It is, unfortunately, that time of the year again. Despite a nice win over rival Vancouver on Tuesday night, the Oilers find themselves out of contention by the end of the all-star break. But while this was seen as an OK development in the past few years, I’d argue the best course of action for the Oilers this season is to treat every contest like a playoff game and do what they can to make things tight in the Western Conference.
Whether or not the Oilers tanked on purpose in the past few seasons in order to draft Taylor Hall and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins with consecutive No. 1 picks is up for debate and almost irrelevant now. The franchise is stocked to the gills with young forward talent that includes the two previously mentioned phenoms, Jordan Eberle, Magnus Paajarvi, Anton Lander and Teemu Hartikainen, among others.
On defence, most of the prospects are still a year or two away from the NHL at least, though 2011 first-rounder Oscar Klefbom could be the exception to the rule.
All of which is to say, the Oilers don’t need another No. 1 pick. Tanking will do nothing to help the spirit of a team that is oh so used to losing already and while you never turn down a potential superstar, there’s no point giving up on a season either.
True, the Oilers will not make the playoffs. And true, they may still win that first-overall selection via lottery (if the Columbus Blue Jackets have taught us anything, it’s that they have no luck), but if Edmonton puts together a modest run in the second half, it’s not the end of the world if it finishes with, say, the fifth to ninth pick overall. That’s because there’s a boatload of blue-line help available this year, including a slew of players who hail from out West.
Everett’s Ryan Murray tops the list, with Red Deer’s Matt Dumba and Moose Jaw’s Morgan Rielly close behind. Griffin Reinhart of the local Oil Kings would be a perfect fit, while Portland’s Derrick Pouliot also brings a lot to the table. Outside the Western League, there’s Ottawa’s Cody Ceci and Jacob Trouba of Team USA.
Murray may be the only straight-to-the-NHL candidate and in that case the Oilers would need a top-four pick, but otherwise the talent is there and Edmonton doesn’t need to tank to get it.
