012, 10:25PM
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And.... confirmed again that Stauffer and Tencer are nothing more than the Oilers marketing department. Guaranteed someone within the Oilers organization told them to spin some stories to try and get a trade out of Columbus. Dirty tactics and way too intelligent for tambo, must have been MacTavish's idea.

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Reply #62 Talbot17 June 22 2012, 10:29PM
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You need to realize its evident Tambi is aggressively perusing D now, and he has an abundance of assets to do so. I don't think getting Yandle would take "too much" considering where we are as an organization. Maybe giving up a Gagner and potentially a D prospect and a pick for him is in the cards, but when you have Lander, Belanger, Pitlick, etc. in the system with powerful options on the wings you can make the deal

like Carolina, you got to give up talent to get talent

but having said that, Hemsky may be enticing to a team desperate for forwards..a la PHX (Yandle), or CLB.

Overall, i cannot express anymore joy of having Mac T back cause I think he does have that knowledge of what this team needs. So Oil MGMT has my backing

but..if they took Murray....another story

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Reply #63 dman09 June 22 2012, 10:31PM
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Walter "Wes" Sobchak wrote:

@ dman9

This is a really good point; really Macgregor is essentially doing the hard work here, the due diligence.

Tambellini hasn’t really done anything to improve the Oilers situation through trade, couldn’t even make a trade to get a defensemen or Samuelsson in the first round at the draft, and couldn’t have taken much to get into the last 5 picks of the first round?

could be worse we could have Feaster as GM

Feaster is lining himself up to be able to pick McKinnon next draft, supposedly the next Sid.

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Reply #64 ubermiguel June 22 2012, 10:35PM
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Greg the Hammer Valentine wrote:

Did you see the Calgary pick??? That kid would have still been available to them in the second round. And they passed on the chance to select Girgensons at the 14th pick!!! I guess Feaster thinks he has too many prospects coming down the pipe... I hope he'll be the Flames GM forever!

That was awesome. They screwed their draft in the most creative way possible. I expected failure, but not that much effort put into failure.

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Reply #65 Reg Dunlop June 22 2012, 10:42PM
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2nd pick in round 2. Who do we target? My vote goes to Colton Sissons, a good 3rd line prospect and captain of his jr. team. If Cbus takes him, then Dalton Thrower. Like a young Frank Beaton.

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Reply #66 fyvmrf June 22 2012, 10:46PM
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Wow, that was fun! I hope they sign Tambo to a lifetime contract so we can draft first every year. Wno wants that nasty unsanitary Stanley Cup anyway. Maybe the Katz group will bronze a toilet bowl for Oiler fans to admire. With Lowe and Tambo in charge that may be all we'll ever have to collect our tears in.

We need help in the front office more than on the ice.

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Reply #67 Darcy June 22 2012, 11:03PM
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The Visnovsky trade concerns me that Anaheim has made a top four spot available for Schultz. Will he sign with Anaheim now?

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Reply #68 knobby June 22 2012, 11:12PM
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Let me see. Lowe/Tambs in charge...who do we pick same time next year? I say Jones will look good. MacKinnon maybe but he looks kind of small.Hmmm...

Go Tambs!! You 'da man.

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Reply #69 Eric June 22 2012, 11:26PM
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So does Horcoff give up #10 now, or how does this work? Would be a captainly move.

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Reply #70 Ridley June 23 2012, 12:33AM
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I think Nail took 10 because he loved Pavel Bure. In that case I hope he picks 96, Bure's other number

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Reply #71 westcoastoil June 23 2012, 02:07AM
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Took Nail when overpay didn't come through, didn't take Michalek or Vis leaving room/incentive for Schultz, & learn whether you to need to add 1 or 2 more D (Yandle, Hjarmllssssson, that level) in Free Agency or trade. I'm giddy

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Reply #72 book¡e June 23 2012, 06:32AM
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What now?

Now score more goals and win cup!

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Reply #73 Fresh Mess June 23 2012, 06:52AM
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By 2015 the Oilers will be dismantling the current core and starting the next rebuild.

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Reply #74 madjam June 23 2012, 07:37AM
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Next rebuild will be management , not the players . Management produces this year or they will be first to go . By the way ,was MacT. at the Oilers table at this draft ?

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