Who Should The Oilers Take First Overall?

For the second year running, the page has yet to be turn on the month of March and Oilers' fans are already talking about the draft lottery. It's early and the majority of fishing holes have just kicked off their second seasons. The 2011 draft prospects have plenty of time to "come up big" and be a "clutch performer" and build a folk hero status that will make Pierre McGuire scream silly phrases at TSN's draft day viewers. So many other things can happen between now and June - injuries, terrible combine workouts, poor performance in interviews and/or psychological testing, drug abuse, jail, the bubonic plague - the variables are too many to accurately nail down a mock draft.

Having said that, there is no shortage of opinions on the first overall pick - the one the Edmonton Oilers have a 49% chance of drawing in the 2011 NHL Draft Lottery. I've made my case for Adam Larsson, but in e-mail, on Twitter and in the comments section, our readers have made a multitude of cases for other players and even a different strategy altogether. Many of these cases are compelling and have caused me to question my take on drafting Larsson. This has me wondering what other compelling arguments are out there and how many players can make a case for #1?

Should the Oilers grab one of the highly skilled centers? A scoring winger? Defensive help? Trade down? Answer our poll and convince us in the comments section.

What happens if the Oilers end with the second overall selection? What if the Avalanche take your guy? Who is your fallback plan?