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

[JohnnySkittles]

Originally Posted by Tyler

LOL at all you guys wishing a terrible career on an 18 year old kid for something he had no control over. Wow.

This. I honestly feel so bad for the kid, he looked crushed when he found out Edmonton won.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

If it's me, Draisaitl and Eberle are absolutely on their way out of town. If you can get something close to value for Taylor Hall, him too.

They should target a UFA top 4 defenseman (Mike Green, Christian Ehrhoff, Paul Martin, Beauchemin, Sekera) and find a G somewhere. Not many good UFA G options this year though, I don't think Niemi is what you need there. If Lack wasn't in their division I agree that would make sense for them.

[Day Tripper]

Originally Posted by Hells Bells

I see the Flames trending towards being a contender, not a team that will miss one year and maybe make it the next.

That's where the Flames are now.

The Blue Jackets have guys like Atkinson, Foligno & Hartnell in their top 6. Good players but not very talented. Certainly the Flames will have more talent. Much closer to the Hawks IMO.

The Flames can become the new Blackhawks if a lot of things go right. It's possible, but not probable. Hell, the Flames could become the Leafs if a lot of things go wrong, but again that's not probable. I hope you're right though, and time will tell.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

If it were me, I would let 2015 play out to see how McDavid, RNH and Draisaitl look as potential complements, then look to trade one of the latter two.

That also gives Draisaitl another year to develop (I know, we're talking Oilers here).

But yes, I would trade one of them because you can't really fully utilize, or afford, all 3, so trade one for a quality defenseman.

But again... Oilers.

I'd trade two of Hall, Eberle and Yakupov for defence and a legit goalie prospect as soon as today. Connor McDavid is an elite talent and I wouldn't worry at all about who he finds chemistry with, he'll find chemistry with alot of people.

If you're an Oilers fan you're praying they don't try to win with nothing but dynamic forwards. Unlike some I think having all those potential big contracts is doable, not easy but doable. You don't however, want all that money tied up in one area. Spread the big money around, get a goalie, get two quality guys on the backend.

Don't have a high end goalie or prospect.

Nurse is good, maybe top two? Not an elite guy on that pair though. They rave about Klefbom but he sits on the 2nd pairing. So that's it

Start shopping Eberle and one of Yakupov today. Gives you alot of options. Move Nugent-Hopkins or Draisatil to the wing at times if needed.

With McDavid fixing the Oilers is only a matter of not being a complete morons.

But.. Mactavish and Lowe are.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

They shouldn't trade Yakupov when his value is in the tank like it is. The others are worth something significant.

[driveway]

I have made my peace with the outcome of the lottery. My fandom of hockey will significantly outlast McDavid's entire career. I hope he does well for the Oilers and turns them into a quality franchise.

I also hope we beat them every single time we meet in the playoffs.

[EldrickOnIce]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

If it's me, Draisaitl and Eberle are absolutely on their way out of town. If you can get something close to value for Taylor Hall, him too.

They should target a UFA top 4 defenseman (Mike Green, Christian Ehrhoff, Paul Martin, Beauchemin, Sekera) and find a G somewhere. Not many good UFA G options this year though, I don't think Niemi is what you need there. If Lack wasn't in their division I agree that would make sense for them.

They won't though, I bet. Too stubborn. They will want to prove they were on the right track along along. Flushing the current entitled group would be the right call (but keeping RNH) - I just doubt they do it.

[Iggy3x]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Is this a joke? There is no scenario that Bettman wanted to see less than this. He is probably bent over some porcelain right now

Is there a way to check if Katz is missing a big bag of money and Bettman's stock profolio just doubled? NHL, what is that?

[devo22]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

They shouldn't trade Yakupov when his value is in the tank like it is. The others are worth something significant.

Eberle is bad defensively and has 4 more years at 6.0 per. Not sure if teams would line up for an expensive, one-dimensial winger like him.

[Day Tripper]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Is this a joke? There is no scenario that Bettman wanted to see less than this. He is probably bent over some porcelain right now

Well, that's the way it is with conspiracy theorists. The conclusion comes before the facts, so if facts contradict the conspiracy, the facts are twisted to fit the conspiracy narrative and not the other way around.

[kyuss275]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

I'd trade two of Hall, Eberle and Yakupov for defence and a legit goalie prospect as soon as today. Connor McDavid is an elite talent and I wouldn't worry at all about who he finds chemistry with, he'll find chemistry with alot of people.

If you're an Oilers fan you're praying they don't try to win with nothing but dynamic forwards. Unlike some I think having all those potential big contracts is doable, not easy but doable. You don't however, want all that money tied up in one area. Spread the big money around, get a goalie, get two quality guys on the backend.

Don't have a high end goalie or prospect.

Nurse is good, maybe top two? Not an elite guy on that pair though. They rave about Klefbom but he sits on the 2nd pairing. So that's it

Start shopping Eberle and one of Yakupov today. Gives you alot of options. Move Nugent-Hopkins or Draisatil to the wing at times if needed.

With McDavid fixing the Oilers is only a matter of not being a complete morons.

But.. Mactavish and Lowe are.

Yup. At this stage it's not rocket science on how the oilers could improve their team drastically this summer. Unfortunately for Oilers fans , MacT and Lowe are the only 2 that could screw this up and probably will.

[JohnnySkittles]

Originally Posted by devo22

Eberle is bad defensively and has 4 more years at 6.0 per. Not sure if teams would line up for an expensive, one-dimensial winger like him.

They're all bad defensively. At least Eberle puts up points.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

I bet you're right. Partly because it's hard to trade guys now. If Eberle goes to the east and immediately pots 70 points, that stings. You just know Hall has more 80+ point seasons in him.

But if you came in to change the culture you have to take those risks. And realistically, you have the one thing you need now; everything else is expendable to build around him.

I mean, what needs to happen here? Really, they either need a guy like Lack (coming into his own and still well under 30), or they need a bridge guy like Jaro Halak in NYI to stabilize the situation while they find the heir apparent in net.

Then they need two of Nurse, Marincin, Musil and Klefbom to become top 4 guys in the next couple of years, and find, through trade or UFA, two more top 4 guys to fill out the pairings.

That's seriously about it. The rest of the forward lineup is a matter of making value adds, and they already have a couple of those guys in Pouliot, Gordon and Klinkhammer (who I think is underrated) if they can keep them for a reasonable price.

There is opportunity there. More than there ever has been. We all expect them to blow it, but it's there nonetheless.

[taxbuster]

Just wondering here: if he pulls a Lindros and refuses to sign, he has to wait two years to be redrafted? Is that correct? If not, what actually happens?

If the damage isn't too bad, if I were him, I would seriously consider it.

[EldrickOnIce]

^Oh it's definitely there now...

[cral12]

Originally Posted by JohnnySkittles

...CP Hijad to get McDavid out of Edmonton?

As I previously stated, let's start the campaign:

#FreeMcDfromMacT

[Stranger]

Katz is laughing all the way to the bank. He'll make millions on marketing McDavid. He can raise the price of tickets because fans in Edmonton will fall over each other to get in the building now. And he has a brand new rink in 2016 that was gifted to him for nothing. I think seeing a slime ball like him succeed despite being possibly the worst owner in the league makes me the most upset.

[devo22]

Originally Posted by taxbuster

Just wondering here: if he pulls a Lindros and refuses to sign, he has to wait two years to be redrafted? Is that correct? If not, what actually happens?

If the damage isn't too bad, if I were him, I would seriously consider it.

Yeah he'd have to wait 2 years to re-enter the draft. In other words: it's not going to happen.

[FlamesNation23]

I just hope one of Hunter Smith or Keenan Kanzig pan out and then destroy the team up north everytime we play them.

[EldrickOnIce]

I am now a huge Jack Eichel fan