It's pretty hard to beat the some of the Barry Fraser years, that being said, it seems like they realized they have too many guys coming down the pipe too quickly and opted for guys who are taking a longer development path last year. All of them except a 7th round goalie(and Leon) will be going the college route, which means we have a lot longer to sign them to a contract(or not). Gives those prospects a longer development time, and gives current prospects in the system longer to see if they're going to pan out.
ding ding ding
i was just going to say this. it was also a weak draft. the top end was not very top end. the depth after the top five dropped off a cliff. ALOT of risk in that draft and scouts knew that for a year or two before hand.
we discussed last year how everyone in the draft was a project and higher amount of risk than other drafts, with also longer development times. the value of the picks were also very low in comparison to other drafts (when you get to the draft GMs want to do things and make moves but even they commented that there was very little to get excited about EVEN though you are going crazy wanting to make a move).
making a great team takes some zig zagging in the cap era. zig zagging with your draft picks and sometimes zigzagging with you lineup in order to move an asset at the highest possible value.
as i pointed out in the mcdavid thread...mcdavids wings might be used, at times, to increase a trash cans trade value. colorado did this for a decade with forsberg and sakics wings. a guy would play thirty games collecting garbage points and tapping in rebounds. then he gets shipped off for a 1st rounder and a prospect, or for a veteran depth piece needed for the long playoff drive.
if the oilers get very good they can start using their ahl team to show off trash cans too. Drais might be THAT dominant to turn up a wingers value as a prospect in the Ahl. then that winger gets moved in a package for an asset we need. This is why Drais will be best served and best serve the org by playing a year in the A. ofcourse he also might absolutely dominate at camp and claim his spot. but asset wise, even if he dominates...id send him down and use twenty or thirty games to see who i can increase in value to move for a substantial return. then move drais up to that spot.
asset management done properly.
big picture