[News] The Edmonton Oilers win the draft lottery and will select 1st overall

[UKflames]

This was just the worst thing to wake up to this morning, of all the teams to win the lottery it had to be Edmonton.

To be honest I am not bothered that my friends from EDM will be boasting big style, more that this kid could have done so much to help other more deserving franchises, even the Coyotes, and helped turn some of them around, making the league more interesting and competetive, now he just gets ruined.

I am not surprised to hear that league executives and fans alike are upset with this result.

[longsuffering]

Originally Posted by Back2Back

He's going to be an Oiler for 7 years so i'll have all the time in the world to spell his name right. Connor McDavid.

I fixed that for you.

At most, McDavid will put in his 7 years in Edmonton then move on to much greener pastures as an unrestricted free agent.

[longsuffering]

Let's imagine this .....

The disappointment of being drafted by Edmonton causes McDavid to go into a downhill spiral. Drinking, partying, lack of conditioning, lack of commitment ....

Wait, what am saying? He doesn't need to go into a downhill spiral, he just needs to fall into the Hall, Eberle and Schultz clique and develop the same bad habits!

[Day Tripper]

Bad news for the Flames...and for Mr. McDavid.

Originally Posted by oldschoolcalgary

FOUR number 1 picks in 6 years?

#### time of possession; i'd like to see Corsi run the statistical odds of that actually happening...EVER.

There was a 2.00% chance of the Oilers getting four or more 1st overalls in the last six years, barring any mistakes...

[calgaryred]

Not like Edmonton could afford to keep all their number one draft picks in 5 years either McTavish and Klowe will kill McDavid as a star, or the salary Cap will kill the team.

[Matty81]

People who are sticking their head in the sand and saying things like its the oilers they'll ruin him anyway need to wake up. The kid is the best 17 year old since crosby, maybe better. He scored 3 points a game in the Chl as a 17 year old.

Our biggest rivals just became contenders for a decade... Because they refused to improve their team by moving any youth to balance out their roster or sign a goalie in the offseason and traded off a bunch of vets again.

At the same time the flames are busting their butts to squeek in, and end up likely further away from winning a cup.

North american pro sports drafts are just disgusting. Honestly this kind of thing almost puts me off the nhl

[Heavy Jack]

Originally Posted by Matty81

People who are sticking their head in the sand and saying things like its the oilers they'll ruin him anyway need to wake up. The kid is the best 17 year old since crosby, maybe better. He scored 3 points a game in the Chl as a 17 year old.

Our biggest rivals just became contenders for a decade... Because they refused to improve their team by moving any youth to balance out their roster or sign a goalie in the offseason and traded off a bunch of vets again.

At the same time the flames are busting their butts to squeek in, and end up likely further away from winning a cup.

North american pro sports drafts are just disgusting. Honestly this kind of thing almost puts me off the nhl

Crosby has helped Pitty earn one cup and two finals appearances, lets not over-react here. Im taking Monahan/Bennett/Gaudreau + the rest of our awesome team over McDavid and the train wreck up north. Good for them, they got the generational talent of this decade, they still have to find a way to put it all together and at the end of the day maybe finally if they ever do we can see BOA's that mean something for the first time since the 80's.

[Matty81]

Originally Posted by Heavy Jack

Crosby has helped Pitty earn one cup and two finals appearances, lets not over-react here. Im taking Monahan/Bennett/Gaudreau + the rest of our awesome team over McDavid and the train wreck up north. Good for them, they got the generational talent of this decade, they still have to find a way to put it all together and at the end of the day maybe finally if they ever do we can see BOA's that mean something for the first time since the 80's.

Jesus... That logic is not reassuring at all. Only 1 cup and 2 finals? The flames have 1 cup and 3 finals... Ever.

I don't want to see battle of albertas like the 80s. I'm a flames fan, I want to see the oilers suck always.

And this stings even worse because the flames worked so hard this season and really ultimately from an asset perspective, got punished. The oilers refused to improve their team, despite already having significant young assets, and they get the best prospect in a decade for it.

So sick of seeing futility and failure be rewarded in North american sports.

[calgaryred]

I agree McDavid will help bring back the BOA, but his impact on a team going no where is funny, not like Lemieux turned the Penguins into a contender over night and he is way bigger and powerful then McDavid. Its not like he has Kurri, and Messier to play with. Its fricking Hall and company, who think a 4-1 loss is still a good night.

[Day Tripper]

Originally Posted by Matty81

People who are sticking their head in the sand and saying things like its the oilers they'll ruin him anyway need to wake up. The kid is the best 17 year old since crosby, maybe better. He scored 3 points a game in the Chl as a 17 year old.

Our biggest rivals just became contenders for a decade... Because they refused to improve their team by moving any youth to balance out their roster or sign a goalie in the offseason and traded off a bunch of vets again.

At the same time the flames are busting their butts to squeek in, and end up likely further away from winning a cup.

North american pro sports drafts are just disgusting. Honestly this kind of thing almost puts me off the nhl

Yeah, it's possible that the Flames wallow in mediocrity for another 20 years, while the McDavid Oilers dominate and win a few cups, all the while steamrolling the Flames every time they meet. It's possible.

But even if that happens, there's no need to get overly worked up about it. It's a game. It's meaningless entertainment.

[Cheese]

The Oilers PLAN is coming together.

[Itse]

Yeah I get that people are trying to see a silver lining and thnking that Oilers will just ruin him and this will only give MacTavish and Lowe more leash. I don't see it.

On the contrary, this finally starts to put pressure to succeed on the Oilers. Excuses are not going to cut it after this.

Let's also remember that post-headshot Crosby is not as good as the player who entered the league. The current Crosby is good. That guy was fantastic.

(As for Ovechkin: great player, but you can't build a succesful franchise around a winger. We should know that.)

Also: McDavid will just sign in Edmonton after the UFA years. That's just how it goes. Most likely he'll play out 90% of his career in Edmonton.

That's what really sucks. I really, really wanted to cheer for McDavid.

[bubbsy]

Yup, kudos to the oilers management. Solid planning and execution over the past decade.

Eakins deserves to enjoy this with the group, wish he was still there.

[devo22]

Originally Posted by Matty81

Our biggest rivals just became contenders for a decade.

no. They could become contenders for a decade if they now play their cards right, but McDavid on his own will not solve the problems they have up there. If they trade Hall and Eberle for defensive help and build around McDavid, Nugent-Hopkins, Draisaitl and their young defensemen, they could become a good team down the road, but just throwing McDavid into the lineup will not make them a contender.

Seriously, the notion of McDavid saving this franchise on its own is pretty laughable when you consider that Benn/Seguin just missed the playoffs, as did Giroux/Voracek. The Sharks had three players with 65+ points and missed. If the Oilers draft McDavid and just stay put, this will not make them a contender.

[CliffFletcher]

Now that I've had some time to let it settle in, I think having McDavid on the roster will only prove to the rest of the league (those who don't know already) how absolutely inept and toxic the Oilers franchise is, when they still finish near the bottom of the league year after year. By the time the organizational failure becomes evident, and the real house-cleaning begins, McDavid will only have a couple more years before UFA status. And by then, any change of regime will be too late.

[EldrickOnIce]

The worst franchise in professional sport gets further rewarded for failure.
And their fans expect it - feel like they deserve it.
I still don't know what to say. It truly sickens me.
And people who don't think this makes a huge difference are deluded.

[1qqaaz]

Originally Posted by Matty81

People who are sticking their head in the sand and saying things like its the oilers they'll ruin him anyway need to wake up. The kid is the best 17 year old since crosby, maybe better. He scored 3 points a game in the Chl as a 17 year old.

Our biggest rivals just became contenders for a decade... Because they refused to improve their team by moving any youth to balance out their roster or sign a goalie in the offseason and traded off a bunch of vets again.

At the same time the flames are busting their butts to squeek in, and end up likely further away from winning a cup.

North american pro sports drafts are just disgusting. Honestly this kind of thing almost puts me off the nhl

I complete agree. The generational talents (Richard, Howe, Gretzky, Bossy, Orr, Lemieux, Lidstrom, and so far, Crosby) won an average of about 3 cups each. So by that logic, Edmonton just won 3 cups by pure luck. And the oilers cannot screw up McDavid's development, since he's already a star. Edmonton cannot "ruin" McDavid badly enough to make him not a point per game player. I am getting the sense that people will be surprised when he gets 90+ points even though he is on Edmonton. They will say, "Edmonton didn't ruin him after all!"

Also, the NHL lottery is and always has been a joke. It should never have been possible to win the lottery more than once in 5 years. No saying hindsight is 20/20: we've all been saying this for years. The lottery has done much more harm than good. Teams like Buffalo are cheering for loses anyways. The NHL should be embarrassed. And they are.

And what makes me sick is if the Oilers are good in 5 years, everyone (including the fans and the media) will forget how disgraceful the Oilers were. Everyone will forget that the Oilers got there by suck and luck.
Meanwhile, the Flames, who have never picked in the top 3 in their 35+ year team history (no one in the league ever acknowledges this), will probably have a pretty good team, but hardwork can only get you so far. Hard-work could also vanish in an instant, whereas talent is harder to permanently suppress.

Is it possible for Edmonton to sign people like Boychuk, Green or St. Louis? Or do they not have the cap space to sign any good free agents (Boychuk and Green probably want term)?
I wonder if they will hire Dan Bylsma, since he has experience with generational talents. Also, if I were the oilers, I would rather keep Draisaitl than Hopkins (who according to Hall's tweet, is already demoted to the second line).

I hope that Calgary succeeds in building a great team from the goalie out. Hopefully starting from Gillies. Not sold on Mason McDonald. A lot of defensemen are drafted from the second round, and the Flames have 3 of them this year. This will be a really important draft.
Hopefully the Flames win today. Then everyone here can be happy again.

[BigRed]

Originally Posted by longsuffering

I fixed that for you.



At most, McDavid will put in his 7 years in Edmonton then move on to much greener pastures as an unrestricted free agent.

And he'll only be 25, with at least a decade of productive hockey left in his career. He will not be defined by the oilers.

[EldrickOnIce]

And what makes me sick is if the Oilers are good in 5 years, everyone (including the fans and the media) will forget how disgraceful the Oilers were. Everyone will forget that the Oilers got there by suck and luck.

^Quoted because right

[Lanny_McDonald]

The thing that keeps me positive about this is the Oilers budget is already a miss and it makes McDavid a prime candidate to be poached through an offer sheet. That could cripple the Oilers as they attempt to surround McDavid with the talent to succeed. Still pissed about this, but the realities of their mismanagement could make it more tolerable.