Prospect Info: The 2016 Draft Thread [Draft Lottery April 30th]

[Digger12]

I think most fans have finally figured out that you build your team through the draft post round 1, and through trades. The Oilers have barely been successful at the 1st overall pick (Yak. ex.), never mind anything beyond.

When Calgary can spot a 4th round gem in Johnny Gaudreau, who would be the 2nd best player on the Oilers, it shows that building a winner takes "smarts" instead of the Oilers reliance on draft (luck) lotteries. When was the last time the Oilers found real team building, impact players beyond the 1st round (yes Davidson).




By example Calgary drafted , but

I'd be more willing to give Calgary credit for their "smarts" in drafting Gaudreau with a 4th round pick if 28 other teams, including some very "smart" ones with better scouting departments than Calgary, didn't think Gaudreau was worth using a pick in their first 3 rounds of drafting either.

Calgary hit the jackpot with Gaudreau, no doubt about that. But let's be realistic, their scouting department didn't find the formula for turning lead into gold. If they had, they wouldn't have picked scrubs like Baertshi and Markus Granlund ahead of him.

 

[Mr Sakich]

I think most fans have finally figured out that you build your team through the draft post round 1, and through trades. The Oilers have barely been successful at the 1st overall pick (Yak. ex.), never mind anything beyond.

When Calgary can spot a 4th round gem in Johnny Gaudreau, who would be the 2nd best player on the Oilers, it shows that building a winner takes "smarts" instead of the Oilers reliance on draft (luck) lotteries. When was the last time the Oilers found real team building, impact players beyond the 1st round (yes Davidson).

By example Calgary drafted , but

the Flames are such a great drafting team that they selected Beartschi, Granlund, and Wotherspoon ahead of Johny. If they knew he would be as good as he turned out, they would have taken him a lot sooner.

They took Nemiz, Wahl, Bouma, and Larson ahead of Brody because they thought they would turn out better.

The flames won the lottery twice. Good for them but to think that it is anything more than luck is wrong.

 

[Mcnotloilersfan]

With Ottawa's loss, there is no change tonight in the draft lottery magic number standings.

 

[Stud Muffin]

Chances of top 3 are better then I thought

 

[Staghorn]

It's been like that the entire season pretty much, I don't get it. I thought it would even out at some point but nope. Is there even a legitimate reason for it being like this? We have 2 more games played than the next team and 5 more than the team with the least amount of games. The season is almost done, how can it be this imbalanced still?

If the Oil were on the verge of a playoff spot, everyone here would be high fiving at the fewer games left at the end and hopefully resting some guys while other teams are cramming games in, wearing each other out. Would have been advantage Oilers, except oops, the players mailed it in again.

 

[McDrai]

If we do in fact draft first overall, do you draft Matthews and trade some of the core for defense or do you trade the pick for a dman who can play big minutes?

 

[MinimaMoralia]

I would find it absolutely sickening if we are first up the podium once again. Yes, sure, it's nice to add that amount of skill, Matthews and McDavid would be amazing, but, I mean, c'mon. Enough is enough. It just isn't right anymore, it's more than an aberration. It would be a travesty for the team and the league.

 

[s7ark]

If we do in fact draft first overall, do you draft Matthews and trade some of the core for defense or do you trade the pick for a dman who can play big minutes?

If a team will give up a legit 1D(Petro, Faulk, OEL, etc) for the pick I do it 10,000 x out of 10,000. If no one will then draft Matthews and trade guys like RNH, Eberle, Yak, etc to get the required D.

 

[Oilers10]

I would find it absolutely sickening if we are first up the podium once again. Yes, sure, it's nice to add that amount of skill, Matthews and McDavid would be amazing, but, I mean, c'mon. Enough is enough. It just isn't right anymore, it's more than an aberration. It would be a travesty for the team and the league.

Only MacT and Klowe can get this organization to the point the fans are not cheering for us to win lottery picks. Yes I agree its an aberration but its beyond embarassment now. All other fan bases hate us, so why not win another lottery ?

 

[BlowbyBlow]

Only MacT and Klowe can get this organization to the point the fans are not cheering for us to win lottery picks. Yes I agree its an aberration but its beyond embarassment now. All other fan bases hate us, so why not win another lottery ?

I really don't understand other fam bases if you take RNH, Hall and Yakupov most would find even 2-3 better players from those draft classes.

Mcdavid is a consolation prize to get an NHL ready player. I have said for years that Canada deserves superstars besides Mcdavid the closest Canada may have come to a Canadian born superstar is maybe Subban, Iginla and those may be stretching it.

The only thing that other teams should have is apathy and feel sorry if any other team got the players the Oilers they did they would be doing better.

I mean look at Colorado - Landeskog, Duchene, MacKinnon - Hall, Mcdavid, Draisaitl should trump that then don't forget RNH, Eberle, and possibly one of the top three forwards this year

 

[Aceboogie]

What are peoples thoughts on Brennan Menell? 5'10 187 RHD. 53 points in 69 games.

Has some really good underlying numbers:

#1 in WHL D for % of teams points.
#4 in WHL D for % of teams goals created (Bear, Sanhiem, Bean above him)
#4 in 5x5 points (Erkamps, Provorov, Neilsen above)

Cant find him ranked anywhere

Says he quit Giants last year but rejoined this year. Seems like a PP QB. His numbers are very good tho. Late round pick?

 

[HeavyHitter99]

What are peoples thoughts on Brennan Menell? 5'10 187 RHD. 53 points in 69 games.

Has some really good underlying numbers:

#1 in WHL D for % of teams points.
#4 in WHL D for % of teams goals created (Bear, Sanhiem, Bean above him)
#4 in 5x5 points (Erkamps, Provorov, Neilsen above)

Cant find him ranked anywhere

Says he quit Giants last year but rejoined this year. Seems like a PP QB. His numbers are very good tho. Late round pick?

I liked what I saw from him this season and feel he could be worth a late round pick. If he's passed over for a second time then he'll definitely get some camp invites.

 

[Alawishis]

the Flames are such a great drafting team that they selected Beartschi, Granlund, and Wotherspoon ahead of Johny. If they knew he would be as good as he turned out, they would have taken him a lot sooner.

They took Nemiz, Wahl, Bouma, and Larson ahead of Brody because they thought they would turn out better.

The flames won the lottery twice. Good for them but to think that it is anything more than luck is wrong.

Even as broken clock is right twice a day.

 

[Johnny McBravo]

Well TO is now tied with us with 4 games in hand lol

 

[puckfan13]

What are peoples thoughts on Brennan Menell? 5'10 187 RHD. 53 points in 69 games.

Has some really good underlying numbers:

#1 in WHL D for % of teams points.
#4 in WHL D for % of teams goals created (Bear, Sanhiem, Bean above him)
#4 in 5x5 points (Erkamps, Provorov, Neilsen above)

Cant find him ranked anywhere

Says he quit Giants last year but rejoined this year. Seems like a PP QB. His numbers are very good tho. Late round pick?

Watched him specifically because of this reason and he is way too soft defending to cut in the pros. He does not play defense in-zone, he rather waits for the puck to pop out so he doesn't have to battle. Soft going back for pucks and he is undersized and that's not going to change. He is a PPQB at the junior level but I think that is where it ends.

A sleeper may be more along the lines of Jalen Chatfield in Windsor, he can skate, move it and he really competes his ass off, doesn't give up on plays even if he gets himself out of position.

 

[Mcnotloilersfan]

Updated magic number. Had we lost last night, it could have been a huge night with Leafs and Jets winning.

Canes are now out of reach.

- 2
- 4
:coyotes - 5
- 8
- 10
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 14

Lowest Possible Pick

13

 

[Zaddy]

Watched him specifically because of this reason and he is way too soft defending to cut in the pros. He does not play defense in-zone, he rather waits for the puck to pop out so he doesn't have to battle. Soft going back for pucks and he is undersized and that's not going to change. He is a PPQB at the junior level but I think that is where it ends.

A sleeper may be more along the lines of Jalen Chatfield in Windsor, he can skate, move it and he really competes his ass off, doesn't give up on plays even if he gets himself out of position.

Chatfield is someone I've liked in the Windsor games I've watched. Not sure if he is going to get drafted but he'd be a good camp invite if nothing else. Brandon Crawley is another guy from the O that I like, he's a lefty though.

 

[DethOfDragnz]

If the Oilers go first obviously the should take Austin Mathews. If they go 2nd or 3rd either of the Fins would be great selections both guys are big with tons of talent, some say these are the 2 best Finnish prospects ever and that is saying something when you think about guys like Jari Kurri and Teemu Selanne. If you look at Draisaitl A puck moving forward with playmaking skills and good scoring ability and strong as a ox, hard to knock of the puck with high durability, that' what we need. If we had a few more guys like that we could be kicking some serious ass. Injuries are always destroying the Oilers line up. It's hard to get a sense of our team many years because so many guys are injured and out for months and months. If they can't choose in the first 3 I hope they get defensemen Jacob Chychrun, he seems like the top d-man in the draft and I feel this as well. Defence is still a problem on our team and although Nurse and Klefbom are great imo we could use more depth on the blue line. If they can't get him I guess just go with the next top d man in the list. Looking at the mock drafts there seems to be a good chuck of d-men in the 4-15 draft spot(s). I have not done much looking past the first few prospects this year, it seems after the first 3 picks there is quite a drop in the talent pool with alot more debate of where players rank. I am also curious if Oilers management will trade or move some guys before the draft. Before McDavid returned it sure sounded like management was foreshadowing this is what they were going to do.

 

[Tyrolean]

For the good of the league, I hope the Oilers don't get to pick 1st. They probably get just as good a player if they pick 2nd or 3rd.

 

[Oilfan2]

For the good of the league, I hope the Oilers don't get to pick 1st. They probably get just as good a player if they pick 2nd or 3rd.

Ahhh..no.

After another pitiful year, getting another 1OA is the perfect return.

I couldn't care less what the league or other fan bases think about the Oil. Only the improvement of the team. If that means another 18 year old star, so be it. If it means that 'asset' is used to fill a large hole on the team, great.

Doesn't make sense to wish for a less significant return.

 

[Delicious Pancakes]

Updated magic number. Had we lost last night, it could have been a huge night with Leafs and Jets winning.

Canes are now out of reach.

- 2
- 4
:coyotes - 5
- 8
- 10
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 14

Lowest Possible Pick

13

Realistically the Oilers probably aren't finishing outside of the bottom 7 now. They play Vancouver twice and Calgary once. I was curious how many times the other bottom 7 teams play against each other given that these games guarantee at least one team is gaining points. Remaining schedules of the bottom 7 teams in the standings:

Toronto: https://www.nhl.com/mapleleafs/schedule/2016-03-25/ET
# of games against other bottom 7 teams: 2

Edmonton: https://www.nhl.com/oilers/schedule/2016-03-25/ET
# of games against other bottom 7 teams: 3

Vancouver: https://www.nhl.com/canucks/schedule/2016-03-25/ET
# of games against other bottom 7 teams: 3

Columbus: https://www.nhl.com/bluejackets/schedule/2016-03-25/ET
# of games against other bottom 7 teams: 2

Calgary: https://www.nhl.com/flames/schedule/2016-03-25/ET
# of games against bottom 7 teams: 2

Winnipeg: https://www.nhl.com/jets/schedule/2016-03-25/ET
# of games against bottom 7 teams: 1

Buffalo: https://www.nhl.com/sabres/schedule/2016-03-25/ET
# of games against bottom 7 teams: 3

 

[sportsdynasty]

Lostin' for Austin! We are only in year 11 of Lowe's rebuild plan. He knows a thing or two about winning.

 

[OilTastic]

If we do in fact draft first overall, do you draft Matthews and trade some of the core for defense or do you trade the pick for a dman who can play big minutes?

if it were me, i'd pick Matthews because he'd step into the lineup right away in the fall and i'd be listening to offers for Eberle and Nuge and Hall. not saying all will be traded because it's not likely but the Isles look like they are going to lose RW Kyle Okposo and also C Frans Neilsen and a guy like Ebs or Nuge could replace one of them very well and we could end up with Hamonic out of the deal.

 

[McJadeddog]

Ahhh..no.

After another pitiful year, getting another 1OA is the perfect return.

I couldn't care less what the league or other fan bases think about the Oil. Only the improvement of the team. If that means another 18 year old star, so be it. If it means that 'asset' is used to fill a large hole on the team, great.

Doesn't make sense to wish for a less significant return.

yeah i would LOVE the 2nd overall pick, so we can get laine and trade eberle.... but i'll be cheering for the #1 overall pick.... if we get the #1 and pick matthews, that means we can trade RNH... and RNH has a LOT more trade value than eberle does.... mcdavid is the #1 C next year (hell, he is this year already), drai and matthews split time as the #2/3 centers, and each likely plays a bit on the wing as well.... RNH brings back a pretty good 2nd pairing dman

 

[s7ark]

I get that fans here might be embarrassed if the Oilers win the lotto again this year. I would be too.

But frankly I don't care that much about how embarrassed I would feel. Winning the lotto gives the Oilers the best asset to help shape the team. At the draft the pre draft shine on all of the 1-2-3 picks will be at its peak. GMs will have the full attention of their head of amateur scouting and they will be told comparisons like Eichel->Matthews. Talk like that, combined with the exemption of the picks this season from expansion and cost control for years. Some GM that didn't make the playoffs will off up a 1D for Matthews, maybe with some kind of add. OEL, Petro and Faulk could possibly be legit targets for him.