I'll tells ya, it's gonna be hard to find a way to keep blogging about the Oilers daily over the next month. Just what exactly do the games mean now? What am I suppose to write about? I can only say this team has been a big disappointment so many times before doing so becomes a huge bore.

Tonight the Edmonton Oilers face-off against the Columbus Blue Jackets, and if I'm Edmonton I'm throwing the game. The season is over, the team is still terrible, and 30th place most likely will get a better draft pick than 29th place. The future is more important than the now. Plus, the more the Oil lose, the easier it will be to replace coaches and management this summer. I think Daryl Katz needs a case of C4 and a detonator more than he needs his team to win the last 13 games of the 2011/2012 season.

Although, and I mean this sincerely, I'm not sure I want the Oilers picking 1st or 2nd overall at the NHL Draft in June. The consensus #1 prospect is Nail Yakupov. He's brilliant but frequently injured, and as a friend in Lac La Biche frequently says, "no no buddy, I got lots of those". The consensus #2 pick, Mikhal Grigorenko, is someone a third of the scouts want to keep clear of because he's thought to have attitude issues. The last thing the Oilers need are players with attitude issues. He might be the big, gifted center the Oilers long for, but a dressing room cancer hurts the big picture more than helps.

This is The Year of the Defensemen at the draft, but you know how drafting defensemen goes: They are much more difficult to predict than forwards. I've read a number of scouting reports, and there is no clear top defensive prospect. Some like Dumba, others prefer Murray. The best prospect could be Morgan Rielly, but he's been too injured this season to exactly know if he's worth that high of a pick. Plus, the injury thing...need to avoid the injury thing.

So if we're avoiding players with injury issues, players with bad attitudes, and defensemen because they are harder to predict, who do the Oilers draft? Filip Forsberg. Remember last season when I said we should go with Gabriel Landeskog? Hey, I like Nuge as much as Landeskog, so I don't regret the pick. Nugent-Hopkins was more of a gamble than Landeskog, I believe. We knew going into the draft that his size, skill level and attitude added up to a great future NHL player. With Nuge, there were...still are actually...questions about his lack of size and how durable he will be because of it.

Forsberg has size, skill and a solid attitude. He's a winger, which makes sense. I can imagine the Oilers Top 2 lines going forth being Hall-Nuge-Eberle and Paajarvi-Gagner-Forsberg. Powerhouse. Absolutely powerhouse Top 6 group. Hall, Paajarvi and Forsberg all have decent size. Nuge, Gags and Eberle are incredibly skilled. A group with leadership, a great attitude, and a desire to win. It makes perfect sense to me.

But here's the other thing that has been creeping into my thinking: The Oilers allow themselves to finish 30th, pick 1st in June, and then deal the pick for an immediate player or two. How many teams would kill to add Nail Yakupov? How many teams have the ability to move an asset or two the Oilers would love?

The Kings still need goal scoring. Would Yakupov be worth Bernier, Voynov and Clifford? I think they'd say so. Keep in mind Yakupov is a future 40g guy.

Would the Sabres move Enroth, Sekera and Buffalo's 1st round pick for Yakupov?

The Caps would adore having mini-Ovechkin to go with big Ovechkin. So how about Mike Green and Michal Neuvirth?

Would Ottawa offer up Robin Lehner + Mika Zibanejad?

Use some creative thinking here, people. The Oilers massively suck for the third year in a row and ownership is finally noticing Oil fans are tired of how bad this team is. There are roster holes in net, on the 2nd line, and on D. The team can't be patient anymore waiting for kids to turn into Gods. Hall, Eberle, and Nuge need some immediate help. A number of teams...especially those lacking a marketable superstar...would completely overpay for Yakupov. Take advantage of the situation.

Randoms

- Ben Eager will likely be out against the Jackets. Bad back.

- Don't expect the Oilers to actually deal their 1st round pick for immediate help. That plan makes too much sense and the Oilers are addicted to doing things the hard way.

- Lots of talk about Renney's rant on Tuesday. Most reviews were negative. Sort of a "where was that passion 40 games ago when wins and losses mattered" type reaction. Renney knows his job is gone in Edmonton, so he has nothing to lose by freaking out publicly.

- Don't be surprised if the Oilers don't throw the game intentionally, but the Jackets beat the crap out of them anyway. Two teams going opposite directions right now. It appears dealing Jeff Carter helped the attitude in Columbus completely.

- Lots of Ryan Smyth bashing going on. Weird. Never thought I'd hear that in Edmonton. Look folks, Smyth is a third-line player now. It's not his fault the coach completely overplayed him earlier in the year, and now he's exhausted. The Oilers should give him $2.5mil for next season and let him play on the third line, 15 minutes per game.

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