Knee Jerk reaction to the oilers draft

[nabob]

I'm giving the Oilers draft a C. That makes it very average. Getting Bouchard and McLeod with the first two picks should have made this draft an A, but I knock it down to a C and here's my rationale.

1. D- Evan Bouchard Getting Bouchard is awesome because we didn't think he'd be available, and he fills a need, but so would have Dobson. I'm disappointed in getting Bouchard only because Dobson was left. In the end, I like the prospect a lot, just not the pick between the two players. B+
2. C - Ryan McLeod A very good value pick at this point in the draft. A first round talent, great skater. Great pick. I may have doubled down on right handed defenders here and went with Bode Wilde, or maybe taken Akil Thomas, but I'm not in the least disappointed in this pick. A+
3. G - Olivier Rodrigue I like Rodrigue, and I know many had him rated as the top goalie in the draft, but there's only one reason this pick isnt an absolute fail for me, and that's Rodrigue himself. He is a quality goaltending prospect. That said, we did the same thing last year, trading 2 picks to move up for Skinner when lots of good goaltending prospects were still on the board. In my opinion, Skarek remains the top goalie prospect from this draft, he was still on the board and we traded up and took a lesser prospect. Just like last year when Ian Scott was still on the board and we traded up and took Skinner. Even if you like Rodrigue over Skarek, or Skinner over Scott, the argument remains, with such evenly ranked prospects still on the board, why waste two assets to acquire one? Getting Rodrigue at 71 I would give this pick a solid B, but trading two picks for one and taking him at 62....nope. D-
4. D - Michael Kesselring Has the raw physical tools that are required to be an NHL defender. Good skater and good instincts. He obviously needs seasoning, but at this point in the draft it's the kind of pick a team should make. A
5. C - Patrik Siikanen Skilled winger with some good offensive prowess. Another good value pick in the 7th round, but I would have liked to see them take a chance on Nando Eggenberger or Ryan Chyzowski here. A very 'blah' type pick, but its the 7th round. C

Again, it's a good draft and they added 5 good prospects to the mix and three very good ones. I just think they could have done just as well without making a 2 for one trade to move up. Not disappointed with the outcome of who we got, just disappointed with missing Dobson and the approach used by trading, that's why it's a C for me.

Your rationale for not liking the goalie puck doesn’t make any sense based on the examples you used. That is the reasoning that should be used to say why it was a good pick. Also if someone would have told you we were drafting Bouchard before the draft you would have been ecstatic.

 

[ImmuneEH]

I think if you're building a D-corps you want to add some different flavors.

Larsson - Physical shut-down D.
Nurse - Hard to peg. Mobile, carries the puck well, physical, solid defensively, and his ES point total isn't too shabby.
Klefbomb - Mobile all situations 2-way D.

-------------------------------------------------

Dobson - Very well rounded all situations 2-way D.

Bouchard - Offensive D.

Bouchard is fantastic offensively, runs a PP very well (great point shot, jumps into the play well with his hard & accurate wrist shot, excellent passing), slightly above average skating (not slow, not a burner. must work on edge work and first step), and average-slightly above average defensively. The skills of his that are lagging behind are easy to work on.

Both guys will easily become bonafide 2nd pairing RD - at minimum imo. I think both could become legit #1 pairing D, but think Dobson is the safer pick to do so. The Oilers sorely lack what Bouchard is especially great at.

To round out his game, Larsson is a great contrast to him who could be an excellent mentor defensively. Teach Bouchard how to make the most of his size, squeeze players coming in against the boards and boxing people out. Yawney will really help in rounding out his game.

tl;dr Bouchard has the higher offensive ceiling, better transitionally due to his passing and we have the right pieces in place to round out his game.

 

[Delicious Pancakes]

I would give the draft a C+ but there was no option for that. Here's my breakdown:

• (B-) Bouchard - Good fit in terms of need but passed on (IMO) better prospects, notably Noah Dobson.
• (B) McLeod - Good pick, would have preferred higher upside (Akil Thomas, Jonny Tychonick).
• (D) Rodrigue - Trading up for a goalie in round 2? In this draft? Question Rodrigue's size and glove. Would've prefered Annunen.
• (D) Kesselring - To be fair haven't watched him. Don't like drafting raw defenders with questionable defensive skills though.
• (A) Siikanen - Really like this player, good combination of size, work ethic and skill. Excited to see how he handles SM-Liiga

Others project Bouchard as a top pairing guy, see McLeod as a possible #2 C, and see Rodrigue as the top goalie prospect and will give this draft a high grade. I see Bouchard more as an offensive #4/#5 D who isn't an effective defender against top players at the NHL level. McLeod I see more as #3 C who can move up the lineup when needed. Rodrigue I don't project as more than a below average starter/good backup because of weakness to high shots and size (6'1" but small frame and new equipment regulations will hurt small goalies).

I think this draft could turn out 4 NHLers for the Oilers but don't see any high impact players. 4 NHLers from one draft would usually be seen as a great draft but I'm a little underwhelmed given the circumstances.

 

[Aceboogie]

I'd give it a B. I like the Bouchard and McLeod pick. I am pretty against trading up in the late rounds because I dont think there is too much of a difference and you want more lottery tickets. I am also against taking goalies earlier on (plus we have a bunch). So the trade up to take the goalie is totally against what I think is right, but who knows, it looks to have worked out this far with Skinner

 

[BudBundy]

Solid draft, though the best picks really fell into our lap and its hard to extend too much credit. I strongly object to the Rodrigue pick based purely on the nepotism aspect. What are the other goalie prospects thinking right now and how is Skinner going to feel in two years every time Rodrigue gets a start he wanted or gets pulled from a game he wants to fight through? Guys are fighting for careers and there are only a few spots in goal available. Why introduce potential politics? You know what the other goalies agents are going to be whispering.

 

[Louis Cypher]

I gave it a B.
Very happy with the first 3 picks.

While the goalies aren't sexy they are an important need and since it looks they are trying to fix ALL areas of the organization having quality goaltenders in the minors helps develop the other players and gives the team some confidence. Plus it helps put upward pressure on the starters.

Sign some wingers now.

 

[PKSpecialist]

Your rationale for not liking the goalie puck doesn’t make any sense based on the examples you used. That is the reasoning that should be used to say why it was a good pick. Also if someone would have told you we were drafting Bouchard before the draft you would have been ecstatic.

Why is that? Because you don’t know who Ian Scott is? This is going to turn into a Stuart Skinner hate post, and I don’t hate him, but he got a lot of love and is being overrated due to being traded to a powerhouse defensive hockey team. That’s not to say he wasn’t good, because he was, and he was the final piece of the puzzle for a strong defensive team, but he also had some brutal games in the playoffs(see being pulled at least twice in the first round vs. Regina). If you don’t think Ian Scott is on par with him you’re sadly mistaken. He carried a very average team on his back and within 10 minutes of upsetting the first place Moose Jaw Warriors in the first round. He wasn’t on a strong defensive team either. The Raiders has some hard workers, but lacked firepower offensively and defensively. Scott is at the other end of the spectrum as Skinner, very underrated mainly because he struggled in international competition in his draft year. Scott is every bit as good as Skinner, and trumps him in athleticism. He is at the very least on par with Skinner as a prospect. Again, don’t hate Skinner, but the trade of two assets to acquire one when there are more than one good option available to you.

As far as Bouchard goes, I like the pick, and gave it a B+, but if you look at my personal rankings, he was 12th on my board, while Noah Dobson was 3rd. So would have I been ecstatic to get Bouchard, no. Not disappointed that we got him though, just disappointed to have had the opportunity to draft Dobson and pass it up.

 

[Kagomeboy]

Why is that? Because you don’t know who Ian Scott is? This is going to turn into a Stuart Skinner hate post, and I don’t hate him, but he got a lot of love and is being overrated due to being traded to a powerhouse defensive hockey team. That’s not to say he wasn’t good, because he was, and he was the final piece of the puzzle for a strong defensive team, but he also had some brutal games in the playoffs(see being pulled at least twice in the first round vs. Regina). If you don’t think Ian Scott is on par with him you’re sadly mistaken. He carried a very average team on his back and within 10 minutes of upsetting the first place Moose Jaw Warriors in the first round. He wasn’t on a strong defensive team either. The Raiders has some hard workers, but lacked firepower offensively and defensively. Scott is at the other end of the spectrum as Skinner, very underrated mainly because he struggled in international competition in his draft year. Scott is every bit as good as Skinner, and trumps him in athleticism. He is at the very least on par with Skinner as a prospect. Again, don’t hate Skinner, but the trade of two assets to acquire one when there are more than one good option available to you.

As far as Bouchard goes, I like the pick, and gave it a B+, but if you look at my personal rankings, he was 12th on my board, while Noah Dobson was 3rd. So would have I been ecstatic to get Bouchard, no. Not disappointed that we got him though, just disappointed to have had the opportunity to draft Dobson and pass it up.

I would love to have Dobson but I do not mind Evan Bouchard,I think we over hyped on Dobson because what he did at the Memorial cup.

Also is this ian scott the guitarist form anthrax or prospect goalie.

 

[PKSpecialist]

I would love to have Dobson but I do not mind Evan Bouchard,I think we over hyped on Dobson because what he did at the Memorial cup.

Also is this ian scott the guitarist form anthrax or prospect goalie.

I've had Dobson inside the top 5 since before Christmas. His Memorial Cup only moved him from 4th to 3rd for me. Just proved he could do what he was doing all year long against top level competition.

 

[Kagomeboy]

I've had Dobson inside the top 5 since before Christmas. His Memorial Cup only moved him from 4th to 3rd for me. Just proved he could do what he was doing all year long against top level competition.

oh I only saw him at the memorial cup.honestly I do not care since we got a good prospect anways.At lest both him and Brazal are in the east so it will not matter.

 

[Delicious Pancakes]

I would love to have Dobson but I do not mind Evan Bouchard,I think we over hyped on Dobson because what he did at the Memorial cup.

Also is this ian scott the guitarist form anthrax or prospect goalie.

I had Dobson in the top 4 prior to the Memorial Cup and I believe PKSpecialist did as well if I remember correctly. Memorial Cup just solidified that and opened a lot of people's eyes to how good he really is, and how much potential he has.

 

[Kagomeboy]

I had Dobson in the top 4 prior to the Memorial Cup and I believe PKSpecialist did as well if I remember correctly. Memorial Cup just solidified that and opened a lot of people's eyes to how good he really is, and how much potential he has.

oh I get it ,I was not paying much attention but there is something in his game that bothers alot of scouts.

 

[nabob]

Why is that? Because you don’t know who Ian Scott is? This is going to turn into a Stuart Skinner hate post, and I don’t hate him, but he got a lot of love and is being overrated due to being traded to a powerhouse defensive hockey team. That’s not to say he wasn’t good, because he was, and he was the final piece of the puzzle for a strong defensive team, but he also had some brutal games in the playoffs(see being pulled at least twice in the first round vs. Regina). If you don’t think Ian Scott is on par with him you’re sadly mistaken. He carried a very average team on his back and within 10 minutes of upsetting the first place Moose Jaw Warriors in the first round. He wasn’t on a strong defensive team either. The Raiders has some hard workers, but lacked firepower offensively and defensively. Scott is at the other end of the spectrum as Skinner, very underrated mainly because he struggled in international competition in his draft year. Scott is every bit as good as Skinner, and trumps him in athleticism. He is at the very least on par with Skinner as a prospect. Again, don’t hate Skinner, but the trade of two assets to acquire one when there are more than one good option available to you.

As far as Bouchard goes, I like the pick, and gave it a B+, but if you look at my personal rankings, he was 12th on my board, while Noah Dobson was 3rd. So would have I been ecstatic to get Bouchard, no. Not disappointed that we got him though, just disappointed to have had the opportunity to draft Dobson and pass it up.

I didn’t realize you were one of the only people on earth who had Bouchard outside of the top 10. But the rest of your ramble about Skinner and how you don’t appreciate what he did this year doesn’t make any sense for a reason to dislike this draft.

 

[nabob]

oh I get it ,I was not paying much attention but there is something in his game that bothers alot of scouts.

I think Dobson turns into an Eric Brewer level player at his peak. Solid all around Dman with above average skating ability. Would have been equally as happy with him at 10 but Bouchard fits our needs better.

 

[ConnorMcMullet]

oh I get it ,I was not paying much attention but there is something in his game that bothers alot of scouts.

Offensive upside at the next level maybe?

For months now, my comparison for him is Jacob Trouba. Solid offensively and defensively, but not quite enough offense to be considered a bonafide #1D.

Absolutely love Bouchard as our pick.

 

[Delicious Pancakes]

oh I only saw him at the memorial cup.honestly I do not care since we got a good prospect anways.At lest both him and Brazal are in the east so it will not matter.

I would say it matters that the Oilers don't have two excellent players that were gifted to them on a silver platter.

oh I get it ,I was not paying much attention but there is something in his game that bothers alot of scouts.

That being?

The idea that he does nothing elite is a weak argument, he's just excellent in a lot of areas. He does need to add some muscle to his frame and similarly to Darnell Nurse could add some power and speed to his stride to really make his skating elite. It's not much different from a lot of junior players.

 

[PKSpecialist]

I didn’t realize you were one of the only people on earth who had Bouchard outside of the top 10. But the rest of your ramble about Skinner and how you don’t appreciate what he did this year doesn’t make any sense for a reason to dislike this draft.

I guess if you can't understand that for two consecutive years we traded 2 draft picks for one and took goalie prospects that were arguably not even the top available at the time, or certainly had several similar options available to them.... doesn't matter, if you don't understand it yet, probably never will.

 

[Soundwave]

The one thing I will say is a lot of people have Bouchard ranked the best passer in the draft, even above Dahlin.

My personal feeling is if you have high end passing skills you almost always are going to fare well in the NHL ... that implies high offensive I.Q. and that simply cannot be taught, and no amount of skating speed can move as fast as a good pass.

That was also why I always pretty confident in Draisaitl, I saw him make some ridiculous passes in junior, when you have that kind of vision, you simply almost have to have no work ethic to not be at least a solid NHLer.

 

[CupofOil]

Obviously happy with Bouchard but I just have a feeling we might be saying "what could have been?" 3-4 years down the line with Dobson. I do think Bouchard will be a really good PP presence at the very least but I'm a little concerned about his ability to defend at even strength, his skating style is a bit stiff and defensive awareness seems to be lacking a bit. Dobson just does so many things at a high level and is such a smooth skater, I can't help but to see Pietrangelo when I watch him play (albeit a small sample size). Plenty happy with Bouchard though, he checks off a lot of boxes for us. He's going to be a big time PP producer at worst.

Don't know what to think of McLeod. I've never seen him play but a lot of his scouting reports are pretty unflattering "refuses to go to the hard areas, perimeter player", "lacks compete", "needs to shoot more". Based on a lot of these reports, I'm surprised that so many graded him as a 1st rounder. He is big, fast and has some good playmaking skills. Akil Thomas seemed like the better fit to me with the righty thing being a bonus but McLeod seems like good value so I guess we'll see, we need a 2nd rounder to pan out eventually.
He does like a really good kid though, seemed very engaging in the press scrums.

Really don't like trading up for a goalie especially that high in the draft and especially after they just traded up for a goalie the previous season. I know he's highly rated but I really would have liked for them to take a goal scorer at some point in the draft. Besides Yamamoto (who I don't see being a big goal scorer at the next level) and I guess Maxsimov, the Oilers are severely lacking pure goal scorers up front in the pipeline and on the big club. It was a big need and they didn't address it in this draft.

Getting Bouchard at 10 is pretty much a homerun for where they got him the rest of the draft was gravy but I wish they wasn't a big fan of their strategy after the McLeod pick and a bit meh on McLeod.

 

[nabob]

I guess if you can't understand that for two consecutive years we traded 2 draft picks for one and took goalie prospects that were arguably not even the top available at the time, or certainly had several similar options available to them.... doesn't matter, if you don't understand it yet, probably never will.

Well this year it was for the top ranked goalie so I guess if a person wanted to argue for the sake of arguing then he could argue that he wasn’t the top available goalie. You could also argue that MCDavid isn’t the best player in the league, that the sky isn’t blue, or that grass isn’t green. But I don’t feel like doing that.

 

[Ctrain2k]

B+

 

[Quinteoilers]

I don’t think it’s been mentioned much, but all the guys the Oilers picked are BIG dudes! (The goalie is a bit lanky) look at the heights-6’2”/6’4” 200lb 18 year olds. Those guys will play as 21 year olds at 215-225lbs. And they can all skate, I’m happy with this draft. Solid B+ for me.

 

[nabob]

Hilarious to see some posters give Kesselring an A and other give him a D simply because they don’t know anything about him. There’s a few posters worth taking stock of what they say he and a whole lot of noise.

 

[nabob]

I don’t think it’s been mentioned much, but all the guys the Oilers picked are BIG dudes! (The goalie is a bit lanky) look at the heights-6’2”/6’4” 200lb 18 year olds. Those guys will play as 21 year olds at 215-225lbs. And they can all skate, I’m happy with this draft. Solid B+ for me.

Not drafting any coke machines makes me happy. Would love for one of our later round picks to turn out.

 

[FlameChampion]

Obviously happy with Bouchard but I just have a feeling we might be saying "what could have been?" 3-4 years down the line with Dobson. I do think Bouchard will be a really good PP presence at the very least but I'm a little concerned about his ability to defend at even strength, his skating style is a bit stiff and defensive awareness seems to be lacking a bit. Dobson just does so many things at a high level and is such a smooth skater, I can't help but to see Pietrangelo when I watch him play (albeit a small sample size). Plenty happy with Bouchard though, he checks off a lot of boxes for us. He's going to be a big time PP producer at worst.

Don't know what to think of McLeod. I've never seen him play but a lot of his scouting reports are pretty unflattering "refuses to go to the hard areas, perimeter player", "lacks compete", "needs to shoot more". Based on a lot of these reports, I'm surprised that so many graded him as a 1st rounder. He is big, fast and has some good playmaking skills. Akil Thomas seemed like the better fit to me with the righty thing being a bonus but McLeod seems like good value so I guess we'll see, we need a 2nd rounder to pan out eventually.
He does like a really good kid though, seemed very engaging in the press scrums.

Really don't like trading up for a goalie especially that high in the draft and especially after they just traded up for a goalie the previous season. I know he's highly rated but I really would have liked for them to take a goal scorer at some point in the draft. Besides Yamamoto (who I don't see being a big goal scorer at the next level) and I guess Maxsimov, the Oilers are severely lacking pure goal scorers up front in the pipeline and on the big club. It was a big need and they didn't address it in this draft.

Getting Bouchard at 10 is pretty much a homerun for where they got him the rest of the draft was gravy but I wish they wasn't a big fan of their strategy after the McLeod pick and a bit meh on McLeod.

I really don’t like them trading picks to move up either but maybe they just didnt like much left in the draft at that point and felt strongly about Rodrigue. Chiarelli mentioned on Friday that there was a lack of depth in the draft. But he also said that they might take a goalie later in the draft, so he sort of contadicted himself a bit. Kinda a weird draft, seemed like a lot of promising prospects never got drafted. Guess that’s probably true for any draft.