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

[McDoused]

People are starting to come around to Bourgault?

Wallstedt isn't a lock to be a franchise goaltender?

Fans overreacted?

I'm shocked.

 

[Fourier]

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.

Markstrom took 9 years to establish himself as a fulltime starter. That's the issue with goalies. You really need to draft the guy early in your build.

 

[Smartguy]

People are starting to come around to Bourgault?

Wallstedt isn't a lock to be a franchise goaltender?

Fans overreacted?

I'm shocked.

The part that shocks me even more then that? Is it took 1 Summer WJC practice game to apparently make both of these claims

 

[Barrsy]

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.

Ha ha. Its funny how so many get butthurt over where a guy ranks our prospects as well as when he says anything critical about them.
Bouchard is exhbit A

 

[Delicious Pancakes]

The part that shocks me even more then that? Is it took 1 Summer WJC practice game to apparently make both of these claims

Call me back when he shows well in big games/the playoffs. His game is well-suited to look good in summer scrimmages. I want to see him not fade away when things get tougher and the checking gets tighter. Hopefully he makes the WJC team and can elevate his game and show that he can be a big game player.

 

[Barrsy]

Call me back when he shows well in big games/the playoffs. His game is well-suited to look good in summer scrimmages. I want to see him not fade away when things get tougher and the checking gets tighter. Hopefully he makes the WJC team and can elevate his game and show that he can be a big game player.

Ditto for Wallstat.
And even then, making pronouncements whose a better prospect after the draft, , 6 months after the draft, a year after the draft is idiotic. It shows total ignorance of the development curve.

 

[McDoused]

The part that shocks me even more then that? Is it took 1 Summer WJC practice game to apparently make both of these claims

I've been telling people to cool their jets since we drafted Bourgault and will continue to do so. I like to follow draft prospects the best I can and try and keep an open mind, this year more so. It's clear that majority of the fans had no idea who Bourgault was and are just slaves to the rankings. It's ironic because the argument for "passing on the consensus best player available" kind of falls apart given that Bourgualt was the consensus highest ranked forward available.

It never fails how opinionated fans are when they clearly haven't seen either of these kids play.

 

[CanmoreMike]

Markstrom took 9 years to establish himself as a fulltime starter. That's the issue with goalies. You really need to draft the guy early in your build.

I'm going to say that you need to draft a goalie and begin developing him LONG before your rebuild even begins.

If you are knee deep in shit and decide to rebuild and want to find a goalie in the draft...chances are you are screwed and will be for a while.

 

[Frank the Tank]

Scott Wheeler at The Athletic summarized each player at Canada's summer camp.

C/W Xavier Bourgault: Bourgault looked really quick, flashing some straight-line acceleration on the backcheck and in 10-foot races. I was impressed by his change of directions with the puck, too. His skating has come a long way to become a real asset. I thought he played very well in the first two games and peaked in the final one with three points (one goal, two assists) as one of the best players on the ice.

 

[Bank Shot]

Scott Wheeler at The Athletic summarized each player at Canada's summer camp.

So Xborg went from poor skating to plus skating in two weeks?

 

[Bryanbryoil]

So Xborg went from poor skating to plus skating in two weeks?

If so, he should be at McDavid's level of skating by year's end! All joking aside, it was a single person's take so it should be taken with a grain of salt. That said, if he has already started to improve on that area over the summer that is very good news.

 

[McDoused]

If so, he should be at McDavid's level of skating by year's end! All joking aside, it was a single person's take so it should be taken with a grain of salt. That said, if he has already started to improve on that area over the summer that is very good news.

He's never been a bad skater, just an awkward one.

 

[Barrsy]

So Xborg went from poor skating to plus skating in two weeks?

Whats funny is the guy who proclaimed him a poor skater. . Ands so many of the chicken lil's bought it .

 

[Zaddy]

People are starting to come around to Bourgault?

Wallstedt isn't a lock to be a franchise goaltender?

Fans overreacted?

I'm shocked.

People are bringing up ancient history in trying to find a reason to crap on Wallstedt, which I find pretty suspect. There are names far more comparable to him in more recent times.

For instance, here are the goalies drafted in the 1st round since 2012:

Vasilevski
Subban
Samsonov
Oettinger
Knight
Askarov

These are the comparables you should look at when projecting Wallstedt. None of these guys have busted. Subban is the worst of the bunch but even he has at least been an NHL backup these past four years. You have Vasilevski who is the best goalie in the game, Samsonov who is just finding his feet and then two very promising guys in Oettinger and Knight who will likely both be full-time starters next year with Knight potentially being an elite goalie in the future. Askarov is obviously too early to say anything about.

Looking at the trajectory of these guys there's nothing to suggest that Wallstedt won't be an NHL goaltender or that he wouldn't have been a very solid pick. For my money he's probably tied for 2nd with Knight on that list in terms of upside (behind Vasi ofc). For an organization that seemingly has zero ability at identifying goalie talent this was a perfect opportunity to take a "can't miss" prospect to fill that need, but alas...

Like there was significant talk in 2015 about taking Samsonov (who wasn't as good of a prospect as Wallstedt) just to fill that need even if it would've been a slight reach, and here we are six years later and it's still not filled. Embarrassing is what it is.

 

[North]

Seriously is this the Wallstedt thread or the Bourgault thread? Bourgault was the pick and discussion should be about his play. Not somebody we didn’t pick.

 

[Draiskull]

Seriously is this the Wallstedt thread or the Bourgault thread? Bourgault was the pick and discussion should be about his play. Not somebody we didn’t pick.

speaking of someone we didnt pick, Olivier Nadeau was picked 6 spots after we picked up the Muzzenburger (sp?) from Germany.
He is a teammate of Bourgault and led the team in scoring last season. Could have drafted and developed them both together.

 

[Canovin]

speaking of someone we didnt pick, Olivier Nadeau was picked 6 spots after we picked up the Muzzenburger (sp?) from Germany.
He is a teammate of Bourgault and led the team in scoring last season. Could have drafted and developed them both together.

Maybe the Oilers picked Tyler Toffoli while Buffalo picked Ryan Martindale?

 

[Soundwave]

Just having some fun

 

[Dirt McGintty]

People are bringing up ancient history in trying to find a reason to crap on Wallstedt, which I find pretty suspect. There are names far more comparable to him in more recent times.

For instance, here are the goalies drafted in the 1st round since 2012:

Vasilevski
Subban
Samsonov
Oettinger
Knight
Askarov

These are the comparables you should look at when projecting Wallstedt. None of these guys have busted. Subban is the worst of the bunch but even he has at least been an NHL backup these past four years. You have Vasilevski who is the best goalie in the game, Samsonov who is just finding his feet and then two very promising guys in Oettinger and Knight who will likely both be full-time starters next year with Knight potentially being an elite goalie in the future. Askarov is obviously too early to say anything about.

Looking at the trajectory of these guys there's nothing to suggest that Wallstedt won't be an NHL goaltender or that he wouldn't have been a very solid pick. For my money he's probably tied for 2nd with Knight on that list in terms of upside (behind Vasi ofc). For an organization that seemingly has zero ability at identifying goalie talent this was a perfect opportunity to take a "can't miss" prospect to fill that need, but alas...

Like there was significant talk in 2015 about taking Samsonov (who wasn't as good of a prospect as Wallstedt) just to fill that need even if it would've been a slight reach, and here we are six years later and it's still not filled. Embarrassing is what it is.

Here we are six years later and Samsonov hasn't proven anything. He's played 45 NHL games.

 

[Forgot About Drai]

Xavier is looking sick not going to lie. Im still a Wallstedt guy but this by no means a blown pick

 

[Broberg Speed]

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.

I used to get hung up on Button as well but I've come around to appreciate his takes. Understand who he works for and that he wouldn't be TSN's draft expert unless he does what's expected from him.

 

[Zaddy]

Here we are six years later and Samsonov hasn't proven anything. He's played 45 NHL games.

Yeah and as I mentioned Wallstedt is a better prospect than him and that I believe Wallstedt should be compared to Knight more than anyone else in that bunch. Knight already played NHL games in his D+2 season and could be a starter in his D+3 season.

My point wasn't about Samsonov specifically anyway, it was about the fact that we needed a goalie in 2015 and still haven't found one. Imagine another 4-6 years down the road when Wallstedt is in the NHL and the Oilers are STILL looking for a starter?

 

[Zaddy]

Just having some fun

The funny part is that you could've made this image/meme last year with Broberg (after his play in Oilers camp) instead of Bourgault and Zegras instead of Wallstedt. HFOil loves a good training camp.

 

[Beerfish]

I have not changed my mind one little bit about the oilers pick, just like it never varied from day one until today when the oilers, badly needing a skilled winger, more than one of which fell into their laps picked a left handed dman instead.

 

[LTIR]

I have not changed my mind one little bit about the oilers pick, just like it never varied from day one until today when the oilers, badly needing a skilled winger, more than one of which fell into their laps picked a left handed dman instead.

Imagine this board if we were picking 6th and Holland selected Seider with Cozens and Turcotte on board.