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Starting to Feel a Draft?

May 26, 2013, 6:14 AM ET [180 Comments]
Richard Cloutier
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
My last blog evoked emotion from a few of you. I like that.

Some said the Oilers 7th overall this season plus their 1st round pick next season would be too much to give up for Barkov. I'm not sure I agree, but an opinion is an opinion. The reason I'm pushing the Barkov thing on the Oilers/Oil Fans is because the Oilers desperately need to add size at the center position.

Like MacT said, size isn't everything. As much as I'm a Barkov Booster, this draft is full of guys who can play. It's all about the dude's level of compete. You know you're going to get someone with a high level regardless if you're drafting 1st, 3rd, 5th or 7th. Provided, of course, the scouting staff hasn't been napping all season.

I got a few messages from people suggesting if the Oilers move up to, let's say, 3rd overall, they could take a run at Nathan MacKinnon. Not bloody likely. MacKinnon isn't making it past pick #2.

As much as I think drafting Seth Jones is the direction the Avalanche are going to go, I wouldn't be shocked at all if they take MacKinnon. Why? Because if you want to take a winner at the top end of a draft, take a center. History has shown this about a million times. Drafting a center is less risky than taking a defenseman or a goalie. The Avs could take MacKinnon, and a few months later move Ryan O'Reilly for a quality young defenseman. Many teams would love to add O'Reilly. Would Toronto deal Morgan Rielly for Ryan O'Reilly? You never know. A deal involving those two would confuse the panel at Sportsnet for at least a week.

I don't care if Jonathan Drouin was named CHL Player of the Year; he's not going 1st or 2nd. I'm not sure if he's going in the Top 4, that's how close the top players in this year's draft are. Jones and MacKinnon are going to go 1-2. If rumors are true, you could see big winger Valeri Nichushkin go third. If you had to pick between big center Barkov or extremely slick winger Drouin in the 4th spot, who do you take? Considering the needs of the team drafting 4th (Nashville), you most likely go with the big Finnish center. Drouin slides down to #5, and Carolina goes coo coo for Cocoa Puffs because they get to take him.

I've had it suggested to me that Calgary could beat Edmonton to the punch and move up so they can ruin the party. Perhaps. Is Flames GM Jay Feaster that smart though? If you ask me, the Flames don't really have much they can afford to give up. Do they have two or three 1st round picks this June? If you look at the Flames roster, they need to use those picks on a couple forwards and maybe one defenseman. Organizational depth, especially at center, is abysmal. While the Flames might be interested in moving up, the Oilers could likely afford to give up more in a swap.

The good news for the Oilers is that the Flames could easily take Elias Lindholm at #6. This would allow the Oilers to take Sean Monahan, and a good time would be had by all. However, the NHL is all about being big and scary right now. Feaster can't think outside the bun, so he'll go with whatever is most fashionable...which is drafting Monahan.

Someone...well, a few of you...mentioned that Aleksander Barkov would need to do a year of military service before he could get out of Finland. Hockey players are rock stars and the NHL will figure out some loophole to get him out of it. Maybe he goes back for a few summers to wear the Finnish military mascot costume at the President's annual staff picnic or something. If the NHL wants him bad enough, they'll sort something out. You watch.

A few randoms for you to chew on while you're waiting for your wife to get your waffle out of her iron:

- Why do people dare suggest to me the Oilers can trade Shawn Horcoff? I'm not sure the Oilers can deal Ales Hemsky, who is a better player and has a better contract because it ends a year earlier. The only team the Oilers could deal Horcoff to is the Kings, and that's only provided Colin Fraser is coming back the other way and is requiring surgery. Put the butter knife away before you hurt yourself.

- The Oilers farm team, the Oklahoma City Barons, have tied up their conference final playoff battle against the Grand Rapids Griffins. A couple of Fins, Teemu Hartikainen and Toni Rajala, are leading the charge for the Barons. Going back to MacT's comments about players needing a high level of compete, I wonder if Hartikainen + Barkov + Rajala = the Oilers 3rd line next season. It would be Fintastic. That little Rajala guy has got skills.

- I shared comments on Twitter Saturday with David Staples regarding a different Oilers prospect, defenseman Taylor Fedun. Before he shattered his femur I thought Fedun was going to become a 3/4 pairing defenseman for the Oilers. He might not be physically big or be the best skater, but brains...there's no replacement for brains. Wayne Gretzky is the best player in NHL history, and he couldn't bench press a house cat.

I'm hoping Fedun's career is about to soar. His leg full of titanium seems to be holding together. The scouting report on him earlier in the year is that he had to work on skating; in particular, his initial speed burst. His first few steps while accelerating. He was too slow even before the injury. Trainers and coaches felt Fedun needed to improve his foot speed and add muscle to his legs before he could play in the NHL. Maybe he has, and if so, he could still have a future with the Oilers. It's not like the team has numerous ready-made prospect options going into next season.

Maybe we'll see the Oilers go with Smid/Petry, Nick Schultz/Justin Schultz and Klefbom/Fedun as their defensive pairings next season? Stranger things have happened. Three out of six are newbies? It could be a painful year to watch.

- It's not a healthy thing for the Oilers to become a team that doesn't make opportunities to move up from the minors available to their prospects. If anything, the Oilers have done a poor job moving most of their prospects along, due in large part to the refusal of coaches to play those players. Talk to Magnus Paajarvi about that one...Remember his second season, when he sat on the bench while watching a stack of 3rd and 4th line guys playing ahead of him? And then he got sent down and his entire season was a disaster. That's the type of situation the Oilers need to get away from.

My roster design spells "rotten" for the Oilers in 2013/2014. So what? This team is going to become unbelievable really, really soon.

L1: Hall - Nugent-Hopkins - Eberle
L2: Paajarvi - Gagner - Yakupov
L3: Hartikainen - Barkov - Rajala
L4: Some combination of Lander, Smyth, Brown, Petrell, or someone else new

D1: Smid/Petry
D2: Schultz/Schultz
D3: Klefbom/Fedun

G1: Dubnyk
G2: 1-800-Rent-a-Goalie

- Speaking of goalies, can people please stop suggesting to me that the Oilers should give up a pile of assets for either Jonathan Bernier or Cory Schneider? Bernier hasn't proven a thing to me, and I think the point is, the Oilers need to go get a goalie who will push Dubnyk for the starter's job.

As far as Schneider goes, Canucks GM Mike Gillis has ego issues and he'll likely ask for Eberle + Nugent-Hopkins for him. No one is going to deal for Luongo, so the Canucks are stuck with him...unless they use a compliance buyout, which would cost them $20 billion Euros. They're not going to do it. So Schneider will be the one who goes, and some idiot GM is going to completely overpay for him just because. Last few times I saw Schneider play I wasn't at all impressed.

- If the Oilers deal for a goalie, maybe they look at a player from a team like Washington, Ottawa, Toronto or Anaheim. Maybe Anaheim makes Jonas Hiller available? Well, they'd be idiots if they dealt Fasth, and sooner or later, John Gibson will need a chance to play. How much would you give up for the final season of Hiller's contract?

- It's likely a mute discussion, the whole Hiller/Fasth/Gibson thing. Why? Because the Oilers will have around 10 decent UFA options to pursue. Can Jussi Rynnas from Toronto play? Is Anton Khudobin sticking around the NHL? Someone told me he was going back to the KHL. That would suck if he did. Mike Smith is a UFA; what will his price tag be? Ditto Niklas Backstrom from Minnie. Evgeni Nabokov's stats didn't stink this season. What about him?

The Oilers have options.
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