[the-rasta-masta]

Originally Posted by Jay Random

Was discussing E=NG with a buddy last night, and checked hockeydb to refresh my memory.

Roots of the Oilers' dynasty in the 1980s:

1. Lucked into Wayne Gretzky when Nelson Skalbania sold him to Peter Pocklington.
2. Picked up an unbelievable supporting cast by killing it in three consecutive drafts:

1979 – Kevin Lowe (1st round), Mark Messier (3rd), Glenn Anderson (4th)
1980 – Paul Coffey (1st), Jari Kurri (4th), Andy Moog (7th)
1981 – Grant Fuhr (1st)

That's almost the entire core of the Oilers' dynasty teams right there, and they all matured together and peaked at the right time.

The current Oiler team, which so many people are eager to proclaim a dynasty in the making, has so far managed one step:

1. Lucked into Connor McDavid by winning a lottery.

Klefbom might turn out as well as Lowe, and Draisaitl looks like a good core player. (It remains to be seen, though, if he can keep scoring when not riding shotgun for McDavid.) But Nurse is no Coffey, Nugent-Hopkins is no Messier, Puljujarvi is no Kurri, and Yamamoto seems very unlikely to be an Anderson. And because the Oilers truly stink at drafting beyond the first round, you have to pick through seven drafts just to find those pieces.

Bad enough that they don't have the same level of raw talent to build with. They're already dealing away pieces from the last rebuild for cap reasons; how are they going to keep the current crop together? They don't have the luxury of letting a bunch of whiz kids gel together for three to five years. History is not repeating itself, and in this case, it's unlikely that it will even rhyme.

Dynasty, my foot. The arrogance and entitlement of Oiler fans and media is truly a gift that keeps on giving.

Wasn't Skalbania the guy that brought the Flames to Calgary? If he hadn't sold Gretzky, could he have been a Flame? Imagine that alternate timeline.