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We are less than two weeks away from the 2018 Draft. I am holding off doing my mock draft for at least a few more days because I believe we will see some draft movement before that time. As of today the Oilers have these picks; 10th, 40th, 71st, 133rd, 164th, and 195th. The only pick the team does not have is their 4th rounder which went to Montreal in exchange for Al Montoya.
It should be a well known fact that the Oilers have had suspect drafting over the past decade and the organization is stretched thin in terms of prospects ready to make the jump to the NHL. This is due to a long history of awful drafting and looking to draft players based on perceived need instead of simply drafting the best available player. Outside of a number of successful first round picks the Oilers have little show for the rest of their drafting.
Before anyone starts getting too excited about any prospects, it is my job to remind everyone about how poor the Oilers have been at drafting. I went through every draft from the 2007-2017 in order to find the best player in each round that the Oilers have drafted. The players listed may not have played for Edmonton for their career; this is simply looking at the team's ability to assess talent.
Round 1 - Connor McDavid in 2015
NHL Career Numbers 209GP 87-169-256
Honourable Mentions: Taylor Hall, Leon Draisaitl, Oscar Klefbom, Ryan Nugent Hopkins
The least shocking player on this list. The Oilers have had a bountiful number of high first round and first overall picks. Hall, Nugent-Hopkins, Eberle, Klefbom, and Nurse represent some of the talent the Oilers have drafted. McDavid is a generational player and the clearcut obvious choice.
Round 2 - Tyler Pitlick in 2010
NHL Career Numbers 138GP 25-16-41
Honourable Mentions: Anton Lander, Martin Marincin, Tyler Benson
It was an exciting race between Anton Lander and Tyler Pitlick but Pitlick has produced 6 more points than Lander having played 38 fewer games. Pitlick was a great story for Edmonton in the 2016-2017 season and I was disappointed the team did not resign him. Glad he signed a 3 year deal with Dallas and that he has been able to continue to produce.
Round 3 - Jujhar Khaira in 2012
NHL Career Numbers 94GP 12-12-24
Honourable Mentions: Anton Slepyshev
Khaira was drafted one year before 3rd round pick Anton Slepyshev and while Slepy looks to be on his way out, Khaira is on the rise with the organization. Khaira was one of the only bright spots of last season and hopefully we have not seen his best yet.
Round 4 - Tobias Rieder in 2011
NHL Career Numbers 312GP 55-62-117
Honourable Mentions: Linus Omark, Caleb Jones
Has played the most game of any player on this list and the second most amount of points... unfortunately none of these games or points came with Edmonton. In 2013 the Oilers traded his rights for Kale Kessy (who has no NHL games or points). Rieder has carved a nice little niche for himself and has been a productive winger.
Round 5 - Ethan Bear in 2015
NHL Career Numbers 18GP 1-3-4
Honourable Mentions: Joey LaLeggia, Tyler Bunz
Should be viewed as nothing more than a work in progress at the moment but Bear grew stronger with every game he played at the end of last season. Question marks on his defensive play are his biggest issue but the Oilers may have found themselves a steal.
Round 6 - Brandon Davidson in 2010
NHL Career Numbers 152GP 9-13-22
Honourable Mentions: Teemu Hartikainen
Finding any NHL games out of low round players should be considered a success. Davidson quickly endeared himself to Oiler fans with the trials of his personal life and more importantly the fact he was able to come in and provide serviceable puck moving skill to a defensive core which lacked.
Round 7 - Ziyat Paigan
NHL Career Numbers - None
Honourable Mentions: N/A
Not much to say here. Interesting due to the fact he isn't already written off. Will be a player of note to watch with the Condors this fall.
There you have it. There is some hope for the future with recent draft picks like Ethan Bear, Caleb Jones, Kailer Yamamoto, and players starting to develop like Jujhar Khaira. However quite simply the Oilers have been terrible assessing talent outside the first round. It is unreasonable to expect drafting a Tyler Toffoli in the second round every year or a Johnny Gaudreau in the fourth round but missing the mark year after year has caught up with this team and has hurt the organization.
We should not see any of the picks the Oilers make this summer have an impact for at least two or more seasons. Going ahead 5 years I wonder if our perception of the Oilers drafting capabilities will have changed.
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • 
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