They drafted their future Russian starter in the 2019 draft, he has 2 years left on his KHL contract and will start the 2021 season in Edmonton. I think they should get the best possible forward in the 2020 draft. Rossi would be my pick in the 8-10 range, although until the lottery I'll hold out hope for one of the top 4 players in the draft: Lafreniere, Byfield, Raymond and Holtz.

I won't act like Konovalov is expected to assume the starting role, and I don't see what you're basing that projection off of. His KHL numbers, ignoring the trainwreck Yaroslavl has been this season? Fine, then why did every scouting service have him as a late pick last year? Why weren't other teams in on him? Why weren't teams lining up to draft him in his previous years of eligibility? He hasn't even hit North American ice and yet you're confident that Konovalov's Edmonton's guy for the future?

Starrett is progressing eerily similar to Brossoit. Rodrigue is an unknown quantity until he plays at the professional level. Both Skinner and Wells look as if they might fall short, but their windows aren't closed yet. There is not a talent like Askarov's in Edmonton's system, and there are very few teams who can boast a goaltender that good. If I'm looking for the best player available - and at that range I know I won't be drafting an impact forward for that season, but possibly a season or two down the road - then Askarov is just as good of a pick as any. Teams need strong goaltending to win, and if Konovalov is legit and Askarov blossoms into a legitimate superstar, then the Oilers are laughing for a decade.

The recent trend of the early 2nd Round shows that quality forwards are still available: both McLeod and Lavoie were projected 1st Round Picks and Edmonton managed to snag them late. If Edmonton can walk away from the 2020 draft with a franchise starter (Askarov) and complimentary winger (Smilanic, for example), they've won the day. Skinner and Wells can be used to turn other assets, and a premium forward can be targeted in 2021.

This has less to do with Edmonton needing forwards and more to do with very few teams ever having a goaltender as good as Askarov is projected to be.

https://theathletic.com/1189399/2019/09/13/pronman-top-goalie-prospects-entering-the-2019-20-season/

There's no guarantee he'll be a starter, but he's ranked 22nd among G prospects. Of course, Rodrigue is the best Canadian goalie of his age (he'll be the starter at this winter's WJC for Team Canada), so there's starter potential there. I don't think Starrett will be a bona-fide starter but his AHL numbers aren't far behind Binnington's, I think he'll be as good as Koskinen - able to play a 1B role as early as next year. Wells has a chance too.

I guess I just don't see goaltender as a pressing need when I look ahead 2-3 years - I'd like to add another elite piece to the forward corps. I mean, goalies are voodoo anyhow - if you look at the article I cited you'll see the top 4 ranked goalies weren't all high picks:

1. Demko - 36th, 2014
2. Knight - 13th, 2019
3. Shesterkin - 118th, 2014
4. Primeau - 199th, 2017

And scrolling to picks 5 and 6 shows two more first-round goaltending talents. I weigh Askarov's comparisons to Vasilevskiy very highly, and anyone willing to redraft the 2012 draft would have a hard time not taking Vasilevskiy with a top-3 pick.

Many a name have gone on to start for Team Canada and not met their developmental ceiling. I don't slight Rodrigue based on his height or that the QMJHL is an offensively-driven league and his stats may suffer for it, but I do temper my expectations regarding his success. I don't see a lot of time left for Starrett to become something, and both Skinner and Wells appear to have a trendline that peaks at AHL starter. Askarov is not guaranteed and I understand the risk involved with taking a goaltender with a top-10 pick, but I've been keeping tabs on him since he was 15. I saw him play at the Hlinka when it came into Edmonton and I was enamored. Talents like his don't come often, and Edmonton has never had a goaltender THAT good. He could be a foundational piece that supports a playoff-contending Oilers well past McDavid's prime or he could fall short of glory. I think that risk is worthwhile.

Lapierre, Rossi, and Amirov are still names that I like (Rossi and Amirov as outside the top-10 picks, Lapierre within the top-10) but unless Edmonton is guaranteed a top-5 pick, there is no forward in that 6+ range that would be expected to step onto the roster immediately, and there's a chance that it takes 2 seasons to see NHL time. The organization will be more cautious under Holland to avoid another Puljujarvi scenario.

At any draft, a BPA mentality will more often than not result in you having a good draft. Goaltenders are players too, and for many teams represent a positional need. We just saw St. Louis' fortune turn on good goaltending. Holtby was dynamite for the Caps in their run to the cup, especially after regaining the net from Grubauer. Fleury and Murray stole games at will for both of the Pens' runs. The biggest thing likely to sink the Oilers this year is goaltending. If Askarov is available whenever the Oilers are drafting, he will be the best player available, and passing on him will be a mistake.

You are beginning to convince me. However, I'm still hoping for a top 4 pick and I wouldn't pick Askarov that high.

Neither would I. The collection of Lafreniere, Byfeild, Raymond, Perfetti, and Holtz are too good to pass up on. At 6th however, I become very open to taking Askarov provided one of those 5 aren't available.

Every year there seems to be a team willing to trade out of the 1st Round into the early 2nd Round. If I'm selecting Askarov, I'd consider moving a prospect and the 2nd Round Pick to acquire another 1st Round Pick.

If Puljujarvi continues his near P/GP pace in Liiga, maybe his value will rise to that of a late 1st round pick too. Here's hoping...

If I was Edmonton I would try to trade McDavid at the draft for the 1OA 1 for 1.

Edmonton has totally ruined McDavids career. The clock is already ticking on that. They are better off starting over again with another great player and hoping they can get it right this time.

McDavid's career doesn't seem to be ruined. And if they are trading him for the 1OA, is he going to a better team? No - he's likely going to the worst team in the league.

Your suggestion doesn't make sense from any perspective.

What part of trading a generational center - who's chasing hockey Rushmore - for a really good, young LW makes any sense whatsoever?

You've said some phenomenally stupid things in the past but this is just embarrassing.

You are an idiot. the 1oa next year is an absolutely amazing player. IMO better than McDavid.



He won't win in edmonton by the time they turn this around you are looking at years away. Why not start over with another great player and not screw it up this time.
You never know, He could go to a team like Ottawa, who frankly looks to have a faster rebuild going than edmonton will ever have.

You're the only one in the world who thinks that!



Edmonton has new management, they aren't culpable for previous failures. This is a fresh start, and with many key pieces in place already, re-setting the clock is unnecessary.

And Ottawa isn't farther along in its rebuild: they have a worse team and a shallower prospect pool.

Pretty clear to me he's baiting responses at this point. I don't think it's remotely capable to think Lafreniere - as good as he is - is better than McDavid. Leave him be.

Is he going to be Sidney Crosby or Connor McDavid? No, but he’s probably going to factor in among the game’s best young wingers — the Mikko Rantanens and the Mitch Marners — fairly quickly.
https://theathletic.com/1126042/2019/08/19/wheeler-preseason-look-at-the-top-31-prospects-for-the-2020-nhl-draft/

I’m always cautious to bestow the term “generational” on a prospect. For my money, there are only two current NHL players who deserve the tag: Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid. Lafrenière isn’t on that level...
https://www.draftgeek.ca/2019/07/02/how-does-alexis-lafreniere-stack-up-to-other-top-prospects/

The numbers don't lie.
McDavids Junior numbers. 66, 99, 120.
Lafrenière Junior numbers. 80, 105, current season.

I know, roll excuses here. ................
It's hard to argue with someone who over values a guy who should probably be playing wing anyway because he can't win a faceoff worth shizzzz.
It's really easy to say, oh no he's no where as good as McDavid when all signs point to, yeah he is.

Don't get me wrong, Lafrenière not going to break any Crosby records in the CHL or be him in the NHL,, but no one has not even McDavid because frankly even McDavid isn't a generational player on the Crosby level and never will be. Don't even bother arguing it, it's not even close. Crosby is 32 and still capable of carrying people on his wing like he's done his whole career. McDavid still can't carry people on his wing. If only Crosby would have stayed healthy in his career you'd be able to look at the numbers and see it.

So lets not pretend it's not a good idea to bring in someone 5 years younger, Especially on a team that is wasting his best years. On a player who is most likely going to dart when that contract is over because he's frustrated in Edmonton..
You got 6 years left after this wasted season. How many more will be wasted on a team not capable of winning. Is this team turned around next year.....probably not. Down to 5. What about the year after that? At what point does he demand a trade as it's hopeless there and you get even less?
So yeah, it's a smart move to restart the clock on a really good young player. Give yourself 9 years with him. And possibly actually be able to build a team around him before he leaves. Since they failed to do that with McDavid. Because by the time they turn this team around with McDavid, you are looking at a player getting older, slower, and his whole game relies on his speed. In a league that is doing nothing but getting faster.

Blah, blah, blah.

Trading McDavid 1-for-1 for any player in the world would be spectacularly stupid on Edmonton's part. He's just entering his prime and most of the Oilers core is also just entering prime, with lots more talent bubbling under. You don't trade a sure-thing superstar for a maybe superstar. In fact, the Oilers stand a pretty good chance of landing one of the top-5 picks next June to add a very good young player to their core group.

Holland appears to know what he's doing, and trading McDavid isn't on his radar screen.

They don't have a ton of young talent under him. I don't know where you even get that.
They HAD young talent with him. Like a bad GM they traded it away.
Now they are in a mess of a situation. McDavid makes them too good to get really early picks, and he alone can't win and the team is a mess. It is going to take years to right this ship.
Which is why getting an opportunity to start over with really good players is the right step.
Don't over value a guy. That's the first mistake every GM makes.
Getting a Lafrenière or a Shane Wright would be getting an amazingly talented player. Not just someone talked up a lot.
And you get them with the ability to actually put a team around them again. Instead of this mediocrity that is destine to failure and a trade where you don't get that kind of return.
McDavid has already been pretty clear he's not happy in Edmonton. This situation isn't going to change any time soon. There isn't enough talent on the team for it to.

They have the most under-23 talent in the league and the 9th best farm system.

https://theathletic.com/1220133/2019/09/19/pronman-ranking-nhl-teams-by-their-23-and-under-core-2019-20-edition/

https://theathletic.com/1162560/2019/08/27/2019-nhl-farm-system-rankings-no-9-edmonton-oilers/

That's a f*ck-ton of young talent.



Trading Connor McDavid is a terrible idea, any sane person knows this. Give it up.



This is total and absolute bullsh*t.



The roster has some elite talent and there's more talent on the way, as the two links i posted above demonstrate. Here's a quote from the second link:

"The Oilers’ farm saw some positive developments in the past 12 months. Their AHL team was very good with several prospects taking steps forward. They had a strong 2019 draft and amateur defensemen Evan Bouchard and Dmitri Samorukov had good seasons. For the first time in a while, you can say there is some depth coming for the Oilers to supplement their stars."

Every team in the league talks about how "deep" their AHL team and prospect pool is.
But fact is it's the same story every year on almost every team. 1-2 player actually make a jump.
No team is going to be like, Our prospect pool sucks. It's not good for an organizational standpoint or for clicks from readers.
You can look at any teams prospect pool and know that only a couple of them will actually make a roster at any given year.
Go ask the blues. They been yammering about players like Kyrou and Kostin for years now. Where are they at? Kyrou played him self right back down to the AHL level and Kostin has yet to make the main team.
It's the same crap on every NHL team. While we all hope or like to see better results truth is that is what it is.
There is no miracle turn around going to happen here from your prospect pool. If they were elite enough talent to play they would already be dressed instead of this team looking like it already does. It's not like they don't need difference makers. There are plenty of roster spots open for a player who fits that description.
Not to mention the fact that you look at them ranked as 9th and the players are 23 and younger. Which includes McDavid and Draisaitl the teams two best players.
How's their ranking look when you take both of them out. It sure as hell isn't 9th. Everyone knows that!

As far as McDavid he has been very clear about his disappointments and frustrations on this team. I don't know how you can deny that especially since it boiled over into the public last year.

You aren't very bright, are you?

a) none of what I wrote is "the team" talking about how good their pool is, it's an independent scout at The Athletic making the claim. There goes 90% of your post.
b) you're confused about the 9th best farm system thing - McDavid and Draisaitl aren't in the Oilers farm system. The Oilers rank #1 in the league for U23 talent, and #9 in the league for farm system talent.
c) where Edmonton ranks without their best players is irrelevant as you could make the same argument about any team: where do #2 Sabres rank without Eichel and Dahlin? What about #3 Leaf without Matthews and Marner? Its a stupid argument because those teams have those players.
d) Which player likes losing? Oh that's right, nobody likes losing. You're conflating a disappointing season with him being "not happy in Edmonton". Those are 2 distinctly different things. But as you aren't very bright I'm thinking you likely won't understand that.

I could see the Oil offloading Sheahan and Benning however im not sold on getting rid of Kassian. I think he can be shuffled back down the lineup and be a great PK guy

He's more of a casualty of wanting to get Marody some games. If Chiasson wasn't here or was just as easy to move out, then I could have swapped him for Kassian in that deal.

you must have the IQ of a rock and can't read.......CLICKS...

Again, your article says at the very top...ranking of teams with players 23 and under.

My god, do you even read your own stuff or just the headline.

You keep hoping on this. Most people know this team is going nowhere any time soon with out drastic changes and they aren't happening from the prospect pool.

The Oilers rank #1 in the league for U23 talent, and #9 in the league for farm system talent.

You got it wrong. Face it.

1st of all this team isn't #1 in U23 talent. So lets get rid of that idea. That distinction clearly goes to TML at this point. Don't try to argue it. Those players are getting into the playoffs while yours are sitting at home. So I don't care what your click bait has to say.

2nd every team talks up their prospect pool. You fail to realize that. That's what sports writers do. Every year. It's like hearing how kids drafted in the 5th round have 1st round talent. Sure think Mel Kiper.
You will be lucky to get 2 players a year out of that prospect pool, and most of them will not be game changing talent.
This teams future is in the pits because of poor management. That isn't changing any time soon.
You want to prove otherwise, talk to me about wins, not hopes and dreams.