Zaddy
Registered User
- Feb 8, 2013
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Thought this paragraph from Mark Spector was interesting. Folks who know the draft a lot better than me were probably well aware of this information, but I needed the reminder. That's a pretty fine crop of picks from one draft, and finally some productive late round selections too. Love the tear shed for Stu MacGregor at the end too.
It’s funny: that 2015 draft supplied Connor McDavid at No. 1 overall, a no-brainer of a pick. With the second and third picks dealt away for Griffin Reinhart and David Perron, the Oilers used a pick acquired from Montreal for Jeff Petry to get Jones in Round 4. Then they picked a kid named Ethan Bear in the fifth round, and their six-round choice, John Marino, is currently playing 21 minutes per night on Pittsburgh’s blue line.
If Jones plays, and we truly believe he will, that’s three NHL defencemen drafted in Rounds 4, 5 and 6. Stellar.
And the head amateur scout who built the list for such a savvy draft? His name was Stu MacGregor.
He was fired by Edmonton five days before that 2015 draft occurred.
Yep, and people say you can't evaluate how good of a draft a team had until 4-5 years down the road. Well...it was pretty obvious right away that the 2015 draft had a lot more promise than the drafts of years past for the Oilers. You never know how the draft is going to turn out but guys like Bear and Jones had infinitely more promise than the guys the Oilers had typically picked in those rounds in the past.