Happy draft day, folks! For the first time in a few years, the NHL is trying to get themselves back on schedule, meaning the draft is coming to you in late June and I’ll be here to cover it all despite our lack of picks in the order. Are you excited? I’m excited… kinda. Anyway, since there’s bound to be plenty of action and speculation going around not just here but around the league, I’ll be posted up at my laptop to bring you all of the Oilers-related news that may or may not even happen. Are you ready? Are you alive!? Of course you are.
Even though we already know that most of the chatter and speculation around the draft won’t amount to anything outside of fighting with strangers on Twitter, the Oilers have been linked to a handful of names and it makes me wonder if we’re going to get a little bit of action around here. At launch time for this live blog, the Oilers have only three draft picks available through the seven rounds and that has me wondering if Uncle Ken is working the phones to make some moves that give his scouts more opportunities. As much as a major trade seems unlikely, I’ll be using this live blog to aggregate all of the Oilers news and rumours I can find throughout the day, and putting them in one tidy article that will be easy for all of you to follow. Whether we get nothing done at all or a trade or two that makes us mad, I’ll be here to cover what is likely to be a wild couple of days around the NHL and I’m hoping that the Oilers will find a way to get in on the action. Dare to dream? We shall see.

PRESENTED BY BETWAY

POTENTIAL TRADES?

Looking through the contracts at Cap Friendly, the Oilers have a few contracts and players that they might consider moving to free up some cap space so I’ve listed some of the plausible scenarios below. As an important note, every time I put one of these sections 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.
  • Kailer Yamamoto (58GP: 10G, 15A), one year left at $3.1 million – Let’s be honest, we’re all kinda waiting for the announcement that Kailer Yamamoto has been traded now that every NHL insider under the sun has basically suggested he’s the one on the move. Is the draft the time to get the job done? It could be.
  • Warren Foegele (67GP: 13G, 15A), one year left at $2.75 million – If trading Yams to clear space is Plan A then trading Warren Foegele has to be Plan B. Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve heard seemingly countless times that teams are kicking tires on Foegele based on the way he wrapped up the season, and while I would absolutely like to see him back in an Oilers uniform, I don’t think I’d be surprised to see him on the way out if this Yamo trade doesn’t happen.
  • Philip Broberg (46GP: 1G, 7A), one year left at $863K – Listen, before I get started here, I’m not saying that I want to trade Philip Broberg but the reality is that he’s not going to pass Nurse, Ekholm, and Kulak on the left side, making him a potential trade chip that would likely have some real value.
  • Cody Ceci (80GP: 1G, 14A), two years left at $3.25 million – Realistically, I doubt that Cody Ceci gets traded this summer, but if the Oilers are indeed going to upgrade his spot on the right side then they’ll need to figure something out with the two years remaining on his contract.
  • The 2024 1st Round Pick – Would ya do it? I’d do it.
  • Prospects – Whether we’re talking about Raphael Lavoie, Xavier Bourgault, or any of the other prospects on the Oilers’ depth chart, I’d be surprised if any of these pieces get moved unless it’s as part of a package deal. Obviously, Edmonton will need kids performing on cheaper contracts now and in the future, making a Bourgault trade (as an example) highly unlikely.

RUMOURS

Since I’m the one without a real job here, I’ll be spending my day cruising the Internet for speculation and this is where I’ll share anything interesting that I find. For those of you that avoid the devil that is social media, this will be the spot to watch for any tidbits from the insiders, beat guys, or anything else I see pertaining to what Ken Holland might do today.

THE UPDATES

Don’t care about my nonsense and want to skip right to the updates? This is the section for you, friend.
  • 9:00 AM MT – We’re off and running! I’m expecting a very boring day, but I’ve been wrong plenty of times before so let’s hope we get a little bit of action to keep things interesting.
  • 9:14 AM MT – I don’t know why I decided to launch this early. It’s going to be the most boring day of all time, isn’t it?
  • 9:20 AM MT – The rights to (RFA) Ross Colton was traded to Colorado from Tampa Bay for a 2nd round pick. Makes me feel hopeful about Yamamoto. We’ll see.
  • 10:17 AM MT – Stauffer tweeted that he thinks the Oilers are going to be quiet over the next couple of days, which isn’t surprising at all but certainly disappointing. Not that I expected huge moves or anything like that, but getting a few things done would be cool.
  • 10:58 AM MT – David Kampf re-signs in Toronto for four years at a $2.5M AAV. Makes me nervous about Ryan McLeod. Different situations to be sure but McLeod is better than Kampf.
  • 12:50 PM MT – Everything is quiet. A little too quiet.
  • 1:25 PM MT – Two things: 1) New episode of Better Lait Than Never is out now! 2) Frank Seravalli is reporting that the Montreal Canadiens are considering moving the 5th overall pick. Spicy!
  • 2:10 PM MT – Vegas acquired a 2024 third round pick from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Reilly Smith.
  • 2:10 PM MT – Toronto announced a $800K for a two-year extension with Pontus Holmberg.
  • 2:30 PM  MT – Milan Lucic is going back to the Bruins just as I predicted he would on Oilersnation Radio. It was the easiest prediction of all time and I’m sure there were a bunch of us that nailed it.
  • 3:00 PM MT – Two hours until show time, I’m setting the over/under at the show ending around 9:30 PM. Say your piece.
  • 3:10 PM MT – From Frank Seravalli: “With Reilly Smith’s money off the books, the Vegas Golden Knights have re-signed Ivan Barbashev: 5 years x $5 million.”
  • 3:22 PM MT – Frank is also reporting that the Preds are shopping Ilya Askarov. Remember when we wanted him at the draft a few years back? Time flies, man.
  • 4:30 PM MT – Sportsnet draft coverage has started, we’ll see what kind of night we get. I expect boredom but we’ll see.
  • 5:01 PM MT – My TV guide says the draft goes from 5-9 PM. 😭😭😭
  • 5:17 PM MT – It took 17 minutes but we finally got Connor Bedard going first overall.
  • 5:24 PM MT – Second overall was always going to be Fantilli wasn’t it? Leo Carlsson?! Bring on the chaos!
  • 5:30 PM MT – Fantilli to CBJ at 3rd overall? They gotta be pumped on that.
  • 5:32 PM MT – Will Smith getting jiggy with San Jose at #4, starts his journey in the wild wild west. Unlike the men in black, Smith chose to wear a blue suit in his pursuit of happiness. Won’t be long until the Sharks hitch their wagon to the kid.
  • 5:46 PM MT – David Reinbacher goes to Montreal and the Matvei Michkov slides to Edmonton at #56 plan is still in motion.
  • 5:52 PM MT – Coyotes go off the board a little bit with Dmitri Simashev. A lot of mock drafts had him going mid to late first round.
  • 6:00 PM MT – Matvei Michkov goes to Philly at #7. The dream is dead.
  • 6:07 PM MT – Ryan Leonard to Washington at #8. Still no trades and I am starting to get bored.
  • 6:22 PM MT – Dalibor Dvorsky goes to St. Louis at 10th overall. We are just under 33.333333% done with the first round.
  • 6:28 PM MT – The Canucks take Tom Willander at #11. I like this pick because his name reminds me of Anton Lander, former Oilers future captain. IYKYK.
  • 6:33 PM MT – Danil But goes to Arizona at #12. Collecting Russians, it seems.
  • 6:39 PM MT – Zach Benson goes to Buffalo at #13. Still no trades, the boredom is ever growing.
  • 6:48 PM MT – Pittsburgh takes Brayden Yager at #14. Still bored. Still no trades.
  • 6:51 PM MT – Preds take Matthew Wood at #15, still no acknowledgement of Leon Draisaitl. I find that odd.
  • 7:11 PM MT – How did I just go feed my dog, grab a beer, and we’ve only moved two picks? Bah, will this night never end… or even get interesting?
  • 7:14 PM MT – Winnipeg Jets take Colby Barlow from OHL Owen Sound. Almost done. We’re almost done.
  • 7:31 PM MT – Zzzzzzzzzzzzz
  • 7:39 PM MT – I like seeing that Radek Bonk’s kid, Oliver Bonk, is rocking a mullet just like his old man. I respect it.
  • 7:53 PM MT – With the 24th overall pick — the one the Oilers gave up in the Mattias Ekholm trade — the Predators selected Tanner Molendyk from the WHL.
  • 8:26 PM MT – Thank Gord we’re almost done. Two picks left.
  • 8:38 PM MT – It’s over. Thankfully.
If you missed anything, you can check out the first round pick recap here.