Yakupov Stretches His Lead In Consensus Top 100

I've posted the May Consensus Update over at NHL Numbers and not much has changed at the top. Nail Yakupov is still the number one and by a wide margin:

The largest gap between any two players in the top 20 is between #1 Yakupov and #2 Forsberg - a ringing endorsement of Yakupov's incredible abilities. I reconstructed this list for 2010 and 2011 using the final rankings of the draft guides, watchers and gurus over the last two years to compare to this year's list and found that not only is the gap between #1 and #2 much larger this year than in the previous two, the gap between Yakupov and Forsberg is the largest gap between any two back-to-back players ranked in the top ten from 2010-2012.

With a margin like this, drafting anyone else is out of the question, and trading down to pick a defensemen should net an enormous haul in return (significantly more than Luke Schenn, for example)

The group around the Oilers' second pick at #32, Damon Severson, Michael Matheson, Ludvig Bystrom, Stefan Matteau, Jordan Schmaltz, Tanner Pearson, Jarrod Maidens, and Dalton Thrower is comprised of five defensemen, an overage forward and a couple of CHL forwards. If Severson is still available, he would be an excellent selection, but gut feeling says the Oilers go with the offensive skill set of Schmaltz or the tough-nosed play of Thrower.

The group around the Oilers' third pick, Valeri Vasiliyev, Dominic Poulin, Cody Corbett, Kalle Torniainen, Eric Locke, and Jon Gillies is anchored by a name familiar to most - Cody Corbett. Corbett, 6'1" 210 lb American-born defender, is a mainstay on the blueline for the Ed Chynoweth Cup-winning Edmonton Oil Kings. The Oilers went for an Edmonton player in last year's third round - Travis Ewanyk - and could very well do the same this year.