Tell me this isn’t all a bit too convenient for real life. The NHL expands the playoffs to include 8 more teams because reasons. Then! The NHL draft lottery is held and those teams as a group are given the 2nd best odds of winning the Alexis Lafreniere sweepstakes and they do?! Not only does this set up ANOTHER live TV event to determine the winner of the play-in losers but it shafts teams who are in desperate need of a player like Lafreniere…

Now, as a draft geek, I’d love nothing more than the opportunity to draft the latest French-Canadian phenom. I’m confident in saying that he’s going to be more impactful from a goal-scoring perspective than the last left-winger Edmonton drafted first overall. I mean topping an average of 20-goals/yr shouldn’t be that hard for a talent like this, should it? But the reality is, this is the Oilers’ best chance to go deep into the COVID Cup playoffs. This roster is as deep as it’s been since 2006, deeper than 2016 I’d argue. So I’m happy to be drafting at 20th overall or later if that ends up the case.

Who could the Oilers be looking at in or around 20th overall? Well, let’s see who the experts have Edmonton taking in their mock drafts or their latest rankings.

Cam Robinson (@hockey_robinson) – Dobber’s Prospects – 

• Kaiden Guhle – LD – Prince Albert (WHL) – 6’2, 186lbs

“Strapping blueliner with great mobility and a keen eye for defending. Has the potential to be a minute-muncher down the line, albeit with a somewhat limited offensive ceiling. Safe.” – Robinson (source)

I’ve read that Guhle compares well to Darnell Nurse. He’s very athletic, he’s one of the better skaters in the draft on the blueline, and he’s got a mean streak.

I can’t see Edmonton taking another defenseman with their first-rounder this year. From all indications, my sources have more or less said that the Oilers will be looking to select a forward with skill.

Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) – TSN – 

• Lukas Reichel – LW – Berlin (DEL) – 6’0, 170lbs

“Reichel is a very good skater with great combination of speed and quickness. He is constantly moving and participating in the play even when he doesn’t have the puck. Reichel has very good puck-skills and a great shot. He isn’t afraid to battle for pucks in the corners or go to the dirty areas of the ice which shows his pro-like style. Reichel has shown great hockey sense on both sides of the puck; he is already pretty good defensively which is a positive sign for his NHL future. He isn’t all that flashy, but he is very efficient, and he has legitimate middle-six upside at the NHL level. He is also pretty young for his draft class.” – Jokke Nevalainen (source)

What I like about this player is that he’s very good in the muck. If you’re a team who needs a winger to dig about in the corners or on the walls, Reichel is one of the best players in the draft at doing this. He doesn’t seem to care how big his opponent is either. He wins a lot of puck races and battles because of this regardless of his slight stature. Could be a real handy player to have alongside a highly-skilled center.

McKeen’s 2020 NHL Draft Guide

• Hendrix Lapierre – C – Chicoutimi (QMJHL) – 6′, 179lbs

“Lapierre may just be the draft’s biggest wildcard this year because of his head and neck injuries. He entered the year as a potential top five pick and now is not even a guaranteed first rounder. However, the Oilers are a team that I believe are positioned to take a chance on Lapierre. They have tried to address their blueline the last few years in the first round, so the Chicoutimi center would certainly give them another offensive weapon in the future.” – Brock Otten

I’m torn on this player. He played 19 games in the ‘Q’ before shutting it down and only scored two goals… Not great but like Otten, I’ve got a feeling that Lapierre is high on Edmonton’s draft list but there’s a feeling that he’ll be long gone by the time the Oilers are selecting according to one of my sources. If you’re taking this player, you’re convinced his neck issues are behind him and you’re taking as much time as needed, or more, with regards to his development. Meaning, he gets the maximum amount of time in junior, then two or three years in the AHL.

For me, what the team decides to do with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins will tell me how they plan on developing the club’s future. Taking Lapierre when the team has McDavid, Draisaitl, and RNH ahead of him for the next five seasons doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.

Steve Kournianos (@thedraftanalyst) – The Draft Analyst – 

• Emil Andrae – LD – HV71 J20 (Superelit) – 5’8″, 181lbs

“Andrae is a reliable one-on-one defender with a short gap who looks to deliver hits and battle hard for positioning. He may be on the smallish side, but Andrae has a very high compete level and it shows in the way he continues to fight for pucks and uses his lower-body strength and rapier-like stick thrusts. Andrae uses superior anticipation and short routes to intercept passes ranging from chips to cross-ice attempts, and he transitions from defense to offense as well as any of his peers. He also is a solid bodychecker who plasters unassuming puck carriers to the boards or line someone up for a jarring open-ice hit” – Kournianos

Another left-shot defender but this one only a shade taller than Kailer Yamamoto is probably not what the Oilers are looking for right now. I haven’t seen a lot of this player but from what I have he looks like a great puck mover. A smooth operator indeed. I’m just not sure how long his career would be if he was playing the role of Darius Kasparaitis AND Sandis Ozolinsh… As interesting as it sounds, I reckon he’ll fall to the second or third round.

Corey Pronman (@coreypronman) – The Athletic – 

• Ridley Greig – C – Brandon (WHL) – 5’11”, 165lbs

Greig’s name kept rising in the final months of the season and scouts have told me they expect him to be a first-round lock due to how skilled he is and how hard he competes on the ice. I can see the Oilers valuing those attributes a lot, especially down the middle where the organization doesn’t have a lot of young depth. – Pronman

Now here’s where my previous point about draft a center hits a bit of a wall. Why draft Greig over Lapierre when they’ve got 97, 29, and 93 all locked up and the answer is, the Wheat King brings a different toolbox to the job site than Lapierre. He’s got some Martin Lapointe in him that I’m sure Ken Holland would love. If Lapierre isn’t helping out on offense or is being shut down, how else is he contributing? Can he excel in the muck like Greig can? I’m not so sure he can.

I’d be a little shocked if Mark Greig’s boy was drafted in the first round. He’s good but I think there are some better players that could be taken in the top-31 picks. That said, a team looking to increase its depth and character might take him before the first round is up.

The Hockey Prospect Black Book

• Connor Zary – C – Kamloops (WHL) – 6’0″, 177lbs

“Zary is a multi-faceted, duel-threat center who might be more translatable on the wing. Arguably his best skill attribute are his hands. He has an excellent set of hands that he can use to break down opposing players at a consistent rate. His hands seamlessly blend into his release, giving him a fairly difficult wrist-shot for a goalie to pick up on. He can catch and release the puck, yet find difficult to hit seams on a goalie. There’s a good balance between accuracy, power, and timing with his shooting talent. He can make high-end passes and knows how to stretch out his passing options and readjust his passing lanes by slowing down the play. What really stands out the most is the deception. His competitiveness is also a plus. He’s consistent at getting into high danger areas, and isn’t afraid to use his body in tight to the net when looking to get a rebound. He can hit as well.”

When I watched Zary at the Top Prospects game I was really impressed. He was very creative with his playmaking and seemed to be in the right place at the right time offensively. Out of the centers discussed in this post, I think I like Zary the best. He’s got wonderful hands and he attacks the middle of the ice with no qualms. Maybe that could bite him in the ass at some point but Matt Barzal has done okay so far. Zary’s skating will need to improve a bit going forward as he looks like he’s got heavy boots. Not much waterbug in his game, he’s more of a straight-ahead skater.

At the start of the year, I was really into Dylan Holloway. I liked everything about the kid and that he dominated the AJHL as a 17-year-old was the catalyst. He had a slow start to his time in Wisconsin but I’m confident he’ll really pick it up in his 2nd season there whenever that gets started.

But as the season wore on, a Czech player caught my eye during the World Juniors and then continued to draw my attention as he made the hop over the Atlantic to play for Hamilton (OHL), his name is Jan Mysak.

An electrifying player in my opinion. Once he’s fully developed physically, he has the potential to be a real game-breaker at the next level. Might I say Pastrnak-like? Probably not to that point, but I’m confident in saying that he could be an effective triggerman at the NHL level.

Now, you’re not going to mistake Mysak for Ryan O’Reilly. Mysak scores goals and contributes to offense primarily and I’m okay with that. I really hope the days of taking elite offensive talents and trying to mold them into 200ft two-way players is over. Imagine if they tried to do that with Pavel Bure back in the day or Teemu Selanne? I don’t think so!

The reason I brought up Holloway is that I think there’s a possibility he may slip from around the 10-14 spot to possibly the 18-22 spot depending on who jumps up. It would be a very difficult decision for me to pick just one of these players as I’m a big fan of both. With that in mind, if Zary, Holloway, and Mysak are available when the Oilers draft, I reckon it’s a win/win/win situation for the club if they take one of them.

Do you have a personal preference for who the Oilers should pick? Let us know in the comments below or over on Twitter (@beerleagueheroe)!

Puck Racism

The sales are starting to trickle in with this design and I’m going to spam the hell out of it on my website and the BLH Hockey Instagram because I feel passionate about it and I feel like Hockey is Diversity deserves the proceeds that I’ll be donating to them.

So, please. If you’ve got an extra $20 lying around and you want to do a good thing for good people, click the pic down below and grab a t-shirt, a mask, a onesie, a tank top, or some stickers.

Hockey is Diversity is a German group whose aim is to draw attention to the ethnic diversity in society, which goes beyond the sporting borders in order to sensitize people interculturally. The diversity that has long been regarded as an enrichment in sport as a melting pot of people of different ethnicities, cultures, and religions should also be transferred to society.