freelancer

Edmonton • Canada • 25 Years Old • Male

The Oilers and 10 Who Have Been Drafted 10th.

As of now the Oilers are set to pick 10th overall in the 2018 Draft. The most debated subject right now in Oil Country is what should be done with the pick. Many trade suggestions have been given, the most recent coming from Ryan Rishaug being Klefbom and the 10th for Ristolainen... which would be a gross overpayment.

For many, the best option seems to be to hold on to the pick and acquire a player which hopefully, in a couple years will be a core addition to the team.

Names like Boqvist, Dobson, Wahlstrom, Smith, and Hughes could be among the names of players that could fall within Edmonton's reach. Today we aren't going to discuss them but instead look at some of the other players in the past decade which have been selected at #10.

2017 Draft - Owen Tippett - Flordia Panthers
This season:
OHL - 51 GP - 36-39-75
AHL - 5GP - 1-1-2
NHL - 7GP - 1-0-1

Florida must be happy with this pick. Tippett got a bit of a tryout with the Panthers to start the season and scored his 1st NHL goal on a nice give and go with McGinn. He tied to previous OHL point total playing 9 fewer games and got a couple of points in the AHL. Busy year for the young right winger but he certainly looks like a player.

2016 Draft - Tyson Jost - Colorado Avalanche
This season:
AHL - 5GP - 1-1-2
NHL - 65GP - 12-10-22

Colorado has done pretty good for themselves with the #10 spot in the draft. Jost is a strong addition to a young core building in Colorado. He played almost the entire season with the surprisingly good Avalanche this season and ended up playing a good portion of his time in the top 6.

2015 Draft - Mikko Rantanen - Colorado Avalanche
This season:
NHL - 81GP - 29-55-84

See what I mean? After a decent first full campaign last year where he registered 38 points, Rantanen exploded this season. It certainly helped playing with MacKinnon but there is no question Mikko is quite the player himself.

2014 Draft - Nick Ritchie - Anaheim Ducks
This season:
NHL - 76GP - 10-17-27

The decline of vets Perry, Getzlaf, and Kesler may start to be a problem for Anaheim but they've accumulated some good young talent. The 22 year old Ritchie has found a good spot for himself on a third line with Henrique and Kase. Would not be surprised for him to have a spike next season.

2013 Draft - Valeri Nichuskin - Dallas Stars
This season:
KHL - 50GP - 16-11-27

Fun fact. I wanted Edmonton to select Nichuskin in 2013 over Nurse. The big skilled winger looked like he could become a prominent power forward in the league. This was back when size and skill were the most sought after commodity before everyone but Edmonton realized speed was the way to go.

There was alleged issues between Nichuskin and the couaching staff in Dallas and the player went to the KHL. There has been plenty of turnover in the Stars staff and Nichuskin is apparently coming back to Dallas for this season.

2012 Draft - Slater Koekkoek - Tampa Bay Lightning
This season:
NHL - 35GP - 4-4-8

The first real meh player on this list. Injuries has been the unfortunate story of Slater's career so far but he has been pushed way down on the Lightning's depth chart and was a healthy scratch for large portions of the year.

2011 Draft - Jonas Brodin - Minnesota Wild
This season:
NHL - 73GP - 6-15-21

The 24 year old defenseman has become a steady player for the Wild. Almost right from the start Brodin has been a good workhorse for the Wild averaging around 21 minutes a game in his career.

2010 Draft - Dylan McIlrath - New York Rangers
This season:
AHL - 76GP - 7-10-17

Oops

2009 Draft - Magnus Paajarvi - Edmonton Oilers
This season:
NHL - 79GP - 8-4-12 (Split between Blues and Senators)

Remember HOPE? At one time Paajarvi seemed like he was going to be a top line winger for the Oilers. Now at 27 he's a bottom 6 winger who is pretty streaky.

2008 Draft - Cody Hodgson - Vancouver Canucks
This season:
Featured on "Where are they now." This is why I make fun of your drafting abilities Vancouver.

So there you have it, the last 10 players who were drafted 10th overall. Certainly some big misses on the board in Paajarvi, Hodgson, and McIlrath but plenty of names that are contributing to their clubs in Rantanen, Yost, Brodin, and Ritchie.

If Edmonton is going to draft a player with that pick we should all be hoping they get a Rantanen or Brodin and not a McIlrath or Koekkoek. There will be some really good players that will go in the middle 30.

Thanks for reading.