Oilers Post Draft Analysist

Posted 11:05 PM ET | Comments 0

Well. That was dissappointing.

Not only was it one of the most boring and least eventful drafts in NHL history, but MacTavish went complete Tambellini on us! All throughout the draft he picked useless players and longshot players that more than likely will NEVER make the AHL much less the NHL! And then the trades! Arghhhh. The 1st trade I almost threw a medicine ball at the TV! Hagg AND Zykov still available and MacT trades it for 3 picks in the late rounds! None of the players he picked with those 3 picks will ever make it to the NHL. NEVER. The 2nd trade wasn't so repulsive because there wasn't any super good players left but still! And then there's the Coburn trade that didn't go through because MacT wasn't willing to give up the other 2nd round pick! You traded it for useless picks anyway! Well, you can't moan and groan forever and we're stuck with this now so let's try to make the best of it and see if we can find a decent prospect in this group of so-called prospects........

Let's get started.

Darnell Nurse

I'm just going to say before I get started that I have nothing against you Nurse. Honest. It's just MacTavish. Can I call him MacIdiot? Well, with Nichuskin available at #7 and Edmonton going up to the podium I was jumping up and down. Literally. I was so happy because we where getting the russian phenom that was the most perfect fit ever for our 2nd line. And then I heard the words "From the Sault St. Marie Greyhounds" and I started yelling at the TV. I was fuming at MacIdiot and I couldn't believe my eyes. Again nothing against Nurse, he's going to be on the 1st defense pairing with Schultz in a couple years. Key word: couple years. He's a couple years from the NHL and Edmonton needed immediate help. Nichuskin was going to be a immediate addition to our top 6 and was going to be a superstar in a couple years. All in all. I hate MacTavish.

Marc-Olivier Roy

Well, this pick calmed me down a bit but not much. I had just got even madder at MacIdiot (if that's possible) for trading their first 2nd round pick for a bunch of useless late round draft picks when the likes of Zykov and Hagg where still available. I was ready to fly to Newark and shoot MacT or do something like that but this pick calmed me down enough to not take any rash decisions. He's a good power forward with some offensive flare that will be perfect on Edmonton's 3rd line in a couple years. Not a bad pick at all.

Bogdan Yakimov

This is a pick you should make in the 5th round and you shouldn't trade a good draft pick for it. If Yakimov ever makes it to the NHL there will be a lot of confusion between Yakimov and Yakupov, funny commentator moments. But there's a 99% chance he won't play in the NHL. It's not a skill level thing or anything like that because he has 1st round skill and could be a future top 6 player on Edmonton but the reason he won't ever play in the NHL is the russian factor. Yup. I went there. Yakimov has never shown a interest in leaving Russia to play in North America. He is quite content on playing in the KHL and doesn't want to leave the motherland. So he has the skill, but is pretty much a waste of a pick.

Anton Slepshev

Again a good player but...... Russian factor. He's been ranked in the 1st round the past TWO years but last year wasn't picked at all because of the russian factor and this year proberly shouldn't of. He's a highly skilled player, I'll give you that. But he has said that he doesn't want to leave Russia and this pick didn't make any sense for the Edmonton Oilers.

Jackson Houck

I think I uttered a silent prayer when I saw this pick. Finally a player that might actually have a future in the NHL. The Vancouver Giants right winger has good offensive upside and uses his body to get the puck. He has pretty good numbers but the thing that made me happy was that he was canadian and determined to make it to the NHL. He's still about 5 years from playing for the Oilers because he'll finish his tenure in the WHL and then play a couple seasons in the AHL but in 5 - 6 years he will fit perfectly on the 3rd line if he develops correctly.

Kyle Platzer

Back to fantasy's of killing MacT. A player that had about 15 points this year in the OHL and played on the 3rd line this season. This is one of those players that play from the time they're 17 until they're 19 and then they use the 3 free years of university they got to play in the CIS for their university. It's a good idea for the player, but it's NOT, I repeat NOT, the type of player you draft in the 4th round. You shouldn't even draft him in the 7th! But whatever, MacT just wasted a pick. No big. (sarcasm)

Aidan Muir

He plays Major Midget. Do I need to say more? If you're still playing major midget at 18, I hate to burst your bubble but you're not getting drafted to the NHL. Oh wait... MacIdiot drafted someone from major midget. At least Muir can say he was the only player in the history of hockey to get drafted out of major midget. But for Edmonton, wasted pick.

Evan Campbell

Hmm. Nothing special. He played junior A but it's because he wants to play NCAA and you can't play in the CHL if you want to play NCAA. He got a point per game in the BCHL, but it's junior A. Campbell's proberly just going to turn into a career AHLer like Ryan Keller or something but that's fine for the 5th round.

Ben Betker

This might be thd first steal MacT got. Ben Batker is a gigantic defense that plays for Everett in the WHL. His size alone might be worth the 6th round pick, but he also has decent offensive skill and is good defensively. He could turn into a NHLer in 5 - 6 years and this already looks like a steal in the 6th.

Gregory Chase

Well, we're at the final round now and anyone picked in the 7th round has about a 1/10000 of turning into a NHL player. Chase might have the best chance out of any of them because he is a good 2-way center that could be a good 4th liner with lots of heart in 5 years.

Well, after going through the picks I feel like MacT did a bad job in the middle rounds and he didn't make any superb trades. He picked Nurse over Nichuskin which was a bad choice but Nurse is still good. He traded away our chance at Zykov or Hagg which angered me but Roy was a good pick so it sorta made up for it. Then he drafted a bunch of skilled russians that will never leave russia and some major midget players with all the mid round picks he traded for but he made 2 good picks in the 6th and 7th rounds. So all in all I would say MacIdiot did bad in hir first draft.

He better smarten up and make some good trades this off-season.

Filed Under: Oilers draft