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After walking through the Oilers' alternate reality, I found the corresponding depth charts interesting. While the Oilers beat the next pick time after time, the next picks included a number of stellar players. What does the depth chart for the the next picks look like in comparison to the Oilers' depth chart? To compare and contrast the two, I broke out the picks by position and lined them up side-by-side. The Oilers' picks are listed to the left, alternate reality is on the right. This exercise isn't meant as a judgement on the Oilers' drafts since the lockout, it's simply a look at the players the Oilers drafted and the players the Oilers might have selected. It's nice to see the team beat the next picks - it means something is going right inside the organization.
| Sam Gagner | C | Tyler Seguin | C | ||
| Anton Lander | C | Greg McKegg | C | ||
| Ryan Martindale | C | Michael Latta | C | ||
| Andrew Cogliano | C | Ilya Zubov | C | ||
| Riley Nash | C | Tony Lagerstrom | C | ||
| Chris Vande Velde | C | Juraj Mikus | C | ||
| Milan Kytnar | C | ||||
| Robby Dee | C |
Tyler Seguin was selected second overall and projects to be a better player than Sam Gagner, and Greg McKegg has exploded since being drafted, but the Oilers have five centers slated for regular duty in the NHL and the sixth and seventh might one day find jobs as defensive replacements.
| Taylor Hall | C | Jakub Voracek | R | ||
| Jordan Eberle | C | Max Pacioretty | L | ||
| Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson | L | Tyler Toffoli | R | ||
| Linus Omark | W | Jared Knight | R | ||
| Teemu Hartikainen | L | Josh Nicholls | R | ||
| Curtis Hamilton | L | Zach Budish | R | ||
| Tyler Pitlick | F | Colton Gillies | L | ||
| Toni Rajala | R | Austin Smith | R | ||
| Philippe Cornet | L | Christian Isackson | F | ||
| Drew Czerwonka | L | Jacob Legace | L | ||
| Kristians Pelss | R | Drew Daniels | R | ||
| Kellen Jones | F | Chris Wagner | F | ||
| Cameron Abney | R | Brian Day | R | ||
| Alexander Bumagin | W | Kim Johansson | W | ||
| Vyacheslav Trukhno | L | Myles Rumsey | L | ||
| Fredrik Pettersson | L | ||||
| Matthew Glasser | L | ||||
| William Quist | W |
Alternate reality looks impressive until viewed in comparison to the Oilers' forwards. The top four are likely to find extended careers in the organization's top six and there are four more NHL-bound kids on the list.
| Jeff Petry | D | Ryan Ellis | D | ||
| Martin Marincin | D | Marc-Andre Gragnani | D | ||
| Theo Peckham | D | Tyler Cuma | D | ||
| Brandon Davidson | D | Kevin Connauton | D | ||
| Jeremie Blain | D | Matt Pelech | D | ||
| Taylor Chorney | D | Mattias Ekholm | D | ||
| Alex Plante | D | Chris Wideman | D | ||
| Danny Syvret | D | Tyler Stahl | D | ||
| Kyle Bigos | D | Nick Crawford | D | ||
| Johan Motin | D | Scott Jackson | D | ||
| Jordan Bendfeld | D | Konrad Abeltshauser | D | ||
| Cody Wild | D | Mark Adams | D | ||
| Troy Hesketh | D | Phil Oreskovic | D | ||
| Jordon Southorn | D |
The top end of alternate reality's lineup is outstanding and their depth isn't bad either. Alternate reality beats the Oilers' defense hands down.
| Olivier Roy | G | Sam Brittain | G | ||
| Tyler Bunz | G | Calvin Pickard | G | ||
| Bryan Pitton | G | Jhonas Enroth | G | ||
| Allen York | G | ||||
| Matt Keetley | G | ||||
| Sebastian Stefaniszin | G |
Another victory for alternate reality. Brittain is a star in the making and Pickard has some excellent credentials.
The Oilers have an unmatched depth chart up front in the U22 department, but the back end and goal leave much to be desired.