2009 NHL Draft: Who The Oilers Like

by Jonathan Willis on Jun 23, 2009 11:27 AM MDT

A few weeks ago, Lowetide commented on how Robin Brownlee's draft preview article is one of the most important items to read in the days leading up to the draft. He's right in that opinion, at least as far as I'm concerned, and yesterday Robin posted his insights into the Oilers' draft strategy over at OilersNation, and expanded on what he said in the comments section there (side point: this sort of thing is exactly why I've been so supportive of ON from early on).

There's some fun news there. First, the top-tier guys who the Oilers would be interested in could include Evander Kane, Jared Cowen, and Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson. Paajarvi-Svensson was ranked #10 in Bob McKenzie's item the other day; I can't picture him falling that far, but he would be an incredible pick. Brownlee also said that the Oilers were trying to move up to grab Evander Kane, and I can't argue with their target; Kane is easily the most dynamic draft-eligible scorer out of the WHL, and probably second only to Tavares in terms of offensive upside.

Let's assume, though, that those three guys are gone. Brownlee gave a list of three guys who are more likely to be available in the #10 slot: Nazem Kadri, Dmitry Kulikov, and Scott Glennie. Other players of interest (Jordan Schroeder, Ryan Ellis, Zack Kassian) are ranked lower on the Oilers' list, and thus simply aren't in the cards as possible selections.

So, of those three, who do you like? The highly-touted Kadri, who played with John Tavares and company in London? Dmitry Kulikov, a well-rounded defenseman who played for a very strong team in Drummondville? Or perhaps Scott Glennie, a guy Lowetide has been touting for months and who is occasionally knocked as being Brayden Schenn's sidekick?

I know who I like.

Poll

Assuming the the higher-ranked players (Kane, Cowen, Paajarvi-Svensson) are gone, who should the Oilers select with the 10th overall pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft?

Nazem Kadri

34 votes

Dmitry Kulikov

79 votes

Scott Glennie

148 votes

261 votes | Poll has closed

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Comments

Kulikov > Kadri > Glennie (IMO)

I was going to not comment here until after the draft in protest of your pick of Ellis over Kulikov in the mock draft.

From LT’s post on NHLE for these players

Kulikov – 5-20-25
Kadri- 11-23-34
Glennie- 13-18-31

I haven’t seen a single mock draft from anyone that puts Glennie ahead of either of these guys.

There used to be a top 7 and then pickem. I think that OEL has slid into contention and we may have to talk about a top 8. Kulikov, Kadri, Shraeder, Ellis, Glennie and Moore would probably round out the next group. Kulikov is the safest and best pick IMO.

by Matt.N on Jun 23, 2009 12:21 PM MDT reply actions

I think Kadri is too one dimensional. The fact that you can acquire such a tag playing on a team that features John Tavares is problematic in principle, considering Tavares, being the more complete player offensively, is also willing to pass. I’ll take a pass on Kadri, for now.

RT40 writes with Strange Deadfellows Oilerblog and is an avid hockey fan.

by raventalon40 on Jun 23, 2009 12:27 PM MDT reply actions

I voted Glennie because I don’t think Kulikov will be available at 10th.

I see it playing out something like:

1 Hedman
2 Tavares
3 Duchene
4 Kane
5 Schenn
6 Cowen
7 OEL
8 Kulikov
9 MPS
10 Glennie

Between Glennie and Kadri would be tough since I don’t particularly like either. Kadri is probably a bit more dynamic but Glennie has attributes more suited to the NHL game such as a good speed and size. Kadri’s stats are interesting because his proportional contribution to offense is low due to Tavares, but he had an outstanding playoffs by any measure and arguably outperformed Tavares there.

by Jon Kerber on Jun 23, 2009 12:38 PM MDT reply actions

I should note that the order of 7-9 doesn’t really matter for our purposes. At that range I merely put down who I think will be selected.

by Jon Kerber on Jun 23, 2009 12:39 PM MDT up reply actions

I for sure like Glennie the best of the two forwards in your poll. There’s not much to pick from between Kadri and Glennie offensively and Glennie is way better without the puck, so in my mind, that’s an easy choice. Vic posted some stats a while back on Lowetide’s blog re: Glennie and Schenn and the math seemed to favor Glennie as the better player, so I think he’s a better good choice at 10.

I would love to get a shot at Kane, though. I think we probably have to move up to 4, though. Maybe O’Sullivan + 10? Kane is really dynamic and should put on another 20 pounds yet, making him even harder to handle. If we need to clear some cap space anyways, that might not be a bad deal to make.

I don’t really have a good read on Kulikov, other than he was apparently pretty impressive in combine interviews. He didn’t impress me in the Memorial Cup game that I watched. I think our D prospect cupboard is pretty overrated and that it’s pretty bare after Peckham, so maybe this is an area the scouts need to address. I’d prefer Glennie and hope pick a Dman with the 2nd rounder.

by Boondock Saint on Jun 23, 2009 4:29 PM MDT reply actions

Glennie has sort of been the guy I’ve wanted for a while now, so I’d take him, but I’d have to seriously consider Kulikov.

Kadri really makes me nervous, and I don’t think I’d take him if he was sitting there at 10.

by ykmisfit on Jun 23, 2009 4:36 PM MDT reply actions

Kulikov>Glennie>Kadri.

Glennie is a goal scorer and hence higher on my list. Kulikov is supposedly better than any defensive prospect that we have and projects to be top pairing defenseman.

by SumOil on Jun 24, 2009 1:27 AM MDT reply actions

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