This is it.
I’ve been quiet here for a while (I’m more active on Twitter). Either way.. today is draft day, which is (sadly) a little bit like Christmas and playoffs all at once for us Oilers fans and I thought I’d give my opinion before it all goes down.
But this being both Christmas and our playoffs, you can also feel let down by what you receive. You know what feeling you got when you were a kid (well, some might be getting the same feeling even when older) when you received a soft present containing a couple of socks when you in fact were expecting the latest Nintendo game station. That very same thing might happen today, we might be getting something we didn’t expect or even want.
To start things of Robin Brownlee of the OilersNation and Alan Hull of the Copper & Blue pretty much summed up my own personal feelings.
Robin Brownlee:
While I’m impressed with Yakupov’s Sarnia teammate Alex Galchenyuk and think he better fits the organization’s needs in terms of position, nothing trumps the need for a team that’s missed the playoffs six straight years than taking the BPA. Here and now, Yakupov is that player. It doesn’t hurt, in my estimation, he also has a swagger to him. This team could use some of that.
Alan Hull:
MO, they certainly can’t pick at #1 and take anyone else. I’m not partial to trading down, but I’m very intrigued by Galchenyuk. I think they take Yakupov, which I’m good with. Picking Murray or Reinhart @ #1 is a huge mistake. If (they are) going to trade down, only scenario I like is swapping for #2 or #3 and taking Galchenyuk, but only if they feel (he) is the top guy.
I personally hope they won’t go after Murray. He’s good, but very comparable to Klefbom. Had Klefbom been two months younger than he is, he would’ve been ranked where Murray is today. If the Oilers are looking to add a D-man I really hope they would go after someone who has more upside to him. On my personal wishlist, I have all of Rielly, Dumba, Ceci and Reinhart ranked ahead of Murray.
Another player I really don’t want the Oilers to pick is my fellow Swede Forsberg (something people know by now if they have read my comments spread out over the Oilogosphere). He’s a poor man’s Landeskog. I love Landeskog, but Forsberg is nowhere near him. That and the fact Forsberg won’t be able to do much good in the NHL for another 3-4 years (why on earth would we waste our #1 pick on him!?). I wouldn’t even take him with the 10th (if we had it) OV pick.
Last but not least I hope we somehow manage to get Henrik Samuelsson of the Edmonton Oil Kings. He’s a guy that I know for a fact wants to remain in the city of Edmonton, he brings a lot to the table the Oilers could use. Please be there for our #32 Henrik!
Speaking of players who wants to be an Oiler, there’s also the darkhorse scoring-machine Faksa, wouldn’t be surprised to see him go early.
Let’s hope we won’t feel let down when this day is over. Please do the right thing - #justtakeYakupov
