2016 Draft: 8th Pick: Aapeli Rasanen

[ChicagoBullsFan]

Pretty good Yak replacement

Sorry to ruin your fantasies but Oilers need more defense not more wingers.
And getting more defense should be Chirealli's number one priority next June's draft.

 

[Aceboogie]

Räsänen and Tolvanen had great chemistry in U18's Grand Forks.
But Oilers has one crucial weakness and it's defense.

Tolvanen is at least TOP10 pick next June but if / when he plays U20 WJC's like Puljujärvi did in Helsinki then there's chance Tolvanen goes TOP5.
But Oilers need defense next June's draft so drafting Tolvanen isn't option to Oilers.

All you guys ( Oilers fans) know that your team needs more defense not more wingers.

Fully agreed. But funny enough if 2 or 3 of Nurse/Reinhart/Larsson/Klefbom/Davidson take big strides next year and top pairing and middle pairing are shored up, plus Oilers miss playoffs but win top 3 in lotto... it could happen . Scoring from wingers could become a bigger issue than D. But thats a year away if ever. And aside from the swede D, are any good D expected to go top 5/10 in next years draft?

If Oilers are picking top 5 again, its because D suck again and a similar Larrson rade will be made. Or theyll win lotto (but finish 11th-15th in standings) and could not have need for D if current young D step up

 

[ChicagoBullsFan]

He is my prediction for the Ziyat Paigin award- or Breakout Prospect of the year. I think hell make WJC squad and impress there. Then go to USHL and score just over PPG with 27 goals. Be one of top rookies and form one of best lines in that league with Tolvanen

Without any injuries or other health issues Räsänen will be Finland's world junior roster.

 

[ChicagoBullsFan]

Fully agreed. But funny enough if 2 or 3 of Nurse/Reinhart/Larsson/Klefbom/Davidson take big strides next year and top pairing and middle pairing are shored up, plus Oilers miss playoffs but win top 3 in lotto... it could happen . Scoring from wingers could become a bigger issue than D. But thats a year away if ever. And aside from the swede D, are any good D expected to go top 5/10 in next years draft?

If Oilers are picking top 5 again, its because D suck again and a similar Larrson rade will be made. Or theyll win lotto (but finish 11th-15th in standings) and could not have need for D if current young D step up

I don't say Oilers won't pick Tolvanen if i were Chiarelli i would take Tolvanen and put him together with Räsänen.
But Aapeli's full potential is solid 3rd line center who's excellent face-off taker.

Räsänen was in U18's 2nd best face-off taker after Otto Somppi ( Tampa Bay's 7th rounder this June).
Meanwhile Tolvanen's full potential is 35-40 goal sniper.

It'll be interesting see how Räsänen and Tolvanen plays together in Sioux City both will be Finland's world junior roster if they are healthy that's for sure.

 

[Aceboogie]

I don't say Oilers won't pick Tolvanen if i were Chiarelli i would take Tolvanen and put him together with Räsänen.
But Aapeli's full potential is solid 3rd line Center who's excellent face-off taker.

Räsänen was in U18's 2nd best face-off taker after Otto Somppi ( Tampa Bay's 7th rounder this June).
Meanwhile Tolvanen's full potential is 35-40 goal sniper.

It'll be interesting see how Räsänen and Tolvanen plays together in Sioux City both will be Finland's world junior roster if they are healthy that's for sure.

Thatll be a solid duo next year. They already had chemistry before entering USHL. That league is a touch easier than CHL so they should come out of gate running. Then theyll build it through season and take it to WJC (where in a short tourney chemistry is important) and finish off USHL on fire

*side note* Are both going to same NCAA school if Tolvanen does decide to go to one?

 

[Kalost]

Sorry to ruin your fantasies but Oilers need more defense not more wingers.
And getting more defense should be Chirealli's number one priority next June's draft.

well we do need more wingers, but yes it would be silly to not draft a dman in the 1st round with next years draft.

 

[BarDownBobo]

Thatll be a solid duo next year. They already had chemistry before entering USHL. That league is a touch easier than CHL so they should come out of gate running. Then theyll build it through season and take it to WJC (where in a short tourney chemistry is important) and finish off USHL on fire

*side note* Are both going to same NCAA school if Tolvanen does decide to go to one?

Tolvanen is committed to Boston College, Rasanen hasn't committed to a school yet.

 

[ChicagoBullsFan]

Thatll be a solid duo next year. They already had chemistry before entering USHL. That league is a touch easier than CHL so they should come out of gate running. Then theyll build it through season and take it to WJC (where in a short tourney chemistry is important) and finish off USHL on fire

*side note* Are both going to same NCAA school if Tolvanen does decide to go to one?

I don't know exactly what NCAA options Aapeli has already considered but he's said he'll go to NCAA after USHL.

 

[ChicagoBullsFan]

Thatll be a solid duo next year. They already had chemistry before entering USHL. That league is a touch easier than CHL so they should come out of gate running. Then theyll build it through season and take it to WJC (where in a short tourney chemistry is important) and finish off USHL on fire

*side note* Are both going to same NCAA school if Tolvanen does decide to go to one?

Here's newest interview of Aapeli Räsänen.
This interview has made in Plymouth's U20 tournament earlier this month.

http://oilers.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=890712

 

[ChicagoBullsFan]

well we do need more wingers, but yes it would be silly to not draft a dman in the 1st round with next years draft.

If Oilers some magical way could acquire two first round picks then they have chance to take dman and scoring winger. But is that likely?

 

[voxel]

Sorry to ruin your fantasies but Oilers need more defense not more wingers.
And getting more defense should be Chirealli's number one priority next June's draft.

It's obvious you don't follow the Oilers and just repeat HF-isms.

The TEAM needs top-pairing D-men but the PROSPECT PIPELINE is pretty full of D with the AHL pipe jammed.. Oilers need top-6 center and winger prospects funny enough. Guys like Benson and Caggiula fit perfectly.

I suspect Oilers may trade a D prospect (in AHL) for a center/winger prospect during the season...

 

[Jumptheshark]

It's obvious you don't follow the Oilers and just repeat HF-isms.

The TEAM needs top-pairing D-men but the PROSPECT PIPELINE is pretty full of D with the AHL pipe jammed.. Oilers need top-6 center and winger prospects funny enough. Guys like Benson and Caggiula fit perfectly.

I suspect Oilers may trade a D prospect (in AHL) for a center/winger prospect during the season...

file the comment under the fact many of the posters look at the here and now of the roster and 5 years down the road.

 

[Raab]

file the comment under the fact many of the posters look at the here and now of the roster and 5 years down the road.

No, it's the fact that like 95% of dmen drafted by this organization don't turn out. We need to keep picking dmen high until we find a top pairing guy. If we end up with two top pairing dmen down the road no one will care. I mean look at Nashville I'm sure it sucked for them having Suter and Weber on the ice every night.

 

[OilTastic]

Sorry to ruin your fantasies but Oilers need more defense not more wingers.
And getting more defense should be Chirealli's number one priority next June's draft.

sorry to ruin YOUR fantasies but to me it looks like the Oilers are eventually going to move on from the old "big 4" that was supposed to lead us to glory but never did....Hall, who's already been traded, Nuge, Eberle and Yak will all likely be gone the next few years as well as Pouliot so good wingers like Puljujarvi are still very much needed at the draft and i don't blame Chia one bit for jumping at the chance to take Jesse.

however i can agree with you that i'd like to see the Oilers take a potential top end d-man at the next draft because i still feel we need just one more in our system. from where we will likely draft, between #10 and #20, could snag us (as things stand today) Jusso Valimaki, Nicolas Hague, Urho Vaakanainen, Jacob Paquette or Robin Salo.

 

[OilTastic]

No, it's the fact that like 95% of dmen drafted by this organization don't turn out. We need to keep picking dmen high until we find a top pairing guy. If we end up with two top pairing dmen down the road no one will care. I mean look at Nashville I'm sure it sucked for them having Suter and Weber on the ice every night.

since they came into existence as a franchise....Karlis Skrastins, Suter, Weber, Ekholm, Ellis, Hamhuis, Josi, Franson, Seth Jones, Dante Fabbro....it's just not fair and i'm so jealous!!

 

[CupofOil]

since they came into existence as a franchise....Karlis Skrastins, Suter, Weber, Ekholm, Ellis, Hamhuis, Josi, Franson, Seth Jones, Dante Fabbro....it's just not fair and i'm so jealous!!

And Weber, Ekholm and Josi were all drafted outside of the 1st round and only Jones was a top 5 pick. Ridiculously good scouting by that team, not to mention that they got Forsberg for nothing basically. Jealous indeed

 

[Raab]

And Weber, Ekholm and Josi were all drafted outside of the 1st round and only Jones was a top 5 pick. Ridiculously good scouting by that team, not to mention that they got Forsberg for nothing basically. Jealous indeed

Suter was picked 7th. Name the number of dmen the Oilers have taken inside the top 10 ever?

Edit: I'll give you a hint one is named Darnell Nurse, the other one is in the HHOF and has his number hanging in the rafters.

 

[Draiskull]

sorry to ruin YOUR fantasies but to me it looks like the Oilers are eventually going to move on from the old "big 4" that was supposed to lead us to glory but never did....Hall, who's already been traded, Nuge, Eberle and Yak will all likely be gone the next few years as well as Pouliot so good wingers like Puljujarvi are still very much needed at the draft and i don't blame Chia one bit for jumping at the chance to take Jesse.

however i can agree with you that i'd like to see the Oilers take a potential top end d-man at the next draft because i still feel we need just one more in our system. from where we will likely draft, between #10 and #20, could snag us (as things stand today) Jusso Valimaki, Nicolas Hague, Urho Vaakanainen, Jacob Paquette or Robin Salo.

LHS, LHS, LHS, LHS, LHS

If there is one thing we dont need to draft it is more LHS Dmen.

IMO trade the pick unless we have a shot at Liljegren.

 

[CupofOil]

Suter was picked 7th. Name the number of dmen the Oilers have taken inside the top 10 ever?

Edit: I'll give you a hint one is named Darnell Nurse, the other one is in the HHOF and has his number hanging in the rafters.

I was just referencing Nashville's drafting success not the argument about taking a Dman in the top 10 vs. not.

While we're on the subject, which Dman would have taken at the time over Hall, RNH, Yakupov, Draisaitl, McDavid and/or Puljujarvi?
All those guys outside of perhaps RNH and Draisaitl were no brainer picks and the '14 draft was remarkably short on high end Dmen. The '12 draft had a lot of good Dmen in retrospect but outside of Murray, Reinhart was always a safe, fairly low upside guy, Rielly had a bad injury in his draft year, Trouba and Lindholm were fairly unknown so on and so forth.

Larsson over RNH is the only one that you can even remotely justify at draft time unless you wanted to trade down or trade the pick outright. Murray over Yak would have driven the fanbase nuts, Yak was widely regarded as a gift from the heavens when the Oilers won the lottery. In retrospect, a trade down would have been more prudent but we don't have the benefit of hindsight right now.

 

[Zaddy]

LHS, LHS, LHS, LHS, LHS

If there is one thing we dont need to draft it is more LHS Dmen.

IMO trade the pick unless we have a shot at Liljegren.

You can never have too many good d-men, regardless of handedness. If one of those guys turn into OEL, Hedman or Keith you're not complaining. Even if they don't reach that level if they turn out to be useful NHLers that's a win because even if you have "too many" d-men they're incredibly valuable around the league. If an LHD is the clear BPA on draft day you take that player.

 

[Draiskull]

You can never have too many good d-men, regardless of handedness. If one of those guys turn into OEL, Hedman or Keith you're not complaining. Even if they don't reach that level if they turn out to be useful NHLers that's a win because even if you have too many d-men are incredibly valuable around the league. If an LHD is the clear BPA on draft day you take that player.

The bolded is not what I commented on.. My post was in response to how Oilers NEED one more of these Dmen with a hint of picking them even if they are not the BPA.

Like I said.. unless it is Liljegren I would rather see the pick traded for someone that can help us win short term. If keeping the pick I would take Rasanen's linemate Tolvanen over any of the 5 LH Dmen mentioned.

Oilers should be loading up for a long playoffs run as early as 2017-18.

 

[Aerrol]

You can never have too many good d-men, regardless of handedness. If one of those guys turn into OEL, Hedman or Keith you're not complaining. Even if they don't reach that level if they turn out to be useful NHLers that's a win because even if you have "too many" d-men they're incredibly valuable around the league. If an LHD is the clear BPA on draft day you take that player.

This was basically the Penguins draft strategy under Shero, and while I disagreed with some of his trades, it definitely provided them with pretty good trade value. From 2009 to 2012, here are Shero's first 2 picks:

Simon Depres (LHD) and Philip Samuelsson (LHD), Beau Bennett (RW) and Bryan Rust (RW), Joe Morrow (LHD) and Scott Harrington (LHD), Derrick Pouliot (LHD) and Olli Maatta (LHD).

He got a lot of flak for refusing to draft wingers (Pouliot over Forsberg looks pretty awful right now...and I was mad on draft day too), but all in all, that panned out pretty well for them.

 

[Jumptheshark]

No, it's the fact that like 95% of dmen drafted by this organization don't turn out. We need to keep picking dmen high until we find a top pairing guy. If we end up with two top pairing dmen down the road no one will care. I mean look at Nashville I'm sure it sucked for them having Suter and Weber on the ice every night.

5 years from now the rostereo could look vastly different

 

[McSuper]

Is it just me or has our drafting improved by leaps and bounds since Chia took over

 

[48g90a138pts]

Suter was picked 7th. Name the number of dmen the Oilers have taken inside the top 10 ever?

Edit: I'll give you a hint one is named Darnell Nurse, the other one is in the HHOF and has his number hanging in the rafters.

I think I'll give this one a shot
He scored 48 goals 90 assists 138 points in a season.
Paul Coffey