The Oilers are on the precipice of adding draftee Dillon Simpson who has had a standout career in the NCAA with the University of North Dakota. He was an nominee for the Hobey Baker Award and should be poised to take the step to Pro hockey. Despite being only 21 he completed 4 years at North Dakota and was their Captain. There truly isnt much left for him in the College system and he's still a young man.
So now he's set to join the Oilers in some capacity as a professional but where will he slot in? As a left shooting Defensemen he's in tough to make the Oilers with Marincin, Klefbom, and Ference holding spots on the port-side. Of course the Oilers also have Nurse, Gernat, Musil, and Oesterle in the system for left-shooting Defensemen. If you're beginning to think that might be a lot of people to leapfrog then you and I see things the same way.
The fact is that the Oilers arent deep with right shooting Defensemen and they might be on the verge of having TOO MANY prospects at the same position (if you believe there can be too many). So what does that mean for the Oil? They either need high quality players developing out of that prospect pool or they need to move some of those assets for players they can use here and now.
The Oilers arent about to trade Nurse, he was the GM's 1st ever Draft Pick. There's plenty of reason to believe he'll actually get the push to the NHL as early as next year, so unless Shea Weber becomes available I think we can cross his name off the list of moveable players. But the rest of them? I dont see a single safe player, including the about to be signed Dillon Simpson, in the mix.
The Oil wont be making a 1 for 1 trade for the difference making player they want. They cant afford to rob Peter to pay Paul. The way I see things 2 of those LDs will be shipped out along with something from the NHL club to get what they need. Gernat is a tall kid with offensive instincts. Musil is a stay at home defender with pedigree and work ethic. These are players that other teams could use in their systems. They have value.
There isnt going to be room to give them all the ice time they need to develop. Some prospects will be moved out of the system this summer. I just dont see it any other way.
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