I’m a big fan of the move to sign undrafted free agent Drake
Caggiula by the Oilers. Edmonton’s draft record after the first round has been
questionable at best. Although there have been a few promising players taken
late, the team hasn’t been able to produce depth forwards capable of pushing
into the club’s bottom six.

The “official” rebuild kicked off in the winter of 2009 and
made its debut at the draft table in 2010. Since that time, here are all the
forwards Edmonton has taken after the 1st round. Beware, it’s a depressing list.

31st – Tyler Pitlick – Bust

48th – Curtis Hamilton – Bust

61st – Ryan Martindale – Bust

166th – Drew Czerwonka – Bust

181st – Kristians Pelss – RIP

202nd – Kellen Jones – Bust

71st – Travis Ewanyk – Bust

114th – Tobias Rieder – NHL Player

32nd – Mitch Moroz – Bust

63rd – Jujhar Khaira – NHL Call-up

91st – Daniil Zarkov – Bust

153rd – John McCarron – Bust

56th – Marco Roy – Bust

83rd – Bogdan Yakimov – NHL Call-up

88th – Anton Slepyshev – NHL Call-up

94th – Jackson Houck – Bust

96th – Kyle Platzer – AHL Player

113th – Aidan Muir – Bust

128th – Evan Campbell – Bust

188th – Greg Chase – Questionable Status

130th – Liam Coughlin – Bust

153rd – Tyler Vesel – Bust

NOBODY

By my count the Oilers are currently batting 4.5% on finding
NHL forwards after the first round during the rebuild. That’s 1-for-22
attempts to find a legitimate NHL player. We can add three reasonable options
for call-ups in Khaira, Slepyshev, and Yakimov as well. However, since none of
those three have established themselves at all, it’s difficult to be excited
about them yet.

I recognize that I might be harsh labeling so many players busts when it hasn’t even been four years since some of them were drafted, but let’s be real: 19-year old BCHL forwards moving on to play division four collegiate hockey and struggling aren’t ever going to amount to anything. Sorry.

The good news is that it’s still early for that 2012-2013
cluster of forwards. The bad news is that 2010, 2011, and 2014 are lost causes.
Oh, and the best forward they’ve taken after the first round was
traded for another bust because Tambellini & Company failed to foster a healthy
relationship with him. Good job. Good effort.

This brings us right back to Drake Caggiula. Edmonton’s
cupboards are empty at the forward positions. The highest scoring NHL prospect
on the Bakersfield Condors was Jujhar Khaira (49GP, 10-17-27). He was outscored
by the injured Josh Winquist (35GP, 8-22-30) who wasn’t even given an NHL
contract.This is not great.

The fact is that the Oilers are lacking in quantity and
quality a number of young players who can push the bottom six of the big club.
That’s not great for the here and the now, but it’s especially troubling for
the future. In a couple years the team is going to need inexpensive but capable
options on the third and fourth lines. This is by virtue of
Edmonton needing to pay McDavid Scrooge McDuckian sums of money on his next
contract.

At the moment, Edmonton is paying the line of Hendricks –
Letestu – Korpikoski a total of $6.15 million on the cap. When these player
leave the Oilers, it’s going to be beneficial if the club can replace them with
significantly less expensive players they’ve been developing in Bakersfield.
Every penny counts and over-paying for an NHL fourth line is not a
luxury this team will be able to afford.

That’s why the Oilers need to keep finding young players by
every means available. What they have in the system right now isn’t cutting the
mustard. They have the best young player in the NHL and a brand new arena to
help attract talent. It has been reported that these things helped sway Caggiula towards the Oil. If you got it, flaunt it.

Caggiula should be spending a majority of the next season in
the AHL proving what he can do as a professional. If everything goes right then
he should be making his case so loudly that the big club can’t ignore it. If he
fizzles out then it cost Edmonton nothing but a spot on the 50 man roster.
There really is no risk to speak of with these College Free Agents and Edmonton
is in a desperate position at the AHL level.