Number That May Only Interest Me:  24.25

This year’s draft really is a shot in the dark with no clearly dominant player.

On a team with too many small forwards and no centre with size that can play regularly, I have to take Couturier. He has all the big league skills already in place and is an actual NHL sized player! He may not set the NHL ablaze but I expect he will somewhat quietly outscore his opposition starting fairly soon into his career, and will be able to play top centres and do well, which no current Oiler other than Horcoff does, or in my opinion, may ever.

I value dominant all round play over a few extra points from an one or two dimensional player – we have been down that road a few too many times for me. Not being a big hitter is also fine – with that type of play comes injuries, and should be left to the 3rd and 4th line centres. I am sure he will use his size when the chips are down, and that’s enough for me. He also needs to fill out a bit before he starts getting into it at the NHL level, or again there is a big injury concern. Eg – Harti is 12 pounds heavier, 6’3" and 195 is still a pretty slim guy.

The value of a player like Couturier really comes out in the playoffs. It has been a long time for Oiler fans so maybe many don’t remember or factor that in when they are considering the draft class. It is far more important than regular season stats. making the playoffs is all that is needed from the regular season.

The team does have good D prospects in the system already, and although Larrson is very good I think there is enough doubt about him to not chance a first or second overall pick there. Get another top 5 or 6 pick and take Hamilton, or deal for or sign the D needed.

It is a lot less risky with that position anyway given the slow development – you can wait years to find out your stud D prospect has hit the ceiling, and I don’t think Larsson is Doughty or Webber in disguise.

He’s being relied on to take more than a quarter of his team’s faceoffs – much like Sidney Crosby and Mike Richards.

I’m a little confused by this quote. Do you mean “much like Crosby and Richards did when they were in juniors”?

It sounds like you mean much like they do now, which a) is misleading, since a lot of players with much less talent than those two take 25%+ of the faceoffs, and b) overlooks that Richards isn’t taking that many this year.