Photo: In Hockey's Future's staff mock draft, the Oilers select Ryan Nugent-Hopkins with the first pick. Photo courtesy of Ken McKenna/HF)
Top 10 prospects:
1. Martin Marincin, D
2. Jeff Petry, D
3. Tyler Pitlick, C
4. Curtis Hamilton, LW
5. Linus Omark, RW
6. Alex Plante, D
7. Anton Lander, C
8. Ryan Martindale, C
9. Olivier Roy, G
10. Teemu Hartikainen, LW
Team Needs
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Now that Doug Weight has been traded to St. Louis the aftermath will be lessened due to Kevin Lowe’s timing. In the best interest of the team he made the deal now to allow the new members of the club to blend into the existing fold with as little turmoil as possible.Knowing that Doug Weight’s value would diminish the longer he was kept with the team it was felt that severing the ties and receiving a reasonable return and focus on the team, as a whole would serve a greater purpose.
The deal as follows has Doug Weight and Michel Riesen going to St. Louis and Jochen Hecht, Marty Reasoner and Jan Horacek returning to Edmonton. Now on the surface it may seem that the Oilers did not receive full value for Doug Weight but appearances can be deceiving. The difficulties that arose for Kevin Lowe were the facts that Doug Weight was to be an unrestricted free agent next summer and he would not be able to afford him and he requested to be traded to a contender only. Having only a few options since Weight would not have signed with a rebuilding team this was the best that could be done by Kevin Lowe. It was felt through out the organization that trading Weight now would give the time for the team to come together as a group with the new players and establish leadership roles to replace their captain.
Both forwards from St. Louis have the type of skills that the Oilers management was looking for and each could adapt to the system quickly with a full training camp. After two seasons’ with the Blues Hecht has displayed a tremendous amount of talent and it appears to Read more»
With several players on their list already taken the Oilers scouting staff felt the long term needs of the organization was to acquire a pure goal scorer or a reliable defenseman. Interestingly enough the first three rounds turned out almost exactly as planned. They did not get the goalie they coveted but all in all I felt it was a productive first day in adding dimensions to the farm system. The first three rounds went quickly for the Edmonton Oilers and the players selected are as follows.
1st Round 13th Overall
Ales Hemsky RW Sh: Right 6-0/170 Born: August13/1983
Not all the scouts agree with each other on the assessment of this Czech winger who played in the offensive minded QMJHL but no one deny his skills. At this pick it is exactly one the main needs the Oilers were trying to address, a scoring winger in the Miro Satan mold who can break open games on occasion.
He arguably one of this draft’s most electrifying players with the puck and one of the only reason he was not taken higher is his unwillingness to play in traffic so to speak. Not particularly muscular by any means but that seemed to be of little concern to the Oilers brass since they were looking for pure skill over brawn. Because of the teams current depth of young gritty forwards in the system it was apparently felt that this selection was necessary.
For the most part Ales will provide that elusive swift skating goal scorer whom can make opposing defenseman look foolish. Also noting are his amazing puck skills in the handling and passing departme Read more»
Possible Players the Oilers Could Draft
The 2001 National Hockey League draft will definitely be a lively time for NHL teams, draft eligible players, their parents and agents. This year’s draft is considered deep by many NHL people and scouts. Every year hockey fans are guessing which players there team draft or which player they think the team should draft. There is a new draft philosophy for the Oilers now that Kevin Lowe is the GM of the team. He wants more players with grit, reliability and players who play with passion; also the Oilers need more skilled players in their system.
Based on the Oilers primary needs goaltending, offensive defenseman and skilled forwards their are players in this year’s draft that would fit the Oiler’s needs like Dan Blackburn, Dan Hamhuis, Stephen Weiss. However those players most likely are then when the Oilers turn comes up at 13.
While I was scouting a Brampton Battalion playoff game NHL scouts in attendance believed these players would not be available Jason Spezza, Stephen Weiss, Dan
Hamhius, Ilya Kovalchuk, Alexander Svitov, Stanislav Chistov, Mikko Koivu, Tuomo Ruutu, Dan Blackburn and Mike Komisarek by the time the Oilers pick.
But in the NHL things change daily.
Here is a list of players that should be available when the Oilers pick at 13 with CSB analysis of the player is included.
1. Colby Armstrong – This is a player everyone seems to think the Oilers draft. Being a Western Canadian and born in Saskatchewan, he wou Read more»
It may seem like one small step for Alexei Semenov of the Sudbury Wolves by moving up from Defensive Defenseman of the year in 1999-2000 and taking the top prize this season but nothing is small when your 6’6″.
A tower of power on defense this season he seems eager to bring on the challenges the next level will bring him. His well rounded play and shear dominance over his opponants in his own zone made the decision by the General Managers of the Ontario Hockey League to give him this award easy.
However the voting was close with the top three vote getters with 54-46-32 points respectivly. The trio was quite impressive considering he beat out Rostislav Klesla whom was drafted by the Columbus Blue Jackets 4th overall last year, rounding out the top three was Jon Zion whom plays for the Ottawa 67′s. It may turn out that Alexei a second round pick of Edmonton’s in 1999 may end up being the steal of the draft.
Some of the past winners read like an All Star ballot with Dennis Potvin winning two years in a row back in 71-72 and 72-73. With most receintly the additions of Al MacInnis in 82-83, Chris Pronger in 92-93 and retired Bryan Berard with a double as well in 94-95 and 95-96. If the progression continues he may one day in the distant future be considered on par with some of the names mentioned above.
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