The Oilers should trade their first round pick

Last night, fate fell short this time as the Oilers lost out on the draft lottery sliding back from 9th to 10th.

The impact of the slide isn’t huge, but this year’s draft will be for the Oilers and they should capitalize on it by trading their first round selection.

The one time Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli traded the team’s first round draft pick it blew up in their face. 16th and 33rd overall for Griffin Reinhart will go down as one of the worst trades in recent times given that the Islanders were able to select Mat Barzal with number 16 and Reinhart played in all of 30 games for the Oilers.

Given that, I hold some concern in regards to moving their first round selection.

If the Oilers look to move the pick – which I think is the right decision – the team will be needing to address immediate needs on their roster and will need to make a good deal.

The most glaring holes for the Oilers right now are a top-six scoring winger and a puck-moving defenceman that can put up points.

Peter Chiarelli admitted in his year end press conference that he wold be interested in moving the Oilers first round selection and it wouldn’t surprise me in the least for him to field calls.

The best thing about trading the pick is that the Oilers should have options. When we look at the draft order, we see Buffalo with the chance to select a generational talent in Rasmus Dahlin which everyone expects will happen.

Next, Carolina and Montreal will have their choices between Andrei Schvechnikov and Filip Zadina – who many say will be selected there.

Buffalo is a weak defensive team outside of Rasmus Ristolainen, a player that the Sabres will want to keep around to mentor Dahlin. He also has a favourable contract with a cap hit of $5.4 million for the next four years.

At two, Carolina is a team that might be looking to deal one of Jeff Skinner or Justin Faulk, according to 630 CHED’s Bob Stauffer.

They have an opportunity to select a future high-end goal scorer and it was reported that there was a rift between Skinner and his team landing him on TSN’s Trade Bait list ahead of last season’s trade deadline.

Skinner is an interesting prospective player to trade for. He has accumulated 379 points in 579 games for the Hurricanes since he was drafted seventh overall in 2010.

He has put up two 60-point campaigns, two 50-point campaigns and two seasons with over 30 goals.

With one more year on his deal that is paying him $5.75 million, the Oilers would need to ensure they would be able to lock him up to a new contract. He could slot himself in on the top line next to McDavid, should he waive his no-trade clause.

On the otherhand, Faulk is a player that I have always been a fan of.

The puck-moving, offensive defenceman is coming off of year that saw him put up 31 points in 76 games. Faulk is a definite top pairing defenceman in the NHL and someone that as a right-shot could slot into the Oilers top pair.

The Hurricanes are very deep on defence with guys like Noah Hanifin, Brett Pesce and Jaccob Slavin. In the system, they still have Jake Bean and Haydn Fleury – both guys who project as future NHL defencemen.

I think if the Oilers are targeting a Hurricane it should be Faulk. His price tag might be lower than that of Skinner and he also comes with two years left on a deal paying him $4.83 million.

The Oilers will likely have to move out some salary in one way or another if they want to make a move for either of these guys.