We all need a smooth, talented wingman by our side from time to time. The Oilers, however, need a little help on the wing more than most.

As stated last week in our look at potential defence options available to the club at the upcoming NHL draft, this year’s crop features a glut of highly-touted blueliners as well as a plethora of skilled, speedy and potentially line-driving wingers for Edmonton’s management to sink their teeth into.

Barrie Colts’ Andrei Svechnikov, Filip Zadina of the Halifax Mooseheads and Brady Tkachuk (we’ll take a closer look at the very top-tier of the draft in the near future) are potential future top-line wingers who could be in the NHL as soon as next season, and will all likely go in the top five in June. The Oilers would be over the moon if they’re able to snag one of those gems, but for the sake of this piece and with the team currently sitting outside of the NHL’s bottom five, let’s presume the club will be drafting No. 6 or higher.

Here’s a gander at some of the likely options on the wing the team will be tracking closely at June’s Entry Draft.

(All rankings courtesy of EliteProspects.com)

Farabee is the captain of the USNDT and arguably the best overall forward outside the top five available this year. The 5-11, 155-pound, left-shooting winger is one of the most lethal shooters in this draft class and has the cerebral makeup and hockey IQ to make the jump to the NHL soother rather than later. The Cicero, New York product has 22 points in 14 league games this season.

A “dangerous two-way forward who uses his legs and IQ to make something happen most shifts,” is how ISS describes the talented forward.

Denisenko is a speedy, mobile winger who doesn’t mind physical play despite his 5’10”, 165-pound frame. He was injured early in the scouting season, but has bounced back and posted 14 points in 23 games in Russia’s second-best league this season.

“A creative player with the puck who can dart in and out of the lanes with expert edgework, quick acceleration and creative lines. Slight stature but enjoys engaging. Lack of exposure may see him slide on draft day, but it won’t be due to a lack of skill,” Dobber Prospects, January 2018.

Strong on his skates and tenacious on the forecheck, the product of the US Development Program has a rifle of a shot and a deceptively quick release. He’s dabbled both on the wing and at centre over the past couple years, posting 21 points in 14 games this season with the USNDT.

ISS Hockey describes Wahlstrom as a “natural goal scorer – a threat whenever he’s on the ice. Great anticipation and hockey sense.”

At six-feet tall and 176 pounds, Lundestrom isn’t an explosive or flashy skater, but his attention to detail and hockey sense rank right up there among the top forwards in the draft. He can play both on the wing and down the middle, but most projections pegging him as a winger in the NHL. Lundestrom won a silver with Team Sweden at the World Juniors this year and is one of the only draft-eligible players seeing a regular shift in Sweden’s top professional league, where he’s posted 11 points in 32 games this season.

According to Cam Robinson of DobberProspects.com, Lundestrom is a “skilled puck-distributor” who has “shown very well as a draft-eligible player in the SHL and didn’t look out of place as a draft-minus one player in the top league either… He’s the type of player you like the more you watch him.”