Oilers Top 10 Prospects
- Jeff Deslauriers G
- Marc-Antoine Pouliot C
- Jesse Niinimaki C
- Doug Lynch D
- Jeff Woywitka D
- Matt Greene D
- Jani Rita LW
- Alexei Mikhnov LW
- Tony Salmelainen RW
- Colin McDonald RW
Team Needs
Fortunately for the Oilers, they have one of the deepest prospect pools in the NHL in the sense that there is a noteworthy player to fill practically every role a team could have. Where the Oilers fall short is in not having a sure-fire offensive star who will do nothing but generate offense every time he is on the ice, a constant threat who can bend twine at a sniper’s pace.
“We’ve got a big (organization) so we could kind of forsake our size mentality for a guy who just puts the puck in the net and creates offense,” says Kevin Prendergast Edmonton’s VP of Hockey Operations and head scout.
“I think we need people who can score!” agrees long time Oiler scout Chris McCarthy. “We need some people who can put the puck in the net because we need to score more goals to win more games. For me, it was in the back of my mind that we could use (offense) so I kept a special eye out for that.”
The necessity to find a power play quarterback is less of a priority then a year ago thanks to the graduation of Marc-Andre Bergeron to the NHL roster and also the acquisition of collegian Tom Gilbert at the trade deadline in exchange for Tommy Salo.
Organizational Strengths
With AHL All-Star Doug Lynch and rugged Matt Greene, the future blueline of the Oilers already looked solid, however, trades last year also brought Jeff Woywitka and Tom Gilbert into the fold making the quality of the defensive corps undeniably inspiring. Greene is the hard-hitting, defensive rock that opposing forwards will quickly learn to fear. Gilbert can control a power play and will provide much needed offense from the backend. Lynch and Woywitka possess traits of both of the aforementioned players and but are already on the cusp of graduating to the NHL and could play there as early as next year.
The forwards in the organization are plentiful to say the least. Power forwards like Colin McDonald, J.F. Jacques, Alexei Mikhnov, Jani Rita and Zack Stortini as well as exceptional checkers such as Dan Baum, Mike Bishai, Nate DiCasmirro and Tony Salmelainen are all notables.
Youngsters with enormous potential dominate the center ice position. Marc-Antoine Pouliot and Jesse Niinimaki could mature into first line centers while Joe Cullen, Kyle Brodziak and Fredrik Johansson are all coming off great seasons.
Edmonton is not an organization known for developing stalwart keepers but Chicoutimi goaltender Jeff Deslauriers is well positioned to become a franchise player in Oilerville. The recently signed masked man will begin his first professional campaign next season for the Toronto Roadrunners of the AHL.
Character and leadership are qualities the Oilers are rich in as several of their prospects are, or have been, captains of their clubs. Stortini, Pouliot, Jacques, Brodziak, Lynch, Woywitka and Bishai all wore the ‘C’ as recently as last year or in their last season as an amateur in junior or college.
Organizational
Weaknesses
The Oilers are still dependent on getting scoring from all four of their lines and without a dominant offensive star in the system, that expectation will have to continue. While the system is loaded with role players and untapped potential, there are no certainties in the goal-scoring department. In that sense, the Oilers are sort of like a carpenter with a bucket full of nails but no hammer to finish the job. For Edmonton to correct this and improve in the coming years, they will need to find an architect capable of leading the carpenters.
Presently, in the crease Edmonton is guilty of having all of their eggs in one basket, namely Jeff Deslauriers. Behind Deslauriers, Mike Morrison is the best goalie the Oilers have and most see him as a career AHL player. Edmonton native Glenn Fisher is expected to be the starter for NCAA champion Denver University in his sophomore year but being at least three years away, he is anything but a sure thing. Expect the Oilers to address this need by grabbing at least one goaltender in the upcoming draft.
Draft
Tendencies
The cost conscious Oilers have always liked to dip into the NCAA and European talent pools because the need to sign those players is usually delayed at least two years longer than with someone from Canadian major junior. The Oilers have taken players from the QMJHL more frequently than in the years prior to 2001 when the current regime of Kevin Lowe and Kevin Prendergast took control of the team.
The vast majority of Oiler drafts have been noteworthy for one characteristic above all others: speed. However, Lowe has instituted the policy that size, character and hockey smarts should hold much more weight in Edmonton then ever before. The long-standing Oiler policy on draft day has always been to select the best player available and that will again be the case this June 26th and 27th as well.
“Yeah, that’s what it always is,” confirmed Prendergast. “The problem with drafting ‘for need’ is that by the time these guys are ready to contribute ‘the needs’ have changed.”
“We’re going to draft the best player available regardless of position,” McCarthy followed up. “Look at how much our dynamics have changed position-wise since the start of last year. No Mike Comrie or Tommy Salo and defensively we’ve added Woywitka and Gilbert. Do we need more big strong wingers? Maybe not, but then again, big centermen are always on our list.”
Kevin Lowe is quite often an active GM on or around draft day. Eric Brewer was acquired a few years ago on draft weekend and Jochen Hecht was dealt to Buffalo in exchange for two second round picks in 2002. Also in 2002, Lowe aggressively pursued Tampa Bay’s fourth overall pick in order to draft Joni Pitkanen but the Flyers topped the Edmonton offer and nabbed the Finn instead. Joffrey Lupul was also in Lowe’s sights that year but Lowe failed to move up to get him. In 2003, Lowe was trying to position himself to take a run at Ryan Suter by swapping picks with Atlanta, but the deal fell through when Nashville grabbed the blueliner earlier than expected. Last season the Oilers moved down a handful of spots in the opening round and added a second round selection in a deal with New Jersey. With a plethora of NHL capable forwards, the potential is there for Lowe to be active again this year.
Player most likely to be taken with first round selections (Hockey’s Future staff mock draft result): No. 14 Alexandre Picard LW, No. 25 Lauri Korpikoski LW.
Comment on this story at the Oilers section of the Hockey’s Future Message Boards.
