The 2024 NHL Draft Day Live Blog
By baggedmilk
2 days agoHappy draft day, everybody! As always, I’ll be here to cover it all despite the Oilers having only six picks in the order. Are you excited? I’m not really excited, but we’re gonna do it anyway. Since there’s more than likely to be plenty of movement and action happening around the league, I’ll be stationed at my laptop all day to bring you all of the news you need in one tidy little post. Are you ready? Are you alive!? Let’s do the damned thing.
Doing this as long as we have, we know that most of the rumours that come out of the draft don’t amount to squad apart from fighting with strangers on Twitter. The Oilers haven’t really been linked to much at this point outside of hearing that they’re trying to avoid a Jack Campbell buyout, so we’ll have to wait and see if there’s any smoke that pops up anywhere. Given that the Oilers have only six draft picks available this weekend — only one in the first four rounds — it has me wondering if Jeff Jackson will be working the phones to give his scouts more opportunities or if he’ll use them to try and dump a contract or two.
As much as a major trade seems unlikely, I’ll be using the live blog to aggregate all of the Oilers’ news and rumours I can find and put them in one spot that will be easy to follow. Whether we get nothing done at all or a trade or two that makes us scrap in the comments section, I’ll be here to cover day one of the NHL draft with the live blog, and I’m hoping that the Oilers will find a way to get in on the action. Dare to dream? We shall see.
POTENTIAL TRADES?
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Looking through the contracts at Cap Friendly before that site dies next week, the Oilers have maybe a few players that they might consider moving to free up some cap space so I’ve listed some of the plausible scenarios below. I must also note that every time I put one of these lists together, I never seem to get anything right, but I’m also stubborn and a big subscriber of the whole ‘what the hell do I know’ lifestyle when it comes to this team and stranger things have certainly happened.
Cody Ceci (79GP: 5G, 20A), one year left at $3.25 million – As much as I doubt Cody Ceci gets traded this weekend, the Oilers need to clear some cap space and he seems like one of the most logical candidates to make that happen. There’s also the
Darnell Nurse (81GP: 10G, 22A), six years left at $9.25 million — I know ol’ Darryl is on Frank Seravalli’s Trade Targets list, but I really can’t see any scenario where he gets moved, can you? The cap savings would be nice, but I’d be stunned if a Nurse trade happens any time soon.
Brett Kulak (82GP: 3G, 13A), two years left at $2.75 million — I love Brett Kulak and how versatile he is for the Oilers, and I’m legitimately worried they’re going to have to move him because the other options are untradeable. Philip Broberg needs a spot on the roster next year, and if the Oilers plan on him playing on the left side then something has to give. Don’t move Kulak, please. He’s too sneaky good for that to happen.
Ryan McLeod (81GP: 12G, 18A) — Listen, I love Ryan McLeod but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if a player like this has to get tossed into a trade as the sweetener for a bigger money move. As an example, if Jeff Jackson can pull off a miracle and trade Jack Campbell will buying him out then the Oilers will need to pay for that. And since they don’t have many draft picks to attach as bullets, tacking on a quality player like McLeod may have to be the cost of doing business.
The 2025 1st Round Pick – Would ya do it? I’d do it.
Prospects — Whether we’re talking about Raphael Lavoie, Xavier Bourgault, Tyler Tullio, Max Wanner, or any of the other prospects on the depth chart, I’d be surprised if anyone gets moved unless it’s as a sweetener on a contract dump. Obviously, Edmonton will need kids performing on cheaper contracts now and in the future, making a Bourgault trade (as an example) highly unlikely.
PRESENTED BY BETWAY
RUMOURS
Since I’m the one without a real job here, I’ll be spending the afternoon cruising the Internet for rumours and this is where I’ll share anything I find that’s even remotely interesting. For those of you who are smart enough to avoid social media, this will be the spot to watch for any tidbits from the insiders, beat guys, or anyone else who might have information on what the Oilers may do this weekend. I’ll also be including interesting info from around the NHL if it’s notable or makes me laugh.
THE UPDATES
Don’t care about my nonsense and want to skip right to the updates? This is the section for you, friend.
- 12:00 PM MT – Helloooooo, everybody! Welcome to the 2024 NHL Draft Live Blog. Not a whole lot going on for the Oilers so far, but the team did announce a two-year extension for Cam Dineen. News!
- 12:05 PM MT – If you need a refresher on where the Oilers are picking this year, check out the little primer I wrote this morning. We also have some stuff up about who might be available at pick #64, and what the Oilers may do with the rest of their picks.
- 12:37 PM MT – Connor McDavid has been named to the 4Nations Face-Off. Surprised? No, me neither.
- 12:45 PM MT – Pick trade! The Canadiens acquired the 21st overall pick from the L.A. Kings in exchange for 26th, 56th and 198th picks.
- 12:55 PM MT – Former Oiler draft pick Michael Kesselring has signed a new deal in Utah. Would have been a nice depth piece to have these days, especially when you consider Nick Bjugstad was only here for 15 seconds.
- 1:16 PM MT – According to Kevin Weekes, the Oilers are closing in on a two-year contract extension with Calvin Pickard.
- 1:41 PM MT – The Blues have acquired Alexandre Texier from Columbus in exchange for a 4th round pick. Texier then signed a two-year extension in St Louis.
- 2:03 PM MT – Two year extension for Calvin Pickard that carries a $1 million AAV.
- 3:45 PM MT – Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz
- 5:20 PM MT – Macklin Celebrini goes to San Jose at #1. No surprise.
- 5:25 PM MT – Artyom Levshunov goes #2 to Chicago. Couldn’t happen to a better franchise.
- 5:31 PM MT – The Anaheim Ducks take Sennecke at #3. Only 61 more to go until the Oilers’ turn.
- 5:37 PM MT – Blue Jackets grab Cayden Lindstrom at #4. I’m already regretting this live blog.
- 5:45 PM MT – First, it kicked ass that Celine Dion made this pick, but I also think grabbing Ivan Demidov at #5 is a steal for Montreal.
- 5:52 PM MT – Utah takes Tij Iginla at #6 and Calgary is sad again.
- 6:02 PM MT – Don’t call him Tyler Yaremchuk but Carter Yakemchuk went #7 to the Ottawa Senators.
- 6:05 PM MT – The Kraken are up next at #8 and take Berkly Catton. Kid has a great haircut.
- 6:11 PM MT – The Flames are on deck, and take Zayne Parekh at 9th overall. He got compared to Evan Bouchard after the pick was made and I don’t know how I feel about that.
- 6:16 PM MT – The Devils bring our Martin Brodeur for the pick, and they grab Anton Silayev at #10 overall. Giant d-man, got compared to Chara on the broadcast.
- 6:24 PM MT – Sharks back up for the second time and take defenceman Sam Dickinson from the London Knights.
- 6:46 PM MT – I’m not going to lie to you: I kinda zoned out there for a few minutes. At #12, Minnesota took Zeev Buium from the University of Denver, and Philly took Jet Luchanko at #13. The weird part about it is that those two teams swapped for one spot, with Minnesota giving the Flyers a third-round pick to do it. I don’t get it.
- 6:50 PM MT – Got a fruit platter at my house today, and I just want to reiterate how much I dislike honeydew melon.
- 6:54 PM MT – Buffalo Sabres take Konsta Helenius with the 14th overall pick. Love me a big Finn.
- 6:58 PM MT – Detroit takes Michael Brandsegg-Nygard at #15, making it the seventh straight year they’ve grabbed someone from overseas with their first pick.
- 7:22 PM MT – Zone out again. The Blue took defenceman Adam Jiricek at #16, Washington took winger Terik Parasca at #17, Chicago grabbed Sacha Boisvert at #18 with their second pick, and Vegas got LW Trevor Connelly at #19. You’re caught up. Back to scrolling TikTok.
- 7:28 PM MT – Left-winger Cole Eiserman goes to the Islanders at #20. Based on the highlights, the kid has a hell of a shot.
- 7:35 PM MT – L.A. was up next and selects centreman Michael Hage from the Chicago Steel at #21 overall.
- 7:45 PM MT – Nashville grabbed Yegor Surin at #22, and now the Leafs are trading pick #23 to Anaheim in exchange for picks #31 and #58.
- 7:49 PM MT – The Anaheim Ducks took d-man Stian Solberg with that pick.
- 7:55 PM MT – Utah made a trade with Colorado for pick #24 and selected Cole Beaudoin from the Barrie Colts.
- 8:15 PM MT – Centreman Dean Letourneau goes to Boston at #25, and Liam Greentree goes to L.A. at #26… To be honest, I haven’t been paying attention. I’m so bored. This is hell. Why am I doing this?
- 8:24 PM MT – LW Marek Vanacker goes to Chicago at #27 for the Blackhawks’ third pick of the night, and then Calgary reportedly takes a reach pick at #28 with Matvei Gridin. Almost done. I’m not quitter. I will prevail.
- 8:34 PM MT – Emil Hemming goes to Dallas at #29, and all I could think about was when the Oilers beat them in the Western Conference Final. Good times.
- 8:36 PM MT – Eric Emery goes to the Rangers at #30 overall, and I could not be happier that we’re almost done.
- 8:42 PM MT – Toronto Maple Leafs take Ben Danford at #31, becoming only the second Canadian team to make a selection in the first round.
- 8:49 PM MT – JUST WHEN I THOUGHT WE WERE DONE THE OILERS TRADE INTO THE FIRST ROUND BY SWAPPING PICK #32 FOR THEIR FIRST ROUNDER NEXT YEAR OR IN 2026.
- 8:52 PM MT – Oilers take forward Sam O’Reilly from the London Knights with pick #32.
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