Its Your Move Steve!

The Edmonton Oilers won the NHL draft lottery meaning they will have the #1 pick in the annual entry draft for the 3rd straight year. I would be shocked if Oilers GM Steve Tambellini opens up the proceedings though.

After taking Taylor Hall and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins in the past two drafts, the Oilers don't need another skilled forward. They need a defenceman and there are many good ones out there in the top 20. The question is what does Tambellini do? I don't even think he knows right now, but he must realize that taking Nail Yakupov would not be the right thing for the organization.

Here are the options.

1)Keep the pick--take Yakupov and move on
2)Keep the pick and shock everyone by taking White City's Ryan Murray (ranked number 2 by Central Scouting) and move on thus giving him the defenceman the team needs
3)Open it up to the highest bidder
4)Trade down---but not too far down and collect some riches like extra draft picks or prospects and an experienced defenceman so that you can use your first round pick to still grab one of the good young d-men available. Seeing he plays in Edmonton so Oiler brass have likely seen him on and off the ice many times, I get the feeling the guy they like is Edmonton Oil Kings d-man Griffin Reinhart. If he's anything like his dad (Paul), the Oilers will have themselves a player and many scouts say the younger Reinhart is a better version of his dad. He is ranked 10th by Central Scouting. I think Edmonton needs to make a trade with a non-playoff team to get their hands on Reinhart or perhaps a Morgan Reilly considering who they trade with.


You know Brian Burke would like to make a splash at the draft after what happened this year. Could Edmonton get a 1st, a 2nd and Luke Schenn for the number one pick or is that even enough? Schenn needs a new start somewhere and I still think the kid can play even though his confidence was shattered by former Leafs coach Ron Wilson. I can't see Burke giving up Jake Gardiner. Would Anaheim want to part with Cam Fowler? Would Winnipeg want to part with Toby Enstrom or Zack Bogosian. Would Buffalo want to part with Tyler Myers? They are all scenarios that are out there.

In the end, I think the 4th scenario is the best one for the Oilers. The first one would be disastrous as far as this Oiler fan is concerned unless someone like Hemsky or Gagner can be traded for a first round pick or at least a high 2nd. The second scenario would be OK, but Edmonton wouldn't be able to cash in on the riches that they could have gotten.

3 is an OK option considering who the dance partner is.

In the end, the Oilers can't lose as their efforts to rebuild continue, but it will be interesting to see what happens and how late it is until Tambellini pulls the trigger if indeed he does.