Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch
Ok, we know that the Oilers have serious depth problems, they have for years. They've counted on two players to carry the rest of the deadwood to any kind of contendership. But every year it might get them by a round or so, but in the end they run into a moderately deep team and become none competitive. At the same time They relentlessly play McDrai for the majority of the games, so by round two or so of the playoffs they look dead on their feet.
What's the problem? Why can't a team that has over and over again had high draft picks in all the rounds of the draft not have a wealth of derpth?
Cause they let the teams next GM Katz son run the draft table? Because their scouts go, meh we have McDrai so it doesn't matter what we draft? The whole scouting team is functionally stupid? All three?
Lets wander back in time, to the heady day when they drafted Draisaitl and see what else they picked up that was any good. No wait, lets go back to the year they started pissing away draft picks in 2012 when they drafted Nail Yakupov. Ah yes 2012, when the first Avengers movie came out, a young Charlie Sheen guzzled Tigers blood each week on Anger Management, and a young Taylor Swift was well on her way to Billionaire Status.
2012 the Oilers drafted Nail Yakupov with te first overall pitch. The only other players of note, though they drafted at the top of each round were Jugihar Khair who really amounted to nothing, and Erik Gustafsson who's best days came when he left the Oilers after spending no time with them.
In 2013 they drafted Darnell Nurse in the first round 7th overall, and while he was a decent pick, we've seen that he does more harm then good now that he's signed his 9 million dollar per year pick. Other then they the only player of note was Anton Slepyshev 110 games with the Oilers really doing nothing of note.
So surely things wound turn around, I mean in 2014 with pick number 3 they picked up Leon Draisaitl. Vroom Vroom they said we'll build around him. Well um in that draft year only William Lagesson made an NHL impact player after 60 games with the oilers and racking up a hall of fame level scoring stat line of 6 points.
The next year 2015 they struck gold as their drafting looked stellar. This was the turn around year. I mean of course they got the McDavid. But in the 4th round they picked up Caleb Jones, he eked out a decent NHL career of 217 games with 50 points, of course he played 93 of those games with Edmonton racking up 5 goals and 19 points over three years. But of course they shored up their blue line with Ethan Bear right? Well he did have three nightmarish years in the NHL before he was chased out of town. Of course the crowning jewel of the Oilers was picking John Marino in the 6th round who has gone on to a decent NHL Career of 264 games with 14 goals and 89 points, none of them with the Oilers.
The next year 2016 was a banner year as they drafted uber prospect future super star Jessie Pilij . . . Puli. . . frack it Pool party. The uber savor. After a decent rookie season where he racked up most of his points after the Oilers were eliminated from the playoffs and there was no pressure. He ended up spinning his wheels with the Oilers setting a record for being chased out of town twice. But for back up they picked up sure fire prospect Tyler Benson who played 38 NHL games with 3 points. But Markus Niemelanien, Dylan Wells and Vincent Desharnais were all there to stock the Oilers cupboards right? But, here's where we put in the wah wah music, none of them did more then make popcorn and sweep the dressing room under the glaring eyes of McDrai after practice.
Does it get better? Well (Sarcastically) it does. In 2017 they drafted Kaller Yamamoto. The answer to Johnny Gaudreau, the pocket rocket, the can't miss kid. He showed some flashed, but that's about it, after a hot start in his first year and a 20 goal season in 20212 he busted out and moved on to the Kracken for nothing. That year also saw the drafting of the can't miss goalie of the future Stuart Skinner, that had some moments before the Oilers completely destroyed his confidence, the only other standout with Dmitri Samorukov who played 3 games with the Oilers in two seasons and said F no, I'd rather work at Sportscheck.
Now the next year based on the hype should have been a big year as they finally drafted a pylon to cover bad ice spots in Evan Bouchard, the kid with a million dollar slap shot and a 2 cent over valued defensive awareness. They picked up Ryan McLeod who looks completely lost and other then that Michael Kesselring who left to do nothing with the Yotes.
Ok this is where it gets sketchy. But the next year 2019 they drafted Philip Broberg in the first round who looks like he's ready to go back to Europe as he busts out as a NHLer. I guess we'll see if the next top line hope Raphael Lavoie does anything as he just got called up.
The last year I'm going to look at is 2020. They drafted Dylan Holloway with their first round pick and super hyped the kid up. But he's been um uninspiring at the AHL level and worse at the NHL level. He looks like the kid that's been rushed based on the need for a news story, and been destroyed by the Oilers development system.
So what's my point in all of this?
Since the Oilers modern era started in 2012 with the drafting of Nail Yakupov when you look at all of those picks through the all the rounds of drafts.
Out of 62 draft picks. Including 10 first round pick. They have 8 players that are currently with the team.
These players are Holloway (doing nothing), Lavoie (Just called up for the first time ever), Bouchard (Terrible), McLeod (No good), Skinner (Destroyed), McDavid (Duh pick), Draisaitl (duh pick), Nurse (Cap anchor).
That's it, that's all. Its no mystery why the Oilers are no good. Yes their coach is bad, yes McDaivd and Draisaitl probably aren't the model team leaders that will go through a wall and do whatever it takes to win when it gets tough.
However the primary mode of execution for this team. The lethal injection, the cyanide pill in the acid. Is not only their drafting. But the fact that all of these players that were picked can't be useless. Its that they don't know how to develop players.
Isn't it ironic (don't ya think) that a team with 62 picks, that had to base its entire strategy on drafting young players and building that way, that knows winning, that believes that every team would trade their roster for the Oilers roster (Like a Vipa). Has found a way to mess it up?
They can go ahead and fire pugsly, he can join a long line of actually good coaches, like Tippet and Hitchcock, and McLellan, all coaches that won at the NHL level or are winning now, that were killed by the McDrai led dressing room. A team that ironically has no interest in playing a 200 foot game.
Now let me end this whole mess of text with a story.
"Have you ever heard the tail of Darth Connor the selfish?"
Young hockey fan - "no"
"Its a Edmonton Oiler legend. Darth Connor the selfish, was so self absorbed, so obsessed with individual accolades that in the first 9 years of his hockey career, he manged to discredit and destroy 6 (Counting pugsy) NHL coaches."
Young hockey fan - "Wow is it possible to learn this power?"
"Not from any decent hockey player that wants to win cups"
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