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Well somebody’s going to win this game and in doing so piss off a large subsection of their fans. The Edmonton Oilers are just two points back of Arizona for 28th spot and four points ahead of Buffalo for 30th spot. The odds of each position winning the Draft mean that it’s significantly more likely for the team in second or third to fall down a spot which really isn’t desirable at all.
However, the top five players in the Draft are all appealing. My top 5 prospects in the Draft all look like fantastic players who should be productive and important players in the NHL. There are three centers, one defenseman, and a prolific winger.
1: Connor McDavid. Easily the best prospect since Sidney Crosby. Scores almost at will despite being the focus of attention for the opposition since he was old enough to join the OHL. He is so fast and creative and yet somehow maintains complete control of the puck. His 115 points in 45 games feels like it’s too good to be true. He’s a dynamo. Whoever wins the lottery is getting someone incredibly special. In fact, there’s no way for any team to win without another set of fans suggesting the lottery is rigged. Well, unless the Oilers win it. 29 other teams and their fans will be outraged if the Oilers win it, but at least nobody will say the lottery is rigged.
2: Jack Eichel. So good that in any other year he would be the consensus No. 1 pick. 61 points in 34 games for Boston University where he’s playing against older competition. Listed at 6-foot-2 and 193 pounds he’s the kind of power forward that actually scores in droves. Stylistically he is said to use his body more to make space while McDavid uses his legs. Whether it be Buffalo or Edmonton who gets him, somebody is getting a future star. He will probably make his NHL debut right away, but there’s an off chance that he stays in college for another year. While that’s noble, it would be delaying the time it takes him to reach unrestricted free agent status and command insane money. My guess is he plays in the NHL next year.
3: Noah Hanifin. Ranked third on my list because he plays the position the Oilers are desperately in need to fix, defense. 23 points in 36 games, the Boston College defenseman is also just 17 years old and tied for the lead in his College team’s scoring by Defensemen. He’s 6-foot-3, and is ranked third by many scouting services but not all of them. He’s a left shot so he doesn’t fit perfectly with what the Oilers need, but many teams play left shooting defensemen on the right side out of necessity. There’s a push from Ivan Provorov of the Wheat Kings to be considered the best defenseman in this Draft class, but Hanifin holds the inside edge. He could stay in College next year or be convinced to come to the CHL. However, since he’ll be Drafted out of the NCAA whoever takes him will also be able to graduate him to the AHL at their discretion.
4: Dylan Strome. Has played most of the year on a different line from Connor McDavid but no doubt benefits from having the projected No. 1 pick in the lineup. Even though they would only really be playing together on the power play, he would most certainly be seeing weaker defensemen by being slotted in the second-center spot. Still, Strome has 117 points in 65 games and that doesn’t happen just because McDavid is on the team. Listed at 6-foot-3 and 187 pounds he’s going to fill into his body and the Oilers have never had enough big talented Centers. He would probably benefit playing without McDavid for a full year next season in Erie.
5: Mitch Marner. He’s listed this low mainly because he’s a winger. If he was a centerman he could be third on the list. Stylistically compared to Patrick Kane, this small right winger can flat out score. He was almost a point per game LAST year in his 16 year old season, this year he’s TWO points per game. No, really. He has 124 points in 62 games. He has 44 goals on the season and is proving that at 5-foo-10 and less than 170 pounds, his size doesn’t matter. I stress again, if the Oilers didn’t already have Eberle, Hall, and Yakupov this kid would probably be higher up on the order. If the Oilers somehow fall as far as fifth in the Draft they should take this kid and see just how talented he is.
The Oilers will probably be selecting fourth at very worst even if they somehow manage to win a few games in these last few weeks, but even at four they should be able to add a very talented prospect who can fill a positional need as well as be the Best Player Available.
LINEUP
Taylor Hall should be joining the Oilers today for the morning skate but he is not expected to play. He will likely take several more days and factor into a few practices before he gets game action. Hall is one of the players I wished Nelson had because he was having a dreadful season (by his standards) just like several other key Oilers. Eberle and Yak turned it around under Nelson, I wonder what Hall would have looked like completely healthy. He’ll play again eventually. Nikitin *probably* comes in today. I said that last game too, so I guess they made a liar out of me. Gazdic probably won’t play due to illness.
UPDATE: No Nikitin. I am the boy who cried wolf.
Pouliot Nugent-Hopkins Eberle Purcell Roy Yakupov Hendricks Gordon Klinkhammer Hamilton Lander Fraser
Klefbom Schultz Marincin Fayne Ference Aulie
Scrivens
OILERS KEYS TO THE GAME
1: Lander Power. I don’t know how Todd Nelson got Doctor Krieger’s brain microchip technology but when he implanted it into Anton Lander’s skull he unlocked the key to the man advantage. Lander is very adept in Nelson’s system but especially so on the power play. He has found a spot in front of the net and his ability to anticipate is helping him screen the goalie and pick up points. He has five power-play points in 25 games this year. That’s not “great… except by Oilers 2014-2015 standards it’s crazy talk. Expressed in a Points Per 60 Minutes, Lander is at roughly 5.9 p/60 on the man-advantage. Is that good? Well Eberle leads the Oilers…with a 5.9 p/60 on the 5v4.
2: Yak Lightning. Nail Yakupov is on another point streak, this time a modest three games, but he continues to look transformed. He is becoming a volume shooter and we aren’t even counting the ones where he misses the net. He is third on the Oilers in shots despite playing roughly 4 minutes a night less than the leaders RNH and Eberle. Speaking of minutes, his season average TOI/G is 15:17, but Yak has played below 17 minutes just once in the last 10 games. He is getting regular top-six minutes. Our eyes are so closely on Nail because we don’t want this to be a mirage. I’m afraid that if I blink he might go back to being the lost child Eakins left behind.
3L Fatigue? I don’t know if it’s general fatigue or just more of this goaltending curse, but Ben Scrivens hasn’t been .900 or better in his last 3 starts. The best he’s been over that time was .875 and that just isn’t good enough. He was trending upwards and in the last week or so too a step backwards. I have no answers for goaltending. It seems to be 90% mental and Scrivens seems like a bright guy with a relaxed attitude. It’s easy to blame everything on the defense in front of him, and there are times where that might hold water, but on the whole it just doesn’t. There’s no evidence to back it up. He’s never played this many NHL games before and I want to believe that might have something to with it.
Puck drops tonight at 7:38 PM Mountain Time on Sportsnet West. Tank On!
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