Edmonton Oilers Draft Speculation: Trade the Pick? Use it? What Should Edmonton Do?

Coming from an Edmonton Oilers point of view, BLH provides you with excerpts from the latest NHL news, rumors, and speculation from all of the internet’s best sites including Spector’s Hockey, The Fourth Period, NHL Trade Talk, The Hockey Writers, Sportsnet, The Athletic, TSN and more!

From the Edmonton Sun (Rob Tychkowski)

Edmonton Oilers scouts brave pandemic in search of talent

“I’ve probably been tested over 100 times,” laughed Edmonton Oilers amateur scouting director Tyler Wright. “Every time you go across the border, every time you get on a plane — and rightfully so, you’re trying to do your part to get a handle on this thing. You do what you can within the rules and off you go.”
“I would fly into the U.S. and then travel basically by car throughout the U.S.,” said Wright
“It was a lot of driving, a lot of take-out food in your hotel room and isolating. The various states and provinces all had different regulations in place, so it was everywhere from erratic to stressful.”
“Agents even had their clients doing their own workouts and sent out the videos with testing numbers. Everyone is trying to be really creative to help us get to the best decision we can. There’s been collaboration throughout the whole industry to get this thing up and running.
“Once you’re watching video, you’re at the mercy of the quality of the video and the person running the camera,” said Wright. “You’re trying to watch a defenceman and the person who’s doing the shooting won’t have him on the screen at all. You don’t have a sense of gap control.
“The feeling in the industry is that there is going to be some good value later on,” said Wright. “With no second and no third, we’re limited in the high end of that, but with a fourth, two sixths and a seventh, we’ve got to make these picks count.”

BLH’s Thoughts: I can’t even imagine the shit the scouts had to go through this year, and last year for that matter, but I feel pretty decent about the job Tyler Wright has done since he joined the Oilers in a scouting capacity. That said, a lot of the young players that are coming through today are from the Chiarelli/Bob Green regime. So we’ll be waiting a few more years before we will be able to judge the work of Wright and his crew more fairly.

As for this year’s draft, the feeling I get is that there’ll be a strong European influence. Edmonton’s done pretty good with Swedes over the years and Holland loves a Russian, so I’m going to expect at least one from each country getting picked by the Oilers this weekend.

Here’s a list of the more prominent Swedes and Ruskies that are slated to go in the first couple of rounds of this year’s draft,

Oskar Olausson (HV71, SHL)
Simon Robertsson (Skelleftea, SHL)
Fabian Lysell (Lulea, SHL)
Isak Rosen (Leksand, SHL)
Nikita Chibrikov (SKA-Neva, VHL)
Prokhor Poltapov (Krasnaya Armiya, MHL)
Aleksandr Kisakov (Dynamo MSK, MHL)
Fedor Svechkov (Lada Togliatti, VHL)

From The Cult of Hockey (David Staples)

Three big questions on how Edmonton Oilers should best use 1st round pick this week

1. Will Cossa still be there when the Oilers pick at 19th overall?

2. Should the Oilers go against the grain and use a first round pick on a goalie?

3. If not Cossa, which other players might the Oilers take?

BLH’s Thoughts: Let’s go ahead and answer these questions from Mr. Staples,

1. No. He’ll be long gone by then. Cossa’s star has been shooting up the draft boards all year and the word is one of Chicago or Ottawa will take him.

2. They absolutely should go against the grain. With the way that young netminders are trained now and the quality of that training, I think they’re a bit easier to project. So it wouldn’t surprise me at all if we started to see a run of drafts where one or two goalies were selected in the first round.

3. If Cossa is gone the Oilers need a forward. So it’s up to you to decide what kind of forward you’d like.

If you want a power forward, maybe you’d go with Oskar Olausson, Simon Robertsson, or Tyler Boucher.

If you want pure skill, you go with Nikita Chibrikov, Isak Rosen, Ville Koivunen, or Fabian Lysell.

If a good two-way forward is what you’re looking for then you should look at Aatu Raty, Zach Dean, Franceso Pinelli, or Brennan Othmann.

Need snipers? Matthew Coronato, Xavier Bourgault, Logan Stankoven, and Samu Tuomaala can shoot the pill.

Does the team requite some grit and sandpaper? Zachary L’Heureux and Chase Stillman would be your men then.

There’s one more question Mr. Staples failed to ask, do you trade the first round pick? The answer to that is yes IF you can get a 3C like Christian Dvorak or Nazim Kadri or you can get a team to give you multiple draft picks in the 2nd and 3rd rounds.

From The Daily Goal Horn

Report: Kirill Kaprizov has an offer from KHL team; will he leave Wild

A new report is breaking tonight that Minnesota Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov has a legit offer from a KHL team. Pierre LeBrun says that CSKA Moscow is the team trying to lure the Calder Trophy winner back home. He also admits he isn’t sure where any of this will go.
At this point, Kirill is only interested in a two year deal that will take him to UFA status at 27. Kaprizov fully believes he’s a 10 million plus type player. The Wild are trying to lock him up for a full 8 years, a deal he’s already rejected.
This is all in doubt, but one thing seems likely to me. If Kaprizov bolts for the KHL, Bill Guerin will then go all in for Jack Eichel.

BLH’s Thoughts: I’d say screw him if I was Bill Guerin. Your club spends all that time waiting for him to come over and then he finally does, rips up the league, wins the rookie of the year, and then decides to play games like this? Nah, stay in Russia. We’ll own your rights and when you decide to smarten up, you can come back on terms that are more fair.

From NHLTradeRumors.me

Rumor: Montreal Canadiens to Offer Sheet Elias Pettersson

The Seattle Kraken could potentially be taking their franchise goalie Carey Price off their hands during the expansion draft and if they do, rumor has them going hard after Elias Pettersson of the Vancouver Canucks.

Rumor: New Jersey Devils Discussing Trade with Several Teams

The New Jersey Devils are trying to move on from P.K. Subban and have engaged several teams in trade discussions for the veteran defenseman. The Devils are even reportedly willing to retain salary if needed on Subban’s $9 million contract next season.
There’s several teams who need help on the right-side of their defense, including the Toronto Maple Leafs, Winnipeg Jets, Calgary Flames, and Chicago Blackhawks.

Rumor: Montreal Canadiens Trying to Trade for Forward Help

Hearing the Canadiens have been actively exploring the forward market, looking to add up front. One player they’ve inquired about is Anthony Beauvillier.
The Canadiens have a ton of draft picks to choose from so this deal could involve multiple picks being shopped to Long Island, much like when Devon Toews went to Colorado last offseason.

Rumor: Los Angeles Kings Looking to Make Big Splash

The Los Angeles Kings may be making a big trade this week. According to Bruce Garrioch, they are willing to trade the 8th overall selection of this year’s NHL Entry Draft.
It also is important to note that an Eichel trade would require much more than just this pick. With their strong prospect pool, though, this shouldn’t be much of a problem for them if they truly want him.