There is allot of discussion about the Oilers ability to draft players often comparing them with the likes of Detroit whom they compare favorably in general to, I believe.

I have decided to see how the Oilers compare with other teams in the Western Conference. They say that you can't call a draft for 5 years. So I have taken from 1997-2007 Draft years to see how the teams compare on boxcars when it comes to draft picks, and then see where the Oilers fit in. Keep in mind that many of these players went to play games for teams that did not draft them, so this is a reasonable metric to judge the amateur scouting. Also this is handily when the Oilers replaced their Head Scout.

I have ordered this by a combination GP/Pick & PPG. The reason is teams draft Defensemen and Goalies that are not in general expected to contribute offensively. (Interestingly the Wing have the highest PPG, but as discussed previously that is due to 2 players - Datsyuk & Zetterburg), but also PPG does give an indication of quality even with those players not contributing, because logically teams will in general draft many similar players for similar uses.

Now there are some very evident things here San Jose is very good at the draft, and Calgary & Phoenix suck at the draft. So if we were on a Calgary Flames blog right now, firing the Amateur Scouting Staff would be prudent.

Based on the Oilers draft skill being about 10th in the conference, the Oilers did need an upgrade in this department at this stage, but the fact that they were not worst in the league, means that there drafting during this period was not the source of their woes.

Detroit did the best job of outperforming their drafting abilities, was it coaching, development, or GM.

LA & Minnesota underperformed how they drafted the most (although LA's Cup goes along way to erasing that issue).

What about 2007-2012, it is likely too soon to make any judgements about this. But using the same criteria the Oilers are well placed. The Oilers scouting is actually doing a reasonable job picking players(many of the numbers are being provided on the backs of the chosen ones - but credit where credit is due, it is far from a complete screw up).

Based on drafting alone, it looks like Calgary, Detroit & Dallas maybe in tough in the coming years. While Edmonton, Colorado & LA maybe on the rise. If their coaching, GM & Player development don't scuttle them.

Now what?

Personally if I was Daryl Katz, I would not blow up the Amateur Scouting with the rest of the Oilers front office as there is most definitely value there.

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