The Edmonton Oilers had a good draft weekend. They got a fantastic prospect in Evan Bouchard, who will be a great defenceman for this team in the future.

He checks a lot of boxes as a defenceman and moreso for the Oilers. His big frame, strong shot and scoring ability will patrol the blue line for years to come.

Outside of Bouchard, the Oilers drafted well in moving up for the top ranked goaltender and some other solid prospects.

However, there is one player who got away.

Joe Veleno.

If you follow me on twitter (and if you don’t, you can now!), you know that on draft night and since I have been abashed about the fact the team didn’t move up into the late first round and select a free falling Veleno.

If you don’t follow me on Twitter, then here is a glimpse into the stressful night it was for me.

This is how it started:

Then it went to this:

And lastly, some of this:

That last one came just before Veleno was taken by the Red Wings 30th overall and I died a little bit inside.

Joe Veleno is one of the few players to have ever been granted exceptional status into the Canadian Hockey league.

At 15 years old, he was drafted by the QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs 1st overall. Packed with hype and excitement, he never quite lived up to expectations as a player with exceptional status.

By the end of his career, he was still able to put up a very respectable 162 points in 171 QMJHL games and was a highly touted prospect coming into this year’s draft.

He came in at number five on Bob McKenzie’s pre-season draft rankings and ended up at number 11 by the season’s end — none the less, he was still a highly regarded player.

For reason’s unknown, he slid and was gifted to the Red Wings.

Just this week, he told the Detroit Free Press “…for any player who slides in the draft, obviously it kind of gets to you a little bit and you want to kind of shove it to the other teams that passed you.”

Doesn’t that sound like the kind of player you would want on your team right now?

Veleno, a centre who is an elite skater with strong two-way prowess would be a much needed asset for the Edmonton Oilers.

Please note this isn’t a knock against Oilers draft pick Ryan McLeod, who looks to be a solid NHL centre one day, but rather a chance to reflect on what could’ve been.

It’s fair to say the first round of this years draft was a weird one.

Jesperi Kotkaniemi to Montreal at three started the weirdness, and it was followed by Arizona taking Barrett Hayton fifth, Zadina sliding to Detroit at six followed by other head scratching move.

The cost to move up in the last half of the first round wasn’t astronomical as we saw two trades: New York traded picks 26 and 48 to Ottawa for pick 22 and Toronto traded pick 25 to St. Louis for picks 29 and 76.

The Oilers had picks 40 and 71 from this year’s draft they could have dangled, plus a second or one of two thirds from next year’s draft.

Using a draft pick trade tool developed by Miles Hoaken, we can take a look at what would’ve made sense for the Oilers, or another team.

If the Oilers were enamoured with Veleno, they could’ve easily moved picks 40 and 71 to teams to a team anywhere from 22-30.

It’s all a game of what-coulda-been at this point, but man, I would’ve loved to see Veleno in Oilers threads.

On Twitter: @zjlaing

Founded in 1950, Sports Excellence Corporation represents over 150 family-owned independent hockey retailers across Canada and the United States. Our highly knowledgeable hockey specialists are available to assist all your equipment needs. Find your closest Sports Excellence retailer here!