krazy kanuck
Registered User
I am a relatively new Oilers fan. I grew up in Ontario a Toronto Maple Leafs supporter but became disenfranchised when they traded away Tuuka Rask. Cheering for another NHL team while living in Ontario seemed disingenuous so I started watching junior and minor midget hockey almost exclusively at that point. When I moved to Edmonton two years ago, I figured it was an ideal time to start rooting for another NHL team. I didn't think it would be possible for another team to be as poor at drafting and developing talent as the Leafs, but having watched what they've done in the draft since I got here, it seems like the Oiler are.
That conclusion lead me to think to myself who would I have taken? It's awfully easy to go back in time and find someone that everyone seemed to miss, so I've decided to put together this list for the last three years (not many players outside of the first round have made it yet) to see if I actually could have done better.
To try to put some parameters around this what-if exercise, I will only say what I would have done on draft day. As such, I won’t really speak to players I would have taken with picks that were traded at some point prior to the draft other than a brief mention, but I don’t think they value their picks enough and trade them away far too liberally – which is half the problem. Here's what I'd have done:
2012:
Number 1: I’d have taken Yakupov. It’s not looking like the best pick now, but in the OHL he looked pretty special. Seventeen year-olds generally don’t score 100 points in that league. Now it looks like Galchenyuk or one of the defencemen would have been the way to go, but I’m trying to be honest here. No change - Yakupov.
Number 32: Matt Finn from the Guelph Storm. I think most people would agree that there was a little bit of a hometown overpayment on Moroz. There are choices here, but I would have picked Finn. Finn over Moroz.
Number 63: The Oilers need some depth at the goaltending position, and I would have taken Daniel Altshuller. The Generals tender instantaneously becomes the top goaltending prospect in the Oilers system. Andersen has the inside track at this point, but I didn’t know who he was in 2012. Altshuller over Khaira.
Number 93: People talk about the Oilers’ speed, but I don’t see it beyond Hall. I’d have taken Barrie Colts speedster Andreas Anthanasiou with this pick. You can’t do this in the show, but boy is it fun to watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8naQZfhoKcs. This you can do in the show, and boy it would be nice to see some more Oilers who can: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eizJ2WtCv1A. Athanasiou over Gustafsson.
Number 123: All things being equal, I always pass on someone from the NCAA in favour of a player from the CHL due to the quality of the competition and the comparatively large sample size. I don’t know anything about Laleggia but I’m not excited about a 5’10” defenceman. If I’m going with someone under 6’ with this pick, I’m going with Seth Griffith and his back-to-back Memorial Cup appearances. Griffith over Laleggia.
Number 153: It pains me, but I’m taking a London Knight for the second pick in a row. For similar reasons to Griffith, I’m taking Knights agitator Ryan Rupert instead of John McCarron. Rupert over McCarron.
2013:
Number 7: I’m not a big fan of Nurse’s; not that he isn’t going to be an NHL player, just that I don’t think he plays defence well enough. My guess is that he will be like a Schultz 2.0. I don’t think he’ll end up being the best defenceman available at 7 – in fact I’m not sure he’ll be in the top three (I like Bigras, Zadorov, and Ristolainen more). I watched him a lot as a Minor Midget and think Bigras will be the best defenceman of the bunch…but I don’t know that I could have stretched to take him at 7. Still, since Ristolainen and Zadorov are already in the show, that seems like cheating so I'm going to go bold. Bigras over Nurse.
Number 37: I likely would have taken the deal for this pick (for 57, 88 and 96), but would have been upset when Zach Nastasiuk went at 48. Another guy I’ve been watching since MM, he would be the guy to go into the corner and get the puck – something the Oilers could definitely use.
Number 57: Assuming I did get offered the deal above I would have kept this pick and taken the local kid Eric Comrie. Can’t have enough young goaltending prospects and Comrie replaces Alshuller as the most promising in the Oilers system. Comrie over Roy.
Number 68: Baptiste or Kujawinski would have been nice here (pick traded for Fistric in January 2013).
2014:
Number 3: I am all over Michael Dal Colle here. He had 39 goals and 95 points in 67 regular season games; he picked up the pace in the playoffs with 20 points in 12 games. I would have also let him develop, like the Islanders are doing (but the Oilers are not with Draistl). Interesting to me that both Alberta teams passed on Dal Colle, but I would have taken Bennett before Draistl too. Dal Colle over Draistl.
Number 33: McKeown would have been nice here; some were talking about him in the same breath as Ekblad in September 2013 (not this former Barrie Colts STH – but I do like him). This pick was traded as part of the package for Perron in July 2013.
Number 63: I would have taken Valiev here. This pick was traded as part of the package for Scrivens.
And the Oilers didn't have any other picks... Thoughts?
That conclusion lead me to think to myself who would I have taken? It's awfully easy to go back in time and find someone that everyone seemed to miss, so I've decided to put together this list for the last three years (not many players outside of the first round have made it yet) to see if I actually could have done better.
To try to put some parameters around this what-if exercise, I will only say what I would have done on draft day. As such, I won’t really speak to players I would have taken with picks that were traded at some point prior to the draft other than a brief mention, but I don’t think they value their picks enough and trade them away far too liberally – which is half the problem. Here's what I'd have done:
2012:
Number 1: I’d have taken Yakupov. It’s not looking like the best pick now, but in the OHL he looked pretty special. Seventeen year-olds generally don’t score 100 points in that league. Now it looks like Galchenyuk or one of the defencemen would have been the way to go, but I’m trying to be honest here. No change - Yakupov.
Number 32: Matt Finn from the Guelph Storm. I think most people would agree that there was a little bit of a hometown overpayment on Moroz. There are choices here, but I would have picked Finn. Finn over Moroz.
Number 63: The Oilers need some depth at the goaltending position, and I would have taken Daniel Altshuller. The Generals tender instantaneously becomes the top goaltending prospect in the Oilers system. Andersen has the inside track at this point, but I didn’t know who he was in 2012. Altshuller over Khaira.
Number 93: People talk about the Oilers’ speed, but I don’t see it beyond Hall. I’d have taken Barrie Colts speedster Andreas Anthanasiou with this pick. You can’t do this in the show, but boy is it fun to watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8naQZfhoKcs. This you can do in the show, and boy it would be nice to see some more Oilers who can: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eizJ2WtCv1A. Athanasiou over Gustafsson.
Number 123: All things being equal, I always pass on someone from the NCAA in favour of a player from the CHL due to the quality of the competition and the comparatively large sample size. I don’t know anything about Laleggia but I’m not excited about a 5’10” defenceman. If I’m going with someone under 6’ with this pick, I’m going with Seth Griffith and his back-to-back Memorial Cup appearances. Griffith over Laleggia.
Number 153: It pains me, but I’m taking a London Knight for the second pick in a row. For similar reasons to Griffith, I’m taking Knights agitator Ryan Rupert instead of John McCarron. Rupert over McCarron.
2013:
Number 7: I’m not a big fan of Nurse’s; not that he isn’t going to be an NHL player, just that I don’t think he plays defence well enough. My guess is that he will be like a Schultz 2.0. I don’t think he’ll end up being the best defenceman available at 7 – in fact I’m not sure he’ll be in the top three (I like Bigras, Zadorov, and Ristolainen more). I watched him a lot as a Minor Midget and think Bigras will be the best defenceman of the bunch…but I don’t know that I could have stretched to take him at 7. Still, since Ristolainen and Zadorov are already in the show, that seems like cheating so I'm going to go bold. Bigras over Nurse.
Number 37: I likely would have taken the deal for this pick (for 57, 88 and 96), but would have been upset when Zach Nastasiuk went at 48. Another guy I’ve been watching since MM, he would be the guy to go into the corner and get the puck – something the Oilers could definitely use.
Number 57: Assuming I did get offered the deal above I would have kept this pick and taken the local kid Eric Comrie. Can’t have enough young goaltending prospects and Comrie replaces Alshuller as the most promising in the Oilers system. Comrie over Roy.
Number 68: Baptiste or Kujawinski would have been nice here (pick traded for Fistric in January 2013).
2014:
Number 3: I am all over Michael Dal Colle here. He had 39 goals and 95 points in 67 regular season games; he picked up the pace in the playoffs with 20 points in 12 games. I would have also let him develop, like the Islanders are doing (but the Oilers are not with Draistl). Interesting to me that both Alberta teams passed on Dal Colle, but I would have taken Bennett before Draistl too. Dal Colle over Draistl.
Number 33: McKeown would have been nice here; some were talking about him in the same breath as Ekblad in September 2013 (not this former Barrie Colts STH – but I do like him). This pick was traded as part of the package for Perron in July 2013.
Number 63: I would have taken Valiev here. This pick was traded as part of the package for Scrivens.
And the Oilers didn't have any other picks... Thoughts?
