2016 NHL Draft

[hbk]

I just wish he wasn't so hell bent on going to college OR that he was already there. I hate the idea of burning a top ten pick on a kid (again) that goes to college a year later, decides to graduate, and ends up a free agent, leaving us with some bull **** compensatory pick five years later. We've been there. We've done that. It doesn't rule him out for me. But I don't like it. He should've either gone to Seattle in the WHL or accelerated HS and been a Freshman at BU this season. The hanging around in the BCHL thing I really don't like.

Interview key. Ask.

I will say this. He's dynamic. He moves pick out of zone w ease and shows tremendous creativity and skill in offensive zone. Cross ice passes to wide open players in slot. Skill and hockey iq. And a RD. Very impressed.

 

[XX]

Prospects can straight up lie, and there's incentive to do so if they want to go UFA.

 

[PhoPhan]

Interview key. Ask.

I will say this. He's dynamic. He moves pick out of zone w ease and shows tremendous creativity and skill in offensive zone. Cross ice passes to wide open players in slot. Skill and hockey iq. And a RD. Very impressed.

There's a bit of Duncan Keith in his game. I haven't seen top pairing creativity but he's a very heady player.

 

[hbk]

There's a bit of Duncan Keith in his game. I haven't seen top pairing creativity but he's a very heady player.

He's caused me to pause. I'm checking him out live next weekend. My personal uneducated list will come up shortly afterwards.

 

[hbk]

Watching Czech Canada game. Fabro always w tape to tape pass. Smart smart player. He's a wow player this tournament.

 

[Mosby]

But an incredible reach at 7, no? Can he fall to the Rangers pick? Assuming they give up this year's.

 

[Bonsai Tree]

I'm concerned about just who makes the call on draft day. I hope that it is a hockey person and not a member of the ownership group.

 

[Gambl0r83*]

Edmontonian here
I keep reading all these rumors on OEL vs Matthews in Arizona and on how Edmonton would be the only team that will actually trade the 1st overall pick if they won the lottery, again

Is it legal to create a new topic and make a poll on that here, or will it get struck down by the powers that be?

How many of you are on the side where you trade the Ultra D-Man OEL for Arizona native Awesome Matthews if the Oilers win the lottery? What deal, if any, would be the most ideal for both organizations?

 

[SniperHF]

Edmontonian here
I keep reading all these rumors on OEL vs Matthews in Arizona and on how Edmonton would be the only team that will actually trade the 1st overall pick if they won the lottery, again

Is it legal to create a new topic and make a poll on that here, or will it get struck down by the powers that be?

Heh, you can make the poll if you want. But I think the result will be something like 35-1 against trading OEL for pretty much anything realistic.

 

[Shepard]

Edmontonian here
I keep reading all these rumors on OEL vs Matthews in Arizona and on how Edmonton would be the only team that will actually trade the 1st overall pick if they won the lottery, again

Is it legal to create a new topic and make a poll on that here, or will it get struck down by the powers that be?

How many of you are on the side where you trade the Ultra D-Man OEL for Arizona native Awesome Matthews if the Oilers win the lottery? What deal, if any, would be the most ideal for both organizations?

Honestly, I don't think it's worth making a poll. To say it has been described to death on the trade board would be a massive understatement, and I've yet to see a single Yotes fan in favor of making that trade. OEL for Matthews would create a massive hole for us while adding to a position we're strong at (in terms of prospects, anyway).

Plus, even our owner has said we aren't trading OEL for Matthews.

 

[Sinurgy]

What deal, if any, would be the most ideal for both organizations?

One that doesn't involve OEL, Domi or Strome which pretty much kills the deal. It's weird to say but Edmonton needs to move that pick (or have the balls not to take Matthews) more than the Coyotes need to acquire it. The consensus #1 player in the draft is Matthews but he's also arguably the worst pick for Edmonton, hence all the trade rumors. If I was Edmonton, I would call up AZ and ask them what they'd be willing to add to their own pick in order to get the #1 and then I'd take the deal pretty much regardless of who or what they add. Of course this only works if the Coyotes themselves end up 2nd or 3rd, that way Edmonton is guaranteed to get their guy (presumably one of the big Finnish wingers or someone like Chyrchrun who is NHL ready now).

 

[MIGs Dog]

Plus, even our owner has said we aren't trading OEL for Matthews.

I'm not saying we would or should trade OEL, but stating you will not do something is a common negotiating strategy.

 

[Kaibur]

Trading OEL would be difficult and I don't see it happening. We'd be moving our most expensive contract (making it tougher to make the cap floor) and making our defense the worst in the league. We'd have to have a plan to bolster the D as part of such a theoretical move.

I've seen a few offers of Matthews + Nurse for OEL. That's at least interesting enough to consider. Sign Yandle with OEL's money, draft Juolevi or Sergachyev, and there'd still be probably $5M left to match this year's budget. Maybe throw an offer at Demers with the rest?

Domi-Hanzal-Duclair
Rieder-Matthews-Doan
Tanguay-Vermette-Strome
Martinook-Richardson-Tikhonov

Yandle-Murphy
Nurse-Demers
K-Conn-Stone
Z
Smith-Domingue

If Oilers don't win a lottery and wind up picking 4th, would anyone trade OEL for Draisaitl + Chychrun? Is that better value than Matthews + Nurse.

 

[Bonsai Tree]

We really have enough quality forwards coming up to make us a contender. I would never trade OEL for Matthews given our lack of depth at the D line. We are not Nashville, who could afford to trade a #1D for a #1C given their defensive depth.

 

[Jakey53]

We really have enough quality forwards coming up to make us a contender. I would never trade OEL for Matthews given our lack of depth at the D line. We are not Nashville, who could afford to trade a #1D for a #1C given their defensive depth.

Maybe. Don't count your chickens before they hatch. We are nowhere near a contender at the moment which you are well aware of. Defense wins games, and like you said we lack depth, heck we lack quality. Our D have to really upgrade our D before we can even talk making the playoffs let alone being a contender.

 

[lanky]

The other difference with Nashville is that Jones is one of the most promising young defenders with a bright future, though he is not yet a #1D on his team. He's a reasonable bet to get there, but there's still some progression needed. OEL is one of the best defenders in the league.

 

[The Feckless Puck]

How many of you are on the side where you trade the Ultra D-Man OEL for Arizona native Awesome Matthews if the Oilers win the lottery? What deal, if any, would be the most ideal for both organizations?

There is no trade with Edmonton that doesn't involve McDavid that would make me comfortable with trading OEL to the Oilers.

 

[MIGs Dog]

There is no trade with Edmonton that doesn't involve McDavid that would make me comfortable with trading OEL to the Oilers.

Hmm...McDavid, Matthews, Domi, Duclair, Strome, Dvorak, Perlini, MacInnis, etc.

Hypothetically could be the most lethal group of forwards in the league. Hypothetically mind you.

They would need to put up 7 goals per night, cuz our defense would be one of the worst.

 

[BlazingBlueAnt]

I hope we stay far away from Logan Stanley. I hope we don't fall in love with the size and toughness

 

[hbk]

But an incredible reach at 7, no? Can he fall to the Rangers pick? Assuming they give up this year's.

If you think he's the best D in draft then no I don't think he's a reach at 7. Every team in the league will be watching this tournament and noticing that he's a mistake free puck moving D with high end hockey IQ. He won't last until Rangers pick.

 

[rt]

I hope we stay far away from Logan Stanley. I hope we don't fall in love with the size and toughness

Meh. I'd welcome him to the pool. He's been playing with Sergachev and has been able to keep up. So maybe he's the type who can compliment a more skilled partner. Murphy has been able to do this with OEL so far and it's be valuable. We are also missing toughness from our blueline in a big way. We were successful when we had very heavy, "take no **** from anyone" D back there like Morris, Aucoin and Klesla. I think that is a missing element that we need for success. I don't really care if he doesn't put up a ton of points as long as he brings a piece to the equation. I mean, who'd have that that Dylan McIlrath would be the contributing addition to a playoff team while Gormley is a tweener minor-leaguer/healthy scratch on a non-playoff team?

 

[hbk]

Edmontonian here
I keep reading all these rumors on OEL vs Matthews in Arizona and on how Edmonton would be the only team that will actually trade the 1st overall pick if they won the lottery, again

Is it legal to create a new topic and make a poll on that here, or will it get struck down by the powers that be?

How many of you are on the side where you trade the Ultra D-Man OEL for Arizona native Awesome Matthews if the Oilers win the lottery? What deal, if any, would be the most ideal for both organizations?

There's zero appetite to move OEL for Mathews.

Any marketing goodwill created by drafting local kid will be gone in first 10 games if they go 1-9. Winning trumps local kid.

 

[hbk]

I hope we stay far away from Logan Stanley. I hope we don't fall in love with the size and toughness

He's come a long way in a short amount of time. I worry about taking a project D who may run out of waiver exemptions before he is a full time roster player. Any hiccup in development and you run that risk. That being said he'll be in consideration at Rangers pick.

 

[BUX7PHX]

Hmm...McDavid, Matthews, Domi, Duclair, Strome, Dvorak, Perlini, MacInnis, etc.

Hypothetically could be the most lethal group of forwards in the league. Hypothetically mind you.

They would need to put up 7 goals per night, cuz our defense would be one of the worst.

Even with the most lethal forwards in the league, let's look at a comparison (not everyone has played together, sure, but neither have those mentioned above):

McDavid, Hall, Nugent-Hopkins, Eberle, Draisaitl, Paajarvi, Yakupov, Perron, etc.

How many NHL playoff games has this lethal group experienced?

We need defense badly.

My sincere hope is that we win the lottery and draft Matthews. We can explore the free agents for D, but my honest hope would be that we start opening up the phone lines for Strome, Perlini, or some other prospects that we could "stand" to part ways with. Strome will easily get us the best return of on-the-NHL-cusp defensemen plus some other assets. All that does is take the rebuild on the defensive side from maybe 3-4 years of waiting on prospect development to less than 2 years for one impact top 4 defenseman to come in. Still have plenty of offense available going forward.

If we don't win lottery, take a D-man at 7/8/9, but then we are only looking at the free agents for D help. And we don't have the same forward depth to offer any sort of deal. So we are in a holding pattern on the rebuild, so to speak. Not a bad thing, but maybe not the most optimal thing either.

But bottom line, we are never dealing OEL for Matthews.

 

[BlazingBlueAnt]

Meh. I'd welcome him to the pool. He's been playing with Sergachev and has been able to keep up. So maybe he's the type who can compliment a more skilled partner. Murphy has been able to do this with OEL so far and it's be valuable. We are also missing toughness from our blueline in a big way. We were successful when we had very heavy, "take no **** from anyone" D back there like Morris, Aucoin and Klesla. I think that is a missing element that we need for success. I don't really care if he doesn't put up a ton of points as long as he brings a piece to the equation. I mean, who'd have that that Dylan McIlrath would be the contributing addition to a playoff team while Gormley is a tweener minor-leaguer/healthy scratch on a non-playoff team?

The skating worries me