Quiet drafts may open trade down scenarios

Edmonton — The Edmonton Oilers are choosing this draft from the back row. It’s rare, but it’s good.

It took a long time as the Oilers had to go through 28 picks before stepping up to the mic in the NHL draft, but success in the playoffs will give you that. And the fact that the Oilers sit in their hands after picking at number 29 until the next pick at number 158 makes the tradedown scenario much more likely. Third round pick.

Now, include in the conversation the fact that this is the most uncertain draft in recent memory. This is a draft where the 10th place player on one team could be the 25th choice for another team.

So, in their eyes, the Oilers may find on the 29th that there are still vacant players that they never dreamed of. As you know, “I couldn’t believe he was still available!”

“Return to 29-is that good? I don’t know …” said Tyler Wright, Edmonton’s amateur scouting director. “At the end of the day, 28 guys are going to choose in front of us on Thursday. You live at the mercy of the 28 names called, so fit the bill of what we’re trying to do. And cross your finger to someone we’ve identified that could be another piece of the puzzle in the future. I’m going there. ”

Is it one of the good news for Edmonton?

“We are the only team of the four teams that actually made the conference finals to make their choice,” Wright points out. So there is it.

Let’s take a look at the situation of the Oilers Draft.

Draft topic

1 (29th), 5 (158th), 6 (190th), 7 (222th)^nd).

Potential Round 1 target

Especially in the 2022 draft, it’s almost impossible to list two or three names that may exist in 29. There is a huge group of players predicted between 25^th And 30^th It varies a lot from mock draft to mock draft, and in all years to keep his picks on himself, this is one draft where Wright doesn’t throw away the random names of people he likes more than others. is.

The pools with names that Edmonton may choose are:

RW Jaguar Filcus (Moosejaw, WHL). RD Ryan Chezley (US Development Program). LD Owen Pickering, (Swift Current, WHL). D Tristan Renault (Gatineau, QMJHL). C Owen Beck (Mississauga, OHL). D Ty Nelson (North Bay, OHL). C Luca Del Bel Belluz (Mississauga, OHL). C David Goyette (Sadberry, OHL). LW Rieger Lorenz (Okotoks, AJHL). LD Calle Odelius (Djurgården).

Our Sam Cosentino is number 29 with skilled Russian Alexander Pelebarov, who scored 25-25-50 in 42 games against the Yaroslavl junior team this season. Given the reports surrounding his fellow Russian Ivan Fedotov, one of the questions in the first interview with Perevalov would have to be “Have you ever been in military service?”

Firkus comes in at the age of 28. He has a great handle — and he’s from Arma, Alberta, the town that gave him the hockey defense Gordie Mark — but at 5ft-10, 154 pounds, Firkus is too small to add to the forward. A crop that Kailer Yamamoto has already settled on the right wing.

Or what about the Czech center Jiri Kulich? He scored nine goals in his recent U-18. This is either a sign of the future or a lucky 10-day 6-foot, 172-pound.

First round pick last year: Xavier Bourgault

So far, the right wing at 6 feet 180 pounds is very good. Its greatest asset is knowing how to find the other side of the net.

In the final season of Shawinigan Catalactes Junior, Burgoth scored 36 regular season goals (75 points) in 43 games and another 12 goals (22 points) in 16 post-season games. His cataract lost in the semi-finals, so he kept the Memorial Cup tied to the tournament lead with 7 points (2 goals).

Overall, Burgoth will turn professional with 48 goals in 59 games next season. You can ask the Oilers team who is always looking for the best one-two punch finisher in the middle of the National Hockey League.

Can Bourgault play in the NHL next season? It’s unlikely.

Does he play? So far, Xavier Bourgault looks like an NHL player, but you can ask from 22.^nd Choose overall.

Organizational needs

The clear and current need for the Oilers is to replace or re-sign Evander Kane and get better on the right side of the Top 9.

Jesse Puruyarbi is ready to move on and emotions are interrelated. Yamamoto is a quasi-second line right winger. Zack Cassian is the fourth line winger — nothing more. Edmonton can always find the top 6 left winger and move Zach Hyman to the right, but with Kane’s status in the air, GM Ken Holland needs to do some work on that side as well.

Riding on top of that, of course, is the need for a number one goalkeeper to play ahead of backup Stuart Skinner.

None of these things are dealt with throughout the draft. It’s not time to choose 29^th.. The Netherlands needs to open up cap space and is actively shopping for Tysonbury and Warren Forgere. He may acquire or transfer Cassian’s contract. He moves Puryuyarubi.

The Oilers then jump into the free-agent market in search of Ville Fusso or Jack Campbell online, market Kane, remain the Oilers, and use the Kane model to find the top six wings for a short period of time. Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl — as bait.