Draisaitl, Reinhart the cream of the NHL-drafted center crop in the WHL

[Aceboogie]

Make no mistake.. Sam Bennett is a very good hockey player. Not sure why you guys are trying to downplay him.

He's fast, he's skilled, and he competes. And that compete level can be infectious.

They say you can't teach skill.. but I can also guarantee you aren't going to get Leon to compete like Bennett does.

You also can't teach hockey IQ that LD has in bundles. Maybe LD doesn't look like he's trying because he's always in the right position. Yakupov has loads of compete, but that's because he's not in the right spot so has to hustle everywhere

LD has two things you can't teach 1. Size 2. Hockey iq

 

[LTIR]

We got McDavid.

So everything for that to happen had to happen and couldn't have happened any other way.

Yup... MacT, Lowe, Eakins, Krueger, Smyth, Dubnyk, Fire Lowe crew, HF Oilers posters, heck even Leafs fans were all part of the plan ..

@ Architect

 

[Soundwave]

Yup... MacT, Lowe, Eakins, Krueger, Smyth, Dubnyk, Fire Lowe crew, HF Oilers posters, heck even Leafs fans were all part of the plan ..

@ Architect

No what happened happened and couldn't have happened any other way.

How do you know?

We have McDavid.

 

[Topkatz]

How about next year having the idea of going in with something like this upfront (provided no one is traded for D or G)

Hall - McDavid - Power Forward/Roy/Lander/Purcell
Pouliot - RNH - Eberle
Lander/Roy - Draisaitl - Yaukpov
??? - ??? - ???

What do you think? Or move Drai to left wing?

 

[OilTastic]

the endless arguments of Bennett v. Draisaitl, and who the Oilers "should have" picked is getting boring. NO ONE can say definitively which will be the better of the two at this stage of their careers, if there even is a so called "winner" in the future?

 

[McDrai]

Bennett would have been redundant on our team. We already have RNH, Eberle, Yakupov, Hall, and now McDavid. We need some size to compliment these players. Pouliot, while not being super physical, is a big body that provides room for RNH and Ebs to operate in the offensive zone. Draisaitl was the right pick for the Oilers imo. For another team? Maybe not.

 

[ChaoticOrange]

Really interesting to see Draisaitl ranked over Reinhart. I think right now anyway the re-draft would go

1. Ekblad 2. Bennett/Drai 3. Drai/Bennett 4. Reinhart

 

[Aerchon]

Really interesting to see Draisaitl ranked over Reinhart. I think right now anyway the re-draft would go

1. Ekblad 2. Bennett/Drai 3. Drai/Bennett 4. Reinhart

The Ekblad situation was strange. Even for a defenseman. I know he did end up being picked first but really this should have been a no brainer. He went from exceptional status best D-man in a generation to maybe his game won't translate to the NHL.

Buffalo is in serious trouble. They are really shaping up to follow an Oilers model rebuild. They never really gave Reinhart much of a chance to stick with the team, sent him back to a decimated junior squad and generally we not overly excited for him.

Now Eichel would have me giddy as a school girl and they are just disappointed they didn't get McDavid.

Scorched earth approach, no goal tending, D too young, no real mentors (Kane lol), and a less than warm welcome for their newest future stars.

Probably going to be a long haul for them.

 

[Jejune]

I really think Bennett is starting to get a bit too much love for what he brings. I see a talented player for sure, but he seems to be opportunistic, capitalizing on turnovers and strong plays behind the net rather than getting by on hockey sense, vision or skill. I think his ceiling is going to be somewhat limited based on this, whereas Draisaitl's strengths are his vision and passing.

They've each got things to work on but I think Draisaitl's ceiling is higher whereas Bennett's more of a sure thing with a lower overall potential. They're both great prospects to be sure but it's far from a slam dunk at this point.

 

[Soundwave]

The way I see it, that pick might be the obvious move for a good d-man down the line. It's a nice to have, but three good centers is not necessarily a must have.

 

[DarksideGhost]

McDavid - Draisait - Nuge down the middle
vs
McDavid - Nuge - Bennet down the middle

I will take option 1.

Calgary has Monahan so Bennet compliments them better.

I would have taken option 2 because the link below tells the story of two friends kicking butt and taking names when they were younger. What could have been for McDavid and Bennett on the same line would have been amazing!! to bad reality is we got the Leon......


http://http://www.edmontonjournal.com/sports/hockey/Flames+Bennett+excited+chance+face+buddy+McDavid+Battle/10985503/story.html

 

[Bryanbryoil]

I would have taken option 2 because the link below tells the story of two friends kicking butt and taking names when they were younger. What could have been for McDavid and Bennett on the same line would have been amazing!! to bad reality is we got the Leon......


http://http://www.edmontonjournal.com/sports/hockey/Flames+Bennett+excited+chance+face+buddy+McDavid+Battle/10985503/story.html

Boo****inghoo. You'd think that Leon was the second coming of Bonsignore the way that some of the pro Bennett crowd are *****ing and moaning about it. Is is not possible that both guys have lengthy and successful NHL careers? I remember people whining that we'd be taking RNH over Couturier too, how's that working out? Guess what? We ended up with 2 average sized centers anyway and I'd take either of them over Bennett without thinking twice. It's a luxury to have a big bodied C like Draisaitl to match up with the Getzlaf's of the world, do you not see how much harder it is for smaller C's to take on bigger C's? They have to exert more energy on defense to make up for the mass difference.

 

[CanadianSuperPromise]

Drafting McDavid was a fluke. Would you guys really wanted two string beans as your 1-2 centre's?

I can only imagine someone like Getzlaf caving in Nuge's head in one shift and Bennett's head the next, leaving us with Lander as our #1 Centre for the next 6 months. I'm tired of watching tiny team play, look around you, teams are getting bigger and size does matter.

 

[MCMIL OIL]

Bennet is the better player for now.Time well tell. However if we knew we were gunna get Mcdavid we would have drafted Draisaitl anyway. So the way I see it everything is perfect. In 2 years...

Hall- McDavid-Eberle
Yakupov-Nuge-Draisaitl

 

[MessierII]

I want to have the best centers in the NHL like Pittsburgh did. I think if we develop Leon we have that

Mcdavid
Nugent
Leon

In 5 years imagine what all these players could be. That could easily be the deepest C depth in the NHL if all these players even come close to their ceiling.

 

[MPStoEberletoHall*]

I want to have the best centers in the NHL like Pittsburgh did. I think if we develop Leon we have that

Mcdavid
Nugent
Leon

In 5 years imagine what all these players could be. That could easily be the deepest C depth in the NHL if all these players even come close to their ceiling.

Mcdavid
RNH
Draisaitl
Yakimov/Lander


Could potentially be the strongest team in the league up the middle in the future

 

[Fourier]

Bennet is the better player for now.Time well tell. However if we knew we were gunna get Mcdavid we would have drafted Draisaitl anyway. So the way I see it everything is perfect. In 2 years...

Hall- McDavid-Eberle
Yakupov-Nuge-Draisaitl

I am not convinced Bennett is the better player right now. His skill set fits the circumstance in Calgary. The whole team has been successful by going all out all the time. That is Bennett's game. It's much easier for a rookie to make an impact playing that way than it is for someone whose game is more like Draisaitl's.

And for the record I have always liked Bennett. In fact I was one of the firs people on here to push him as a candidate for the Oilers. I'd been fine with either but I preferred Draisailt at the draft and would still take him.

 

[Mr Sakich]

Bennett would have been redundant on our team. We already have RNH, Eberle, Yakupov, Hall, and now McDavid. We need some size to compliment these players. Pouliot, while not being super physical, is a big body that provides room for RNH and Ebs to operate in the offensive zone. Draisaitl was the right pick for the Oilers imo. For another team? Maybe not.

100% agree. The flames have unintentionally followed our failed rebuild plan. They have gotten super lucky this year and that masks somme serous long term issues. Their best players up front are Bennet, Monahan, Gaudreau, Hudler, and Backlund. Non of these guys are power forwards. Too much of the same on the top 2 lines.

A big team like anaheim is destroying them to the point of sitting gaudreau in the 3rd to protect him.

 

[McChucky]

Leon is a big guy. Usually takes the big fellas a little more time to get used to the pros. Look at Joe Thornton as an example. Its the point they realize that their size is as good of a weapon as their skill. Takes time...Leon has been the most skilled player on the ice wherever he's played his whole life. Hasn't needed to use the size tool until now. Or at least to the extent he needs to use it in the NHL.

 

[fuswald]

100% agree. The flames have unintentionally followed our failed rebuild plan. They have gotten super lucky this year and that masks somme serous long term issues. Their best players up front are Bennet, Monahan, Gaudreau, Hudler, and Backlund. Non of these guys are power forwards. Too much of the same on the top 2 lines.

A big team like anaheim is destroying them to the point of sitting gaudreau in the 3rd to protect him.

Most Ridiculous
They have vets and a d and a goalie.
Not even close.

 

[Halibut]

I really think Bennett is starting to get a bit too much love for what he brings. I see a talented player for sure, but he seems to be opportunistic, capitalizing on turnovers and strong plays behind the net rather than getting by on hockey sense, vision or skill. I think his ceiling is going to be somewhat limited based on this, whereas Draisaitl's strengths are his vision and passing.

They've each got things to work on but I think Draisaitl's ceiling is higher whereas Bennett's more of a sure thing with a lower overall potential. They're both great prospects to be sure but it's far from a slam dunk at this point.

I think the opposite. We've got guys who are good at passing the puck and making those nice plays that rely on vision we dont have what Bennett brings, someone who fights for space close to the net and capitalizes on opportunities. The only thing I can see holding back his career over Drai is injury.

I'm still happy with Draisaitl even if I would have preferred Bennett and I think he has a shot to make the team next year. I don't think he has to start in Bakersfield but they shouldnt be afraid to send him down at any point.

 

[Tyrolean]

Bennett is 6' 180 lbs at last year's draft. The perception was he was too small and we had lots of forwards like him. What people ignored was he was one of the youngest in his draft class, being 8 to 9 months younger than Draisaitl. Given that, the comparison's to Bennett that many made should of been his results from last year (2013/14) to Draisaitl's (2012/2013) season.

Anyway, IMHO, Bennett is going to be the best of the centers for years to come, and we still got a heck of a player.

Here is a great article by Lowetide on the 3 centers:

http://oilersnation.com/2014/4/17/make-the-call

I woiuld always pick BPA and Bennett was it. If we have too many of the same types of players then tade some off, but don't ignore talent and drive. Drasatl probably will be ok, but not as dynamic as Bennett.