And considering that is Thornton's size now. When he was 18 he was probably about the same as Draisaitl.
I think his character did come into question after the WJC. He had a very bad tournament and was dropping in the rankings. But very much to his credit he took notice of that himself and made the steps to fix that side of himself and went on to an amazing second half of the season. Doesn't that speak volumes to his character that at 18 he can actively recognize his short comings and put in the work to better himself. Can some other Oiler kids (Yakapov) remotely say the same?
It's never a lock. But they need real size in their top 6. To argue different is just the Oilers continuing to kid themselves as to what their team really needs.
- dal_johnson
There's a just so story for every move.
If we pick Draistal over Bennett, there will be those who say that we picked another flashy (albeit bigger) offense-first guy over a hard-working tough two-way forward which the Oilers also desperately need.
Then when the flames take Bennett, it'll perpetuate that reputation even further.
Again, I'm not advocating for one over the other.
Also, never mind what the meek foreign kid with the half a disc complete of rosetta stone understanding of English word vomitted out about his playing style, look at what Yakupov DID after that. He did work hard on his shortcomings this year.
