With the three draft lotteries in the books, we now know that the Edmonton Oilers will be selecting 8th overall at the upcoming NHL Entry Draft.
I don’t know if you guys were following along all day, but we got the hashtag #MakeItFive trending Canada wide on Twitter and it was really pissing some other fanbases off. Rather than joining in on our excitement, instead, they fed us with a steady stream of all the reasons we shouldn’t be allowed to win, but we weren’t about to let that ruin our fun. Sure, you might say that picking first overall four times in a span of nine years is unfair, and there’s something to be said about that, but all is fair in love and war and these here draft picks are our battlefield.
Unfortunately, our dreams of picking first and watching the world burn to the ground were not meant to be on this night.
Now that we know the Oilers will be picking in the number 8 slot, it’s time to look at some of the prospects that could slide into that spot and where they might help on the depth chart. While we don’t know who will get the call at #8 we do know that the Oilers will add a decent prospect to their stable, and one that will likely help for years to come. This morning, Dusty Nielson wrote an article about the players in the top third of the first round after speaking to a few different scouts about how the top 10 could shake out. For the purposes of this article, I’ll include the guys in and around the Oilers pick. Let’s have a look:
5. Dylan Cozens – Center – Lethbridge, WHL
Cozens and Dach have been linked together for a couple of years now and there won’t be much separating them on draft day in Vancouver. Cozens is a big center who moves extremely well. He will likely need another year in junior, which will end up being a dominant season for the Lethbridge Hurricanes. I’d be shocked if he’s still on the board at seven if the Oilers hold serve in that slot.
6. Kirby Dach – Center/Right Wing – Saskatoon, WHL
Dach ended up at the bottom of my second tier because one of my scouting contacts had him 9 to 11 range. He shows flashes of brilliance and does not wait for the game to come to him. I’m not sure it will happen but Dach is the most likely name to slide out of the top six which means the Oilers may very well have the option to take him.
7. Trevor Zegras – Center/Wing – USA NTDP
The best thing about Zegras is that he can be whatever you need him to be. He dominates inside the blueline offensively; he already has a pro-awareness defensively and is willing to agitate as well. I think he’s a guy that Oilers fans will be in favour of should the team remain in the seven hole.
8. Alex Turcotte – Center – USA NTDP
He’s the second of three American talents to round out my top ten. The Wisconsin recruit has an offensive game that may fly under the radar the bit because he plays a hard, responsible game at both ends of the ice. There isn’t anything sexy about his game but he doesn’t have any glaring weaknesses either.
9. Matthew Boldy – Left Wing– USA NTDP
He’s the biggest of these three American kids and he’s also the purest goal scorer of the trio. He has size, a great shot and soft hands. The thing that really brings it all together though is excellent hockey sense. If the Oilers are willing to draft by positional need this summer he may very well fit the bill.
10. Arthur Kaliyev – Right Wing – Hamilton, OHL
If you need goals, he’s your guy. Kaliyev scored 31 goals as a 16-year old in the OHL last season and followed that up with 51 goals this year. He’s not as complete as the three players from the United States above him in Tier 3 but he can one-time the puck and has shown the ability to find a lot of open ice. If the Oilers really like Kaliyev he could be a target to trade down for.
With the draft order set and the Oilers picking 8th overall, we now have the next three(ish) months to argue about how they should use this pick. Looking at the list above, do any of these guys tickle your fancy? Should they look at trading it for some immediate help? What say you, Nation?
“There goes Nicholson’s ‘plan’ “: Twitter
I knew beating the flames would screw us…
One more loss and we have Hughes or Kakko. What a shame.
No way of knowing that
Hahaha. The 8th pick is fine. By the way, we have McDavid.
*McRental
Free McDavid
Trade the pick for 3 useful actual NHL players to give the guys we already have someone to play with. Don’t need stars, just 2 top 6 wingers and a right hand dman
Dach
Don’t need Dach, we have Puljujarvi
Cool. Please tell us how you protect the “3 useful actual NHL players ” in the expansion draft next summer?
I don’t want to protect 3 useful nhl players. I don’t care about the expansion draft. Every team loses a player. Trying to protect against it means you don’t want to have enough nhl players cuz your scared you’ll lose one. That’s an Edmonton Oiler way of thinking
The Oilers way of thinking is worrying about today more then tomorrow. Get three quick fixes that will be gone in a few years or a player under club control for a decade.
Besides the Oiler do not win many trades and they have no GM at the moment.
I gotta disagree but somehow agree with you at the same time Spydyr. I think that’s why the Oilers have sucked for almost 2 decades now. They never seem to have an actual plan that they follow thru with. They just keep going back and forth and fly by the wire.
Come on now.
Burger Bob was just asking all the other teams how to hire a GM.
They have a plan now.
I’m right behind you, the Oilers aren’t going to be able to trade their way out of that. The draft is a very good point and teams don’t win to many trades when they are desperate to make changes. We need to stock the shelves right now, and teams will come when they want what we have. Then we can move players to improve positional weaknesses. Take time to develop them, and move past this cap space problem. McDavid will still be here and gradual improvement peaking in 3-4 years. They need to build a franchise that makes the playoffs consistency. Chiarelli sold our future for one trip to the playoffs.
Not every team has the 8th pick. We trade for three players and lose 1 we have devalued our pick vs. Value when keeping it
No one is going to trade two top 6 wingers and a right shot d for one pick.
Ya , I’m really confident that they have a plan now. They asked their competitors what to do. I’m positive that 10 percent of the time that works 100 percent of the time
Keep the pick and use it for what we need. Trading for someone would mean exposing someone to Seattle for expansion draft…
They don’t need another high caliber 18 year old. They need players to play with Connor and Leon.
That ” high caliber 18 year old” you speak of should be helping the big team in say two years which should be right about the time the team is ready to make a deep run in the playoffs.
There is no quick fix for this mess.
Watching the WHL play offs. Dachshund for the Blades has scored and looks very impressive. I had read reports that were critical of his skating but I don’t see it. He’s got speed.
Dach has been great in this series. Kind of pains me to say that given my pro Raider leanings but the kids toolkit is undeniable. Plays in all situations, carries a massive target as he is a point of focus for the opposition (and their fans) and he just keeps battling.
Huge game tonight. If the Blades hold serve its going to get really interesting. Sadly the ice in Saskatoon was complete garbage last night and that plays into the Blades counterstrike style.
I have no issue with the Oil drafting 8th. A pick in the top 10 guarantees an excellent prospect and drafting outside the top 3 gives the clowns who run the show in Edmonton the cover to send them down to properly develop away from the limelight!
Go Flames Go!! wow! What a TEAM!!
Ya they suck.
Yeah right out of the first round like usual…whooo hoo…
I’m a western Canadian, and I’m pumped up that we atleast have calgary and Winnipeg to represent us as hockey market. Hockey is suppose to be Canada’s game, but the oilers are setting records for being one of the worst franchise’s in every professional league all time. I mean, they were an embarrassment 6 years ago. It’s nice to have calgary just down the road and be able to cheer on a team that actually has a chance
Go Jets !
Amen Flaurie. All your trashes are OBC-disciple’s tears. Let them rain down.
Or the flames just suck… sorry🤷♂️
Calgary the turtle capital of Canada! It’s right there below the CS sign.
Great turtle by drai in the third game when Tkachuk tried fighting him. I guess that makes drai the better turtle
or it means that Tkachuk can’t fight and picked a big non fighter he could actually beat as his dance partner? kinda makes him a chicken doncha think?
Yea Tkachuk isn’t a fighter. He is a highly skilled forward who puts up a ton of points and is great at agitating. Still didn’t change the fact that drai turtled
When Tkachuk scores 50 in a season then maybe LD will consider fighting him. Till then I guess the Oil will just pocket the win.
When Kassian isn’t a plug Tkachuk may decide to fight him. Makes no sense losing a skilled forward for a plug
LOL. Delusional much? Go to hockeyfights.com and look up Thachuk scraps, there are none, except for his dad. The very definition of a coward.
Are you an idiot? Did draisatl turtle and go on all fours like tkachuk did? Draisatl doesn’t fight nor agitates players…your sissy tkachuk does and he can’t even stand up for himself. Have fun in the playoffs with two of the biggest babies in the NHL, Johnny gonna cry missed call.avs in 6 !
Which is all below the Home of Ed Whalen sign!
Alex Turcotte looks like a good one at NBR.8 . Picked there by 3 others in mydraft .
8th pick has to be fast. Nhl is so hard to crack. Need winger.
The biggest benefit to drafting a player instead of trading the pick can be summed up in three words
Entry
Level
Contract
The Oilers don’t have the capspace to trade for grade A proven wingers and especially can’t afford to trade for one with the Seattle expansion draft coming up. Players on their ELC’s are automatically protected. Yes, it’s tempting to want to win now, but they still have to be smart about the future.
Winning now is out the window. This team has way too many holes. Wings defence and goalie.
Not to mention in about 2-3 years we will have some heavy contracts coming off the books so that will be the perfect time to make a push. Nuge’s contract will be up (I hope they re-sign him!) Sekera will be up (5.5 mill), Russell (4 mill) Larsson (4.166) and Costly Koskinen (4.5 mill). Not to mention we will have Pouliot and Gryba’s buyouts off the books (1.333 mill) and (.300 mill respectively)
All the while we will have plenty of our young d-men that can step up and contribute on the blueline in their stead. Nurse and Klef will only have improved and we’ll have the likes of Bouchard, Jones, Bear, Samorukov on the blueline providing some huge cap relief in their ELC’s. We will also have the likes of Shane Starrett, Dylan Wells or even Stuart Skinner pushing for the back-up and or starting role. We’ll have the likes of Yamamoto, Benson, Maksimov and Mcleod plus this year’s #8 pick to help on the forefront scoring some goals.
The future isn’t as bleak as it appears but it just sucks we have to wait that long for any semblance of a competitive team.
No edit button is fun***
Our new GM will just need to be patient and not make any drastic moves or Free agent signings. If he can dump or bury Lucic in a year or two then that will only help.
Absolutely. The cap situation is bad right now. But, if Oilers play their cards right, they will be a real contender in 3 years. They already have the hardest parts to get with the best 1-2 punch in the league. They just can’t screw it up this time.
I wonder if the oil could get a late first rounder for puljujarvi?
Seriously? Good luck! Maybe a second rounder
Would you take it?
Free McDavid
nope. and he doesn’t want to leave so F U
My honest perspective is that I no longer care. Been an Oiler fan since I was in diapers, but the oilers have taught me to think with your head more than your heart. F the oilers
“does not wait for the game to come to him”. What exactly does that mean?
It is just a lot of bullsh*t
“If you need goals, he’s your guy” – Literally everyone needs goals. Why isnt he higher then with all his goals
Phew!
hello Taylor!
Good luck Connor
Jack Hughes
At least the OBC club and BN have something to conspire about, #8 pick? “ we was robbed!”
up the seat prices and rally the community!
Oilers will obviously reach and pick Connor McMichael
I’m trying to be positive, but F*** the oilers. They have absolutely no idea how to build a team. History shows it. But people still pay to watch, so they’ll continue to sell their snake oil.
There is only 1 good plan for what to do with the first round pick….. Draft great player, develop great player, and then keep great player.
The draft produces a ton of great Nhlers in the top 10. Its a gift for teams. There are 3 forwards that will be in the 8 range that have a great shot at scoring at the NHL level. Take one and support him to develop.
The only positive thing the oilers have accomplished in 13 years is made a bunch of players and managers millionairs and got the tax payers to pay for a new building. Oilers can go F*** them selves.
you are an idiot
He is absolutely correct.
Talk about zero return on investment. It probably would’ve been better to let Katz move his OBC club to Seattle and let Edmonton start fresh. What the over/under on who makes the playoffs first. Seattle or Edmonton?
Seattle. OBC intact=DOD part 2.
Vontae Mack – No Matter What
Adam Larsson + #8 pick to Toronto for Michael Nylander.
Not my fault it’s really Taylor Hall + the #8 pick for Nylander…get over it.
Boooooooo
I’ll be interested to watch Nylander in the playoffs…will he show up and make a difference or be a non-factor?
All I have to say about Kirby Dach is that he carries the play. Watching him a few times this year and last night on TV, he did things that guys like McDavid and Geaudreau do. Big horseshoe windup, gains speed, gets puck at top speed. Zips past a few players in the neutral zone, drives the net or he stomps the breaks and looks for a pass. It’s really cool to see players emulate what McDavid brought to the league. Only thing is he doesn’t have that 6th gear when it counts. But he has a similar style as McDavid and by that I mean he carries the play into the zone and sets up, or drives hard to net.
What do you think of Boldy for a pick at eight.
The Oil can get a player at 8. Their focus at this moment should be hiring the right GM. As many have said – no quick fixes here but the right GM could make some tweaks that could have some positive results. Chia is gone – time to move on.
Don’t draft anyone. Tie the pick to Lucic, convince him to waive his no-trade clause, and shop around for literally anything – a used water bottle would be a good return.