2021 Draft - 1st Pick: Xavier Bourgault (F)

[Bank Shot]

This is a nonsensical argument. GM's are stupid, that's been proven again and again.

Wallstedt has been hyped for 3-4 years now and despite all the early hype he has maintained his status as a top prospect throughout and performed at a really high level year after year. The guy was a starter in SHL (one of the best leagues in the world) as an 18 year old and he was good too. He was absolutely deserving of his high ranking.

Him falling doesn't mean he isn't as good as people believe. There are always good players that fall in the 1st round for no real reason. For all we know Wallstedt could've been #2 on many teams' list but they were able to get their #1 guy so he fell. That plus a lot of GM's are still uncomfortable taking a goalie in the 1st round.

Still, the team who eventually ended up taking him did trade up for him, meaning they thought he was someone they just had to get their hands on at that spot. Not dissimilar from how the Isles traded up to #16 in 2015 and nabbed Barzal.

For me, Wallstedt and Bourgault aren't even in the same tier of prospect. Wallstedt is a clear notch above. Doesn't mean Bourgault is a bad prospect, just means Oilers lost out on a better prospect, just like we did in 2019 when taking Broberg over Zegras. This is exactly the same as that, so it's surprising to me that you're defending this.

I thought the death by a thousand cuts thing would die out with the departure of Chiarelli but Holland is doing the same thing here. Very disappointing.

Meh, you can trade for a good starting goaltender nearly every season with a first round pick.

Why select a goaltender in the latter half of the first round that is 50-50 at best to play 100 games in the NHL when you can trade that same first for a proven starting goalie?

Unless you think Wallstedt was a franchise level goaltender? if so why did he fall to 20th overall?

 

[flying v 604]

Meh, you can trade for a good starting goaltender nearly every season with a first round pick.

Why select a goaltender in the latter half of the first round that is 50-50 at best to play 100 games in the NHL when you can trade that same first for a proven starting goalie?

Unless you think Wallstedt was a franchise level goaltender? if so why did he fall to 20th overall?

Trading for one hasn't exactly worked for the oilers and I don't recall many trades involving a #1 goalie, they are usually drafted and in a lot of cases end up being pushed out by a cheaper #1 in the system and sign a bloated deal from a team that sucks at developing their own. Look at Vancouver and the flames, one team drafts and develops goalies well, the other is forced to overpay a 30 year-old.
This kid could have been your Demko, homegrown while getting him for cheap until he's 26-27.

 

[Bank Shot]

Trading for one hasn't exactly worked for the oilers and I don't recall many trades involving a #1 goalie, they are usually drafted and in a lot of cases end up being pushed out by a cheaper #1 in the system and sign a bloated deal from a team that sucks at developing their own. Look at Vancouver and the flames, one team drafts and develops goalies well, the other is forced to overpay a 30 year-old.
This kid could have been your Demko, homegrown while getting him for cheap until he's 26-27.

Kuemper was just gotten for a first.
Fleury traded this offseason as well. Lehner was traded 2 years ago.
Grubauer was traded 3 years ago.

I feel like on the whole, goaltending is the easiest position to acquire someone that is league average or better through trade or free agency.

As for the Demko example, well he's turning 26 this year and so far the Canucks only got one average year and one good year out of him, and now he's getting paid.

So if you are only going to get one good, cheap year out of a goaltender that you drafted, whats the difference between drafting them or just getting a goaltender in a trade or free agency?

 

[Oilhawks]

Trading for one hasn't exactly worked for the oilers and I don't recall many trades involving a #1 goalie, they are usually drafted and in a lot of cases end up being pushed out by a cheaper #1 in the system and sign a bloated deal from a team that sucks at developing their own. Look at Vancouver and the flames, one team drafts and develops goalies well, the other is forced to overpay a 30 year-old.
This kid could have been your Demko, homegrown while getting him for cheap until he's 26-27.

Okay, but the Canucks didn’t draft Markstrom. They didn’t draft Luongo either. They were both traded for at around the age that goaltenders tend to start playing full time in the NHL. Neither were really developed by the Canucks beyond NHL level goaltending coaching.

So they’ve drafted and developed Demko. Basically two examples of “trade for this guy as he enters his prime as an NHL goalie” and one that was drafted and developed. Yes, I know that Markstrom had ups and downs and went through waivers, but he wasn’t drafted and developed by the Canucks. If anything, your team emphasizes why it might be better to go for a goaltender that has shown promise playing against adults rather than tossing a pick on a kid that will take 4+ years to develop.

 

[belair]

Trading for one hasn't exactly worked for the oilers and I don't recall many trades involving a #1 goalie, they are usually drafted and in a lot of cases end up being pushed out by a cheaper #1 in the system and sign a bloated deal from a team that sucks at developing their own. Look at Vancouver and the flames, one team drafts and develops goalies well, the other is forced to overpay a 30 year-old.
This kid could have been your Demko, homegrown while getting him for cheap until he's 26-27.

Wanna see what hasn't worked for the Edmonton Oilers? Take a look at their franchise history of developing starting goaltenders through the draft dating back to the early 1980s.

 

[CycloneSweep]

 

[AddyTheWrath]

Incoming pick redemption arc?

 

[snipes]

Anyone watch the scrimmage today? Sounds like Bourgault had a strong game.

 

[woinf]

Incoming pick redemption arc?

He doesn't need to redeem shit. He was ranked in the 20s and went in the 20s.

People are just super hung up over Wallsedt despite how much of a crapshoot goalies are.

 

[Oilhawks]

Incoming pick redemption arc?

People about to look like fools whining about the forward pick again

 

[GrinningBuddha]

 

[ujju2]

Depends what kind of starter.

Dipietro was a starter for 4 years. Schneider for 6 years. Dubnyk for like 8.

To be fair for most of those 6 years Schneider was one of the better starters in the league. Just fell off a cliff, much like Jones.

 

[AddyTheWrath]

He doesn't need to redeem shit. He was ranked in the 20s and went in the 20s.

People are just super hung up over Wallsedt despite how much of a crapshoot goalies are.

People are hung up on Wallstedt because he was ranked pretty high, fell, and our organization still doesn’t have a clear cut goalie of the future.

To be honest I was a bit disappointed when Holland traded down because even I got caught up in the hype, but admittedly I don’t know anything about prospects so I’m just hoping Bourgault turns out well for us. Looks like a good start so far.

 

[PKSpecialist]

People are hung up on Wallstedt because he was ranked pretty high, fell, and our organization still doesn’t have a clear cut goalie of the future.

To be honest I was a bit disappointed when Holland traded down because even I got caught up in the hype, but admittedly I don’t know anything about prospects so I’m just hoping Bourgault turns out well for us. Looks like a good start so far.

Agreed on the bolded, but what the organization has done is invest assets into the position despite what many are saying…twice they traded up by packaging two picks for one to get their guy(Skinner and Rodrigue), plus they drafted Konovalov. They’ve also picked up Stalock, resigned Smith and have Koskinen(who has been above league average during his albatross contract).
I’m willing to bet that the Oilers are higher on at least one of their bets than most fans are, and that they also have a plan in place to address the situation long term. Mike Smith is old, but no one can deny the numbers he’s put up since joining the Oilers are incredible.

 

[duul]

Don't know a single thing about this prospect but glad to see he is doing something in a development camp. Maybe he will get a look come the main camp? That's how the world juniors works right? There's another whole camp near Christmas?

 

[CornKicker]

Don't know a single thing about this prospect but glad to see he is doing something in a development camp. Maybe he will get a look come the main camp? That's how the world juniors works right? There's another whole camp near Christmas?

yeah the camp will be smaller and can be based more on in season play, there have been players not at summer camp that make the team but thats usually pretty rare. you have to be having an elite season in the CHL to have that happen

 

[AddyTheWrath]

Agreed on the bolded, but what the organization has done is invest assets into the position despite what many are saying…twice they traded up by packaging two picks for one to get their guy(Skinner and Rodrigue), plus they drafted Konovalov. They’ve also picked up Stalock, resigned Smith and have Koskinen(who has been above league average during his albatross contract).
I’m willing to bet that the Oilers are higher on at least one of their bets than most fans are, and that they also have a plan in place to address the situation long term. Mike Smith is old, but no one can deny the numbers he’s put up since joining the Oilers are incredible.

I agree with you that the Oilers have actually invested in goaltending but it doesn’t look like anything has panned out yet (Konovalov and Skinner do look promising though).

I hope the Oilers organization has a plan. It’s just hard to have faith after years of ineptitude, especially with Schwartz still somehow employed.

 

[MoontoScott]

Button doesn't have Xavier as one of his "projected" forwards for Team Canada but of course we all know how much Craig loves Oiler prospects.

 

[Oilhawks]

Maybe he missed the scrimmage and subsequent praise afterwards.

 

[McDoused]

Button doesn't have Xavier as one of his "projected" forwards for Team Canada but of course we all know how much Craig loves Oiler prospects.

Actually if you look at where he ranked our 1st rounders over the past 10 years, the majority were ranked ahead of where we took them.

 

[DrDrai]

 

[Asiaoil]

The Wallstedt pick reminded me of someone and for the life of me I could not remember who is it was. Then I remembered today. It was the Dubnyk draft and how many people were all over Marek Schwarz (who was drafted in the same range as Wallstadt) and is now considered among the top 10 goalie busts of all time.

Top 10 Goalie Busts of All-Time – Hockey Lists

I was interested in Wallstedt until I learned more about his average lateral agility and quickness. No way you should draft a guy that high who doesn't have the complete package (and I'd put Cossa in the same basket). Will Wallstedt be Schwarz and Cossa be Dubnyk? Who knows but the similarity is interesting.

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

The Wallstedt pick reminded me of someone and for the life of me I could not remember who is it was. Then I remembered today. It was the Dubnyk draft and how many people were all over Marek Schwarz (who was drafted in the same range as Wallstadt) and is now considered among the top 10 goalie busts of all time.

Top 10 Goalie Busts of All-Time – Hockey Lists

I was interested in Wallstedt until I learned more about his average lateral agility and quickness. No way you should draft a guy that high who doesn't have the complete package (and I'd put Cossa in the same basket). Will Wallstedt be Schwarz and Cossa be Dubnyk? Who knows but the similarity is interesting.

He wasn't a high pick, but Justin Pogge deserves an HM on that list because his WJHC performance convinced the Leafs to move Rask, which was a terrible choice.

 

[BoldNewLettuce]

I mean technically if they drafted wallstedt I wouldn't even know who bourgeault is or that he was in the hlinka.

 

[Oil53]

I think of Markstrom when Wellstedt is brought up.He was harolded as the next one and taken 31st.Didn’t he bounce around for a bit before blossoming in Vancouver?European goalies are a bit of a crapshoot as it’s a different game on the smaller ice and takes a bit of time to adjust.