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Drafting At #... Trade On The Draft Floor? |
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Over the past month, I've talked about a couple of different options the Oilers could pursue with the #8 pick; Boldy and Caufield. There are many others names I could (and will) go over but today we are going to discuss a different option, and that is if Ken Holland decides to trade down at the draft.
Edmonton needs to try and find a way to do two things this summer:
A) Add roster players that can positively impact the team; most notably top 6 wingers and a third line centre.
B) Continue to draft smart and add more prospects that have a chance at becoming impact players in the NHL.
Accomplishing both of these at the same time may simply be too difficult, however one type of trade could assist in both. Of course I'm talking about trading the 8th overall pick in exchange for a pick in the 15-20 range as well as a roster player.
This would mean coming up with a trade to one of the following teams:
15 Montreal Canadiens
16 Colorado Avalanche
17 Vegas Golden Knights
18 Dallas Stars
19 Ottawa Senators
20 New York Rangers
I'm not going to go into trade proposals for the purposes of this blog, but instead talk about some of the players that could be available to Edmonton at these spots.
Vasili Podkolzin
Every draft year has one player who starts high and continues to drop, and Podkolzin certainly looks to be that player. At one point, Podkolzin was viewed as a top 3 pick and now it's likely he will fall out of the top 10 completely.
Skill-wise Podkolzin has shown to be a dominant winger who loves to carry the puck and control the game offensively. Here is a scouting report from Draftin Europe 2018.
"Very strong on the puck.. plays the hard way.. fierce but disciplined.. sound puck management.. possesses an effective move to his forehand"
The reasons Podkolzin has dropped so much lower in the draft rankings is twofold. First off, his current contract in the Russia will prevent him from being in North America for the next two years, which is a risk in and of itself as most GM's would want a player like that in the AHL getting acquainted to the North American game.
Secondly his numbers have been inconsistent. At times he looks like a dominant force such as when he scored 11 goals in 11 games at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup. On the flip side, his MHL numbers have him scoring at a 0.66PPG pace. Here are other notable players who have played in that league:
Evgeni Kuznetsov - 1.78PPG
Nikita Kucherov - 1.41PPG
Pavel Buchnevich - 0.98PPG
Philip Tomasino
A riser in the draft who would I see going closer to 15 than I do 20. The right shooting centre had a breakout year for the Niagara Icedogs posting 34 goals and 38 assists in 67 games. While listed as a centre, Tomasino spent most of the season playing the right wing. Speed and stickhandling is the name of the game with Tomasino, using his NHL ready foot speed combined with soft hands to get the better of the opposition.
Tomasino also rarely saw 1st unit powerplay time, making most of his numbers produced at even strength. Years from now, Tomasino might be looked at as one of the best centres taken in this draft.
Connor McMichael
Yes, part of the reason I think Edmonton should trade down is so they can have Connor McDavid play with Connor McMichael...sue me. Aside from the name hilarity, McMichael had a great year in the OHL, with 36 goals and 36 assists for the London Knights, being the top producer for his team. McMichael has been compared to Auston Matthews (calm down Leafs fans) in that he is an offensive driver who likes to patrol the hash marks and rip his shot on net.
Consistency and growing into his body are his biggest things he needs to work on. McMichael is not going to make the NHL at 18 or likely 19 either, but the team that is patient with him could get a great return.
Victor Söderström
After Bowen Byram goes 3rd overall and Philip Broberg goes somewhere in the top 13, the next defenseman to keep an eye on should be Victor Söderström. The right shooting defenseman from Sweden has been labelled as a full package defender. He skates well, defends well, has strong offensive skills and moves the puck well. On the high end he has been compared to Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin in style of play but he has also been compared to the likes of Jared Spurgeon who may not be a flashy player, but is strong in all areas of play.
Leadership and compete level are words that get thrown around Söderström a whole bunch. Every coach he has ever had raves about how willing to learn he is, and how he will spend hours after team practice working on areas he feel he needs to improve on. Edmonton has drafted a number of defensemen high in recent years but an addition like Söderström would continue to bolster their ranks.
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Those are a few options that should be available later in the first round. Should the opportunity arise for Edmonton to acquire a good roster player and still draft later in the first round, who should they target? Which team should they try and make a deal with?
I look forward to reading your ideas in the comment section.
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • 
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