Risto is already falling. I think at the start of the year he was 8th and now 12/13th.
- KABLOOEY

Hmm...not sure what to think of that. People were thrilled when Schremp fell to us.

If your Calgary who do you take at the draft? I think we have to take Barkov or Mackinnon but man would we get ripped for passing on Jones.

(all assuming we pick first which is unlikely)
- KABLOOEY

BPA. Any of Jones, MacK, Drou or Barkov will be a good pick.

That being said, #1 centers are difficult to acquire.

Next year could be very interesting for the Oilers. The new division will feature some tough physical teams that the Oilers will have to face regularly. What it comes down to is we need to be better then one of Vancouver, Anaheim, Los Angeles or San Jose. The Californian teams in particular are physical teams that the Oilers seem to struggle against. Add in Phoenix the trap capital of hockey and I don't see much success with our current roster.

I do think that Krueger is the solution coaching as he has a solid sytem. With a full seaon the team should be able to pick up his system and have some success. The real issue is a lack of skilled forwards with size who use it. We don't have a Horton and Lucic or Backes and Stewart. We need a pair of guys with size and can play.

Ideally we need a center and two wingers to fill out the top 9. However it is debatable whether Hartikaenen can fill one of those roles. Assuming he can I would love to see the following lines:

Hall, RNH, Eberle
?1, ?2, Yakupov
Paajarvi, Gagner, Hartikaenen

?1 would be a big winger acquired in a trade involving Hemsky, such as Niederrieter or Kreider.
?2 could be Barkov at this years draft.

The top line is magic. That second line could really wear down defenders and provide some offence. Line three would be great at cycling the puck down low and creating oportunities from behind the net.

I don't think acquiring two guys like I mentioned would be impossible (even if you needed to add on the Hemsky trade). A top 9 of the following would instantly help out against the more physical teams in the new division, while still keeping our teams identity of a fast, offensive team.
- HitmanKiller12

Could very well be. Do you think the trend will follow where he comes straight into the lineup, or do you think management actually lets them play Junior for another year?

Could very well be. Do you think the trend will follow where he comes straight into the lineup, or do you think management actually lets them play Junior for another year?
- walshyleafsfan

I doubt he would supplant Gagner or Nuge right away. Dont see them bringing him in on the 3rd or 4th line either so yes, I think he would see some more junior time. That said, really dont see him falling to the oil.

That trend you refer to, tell me, who was the last 1st overall that wasnt immediately in the NHL after being drafted?

I hope you were drunk when you wrote this, otherwise I am embarrased for you and the way you represent oiler fans. We had every right to boo J Schultz. Nick Schultz got booed as collateral damage so to speak. Whitney got a bit as well cuz he sucked when he was a Duck. But the main thrust of it was against J Schultz, who had it coming. You have to understand he had it coming.

Dvorak does not have 40 points. We just picked him up, I think he scored his 2nd and 3rd goals last night.

If the next game is anything like last night, your idea of retribution by booing our star players every time they touch the puck will result in you losing your voice by the end of the first period.
- Frank_Grimes

Or did Shultz get booed because ppl in California don't know Richard/care about hockey?

Or did Shultz get booed because ppl in California don't know Richard/care about hockey?
- SameOld

A little of both. They were told "boo Schultz he bad!" by the 10 knowledgable Ducks fans in attendance and did so without noticing there were 2.

Honestly, no matter what your record is, or making the playoffs, you guys have a very exciting team to watch. The future for this young club is brighter than what my team has. I thought Colorado and Edmonton would completely take over the division and maybe even the western conference but it seems like one team is staying in the basement for a while, and it's not Edmonton. Ill be honest I hate Calgary, Minnesota and Vancouver. But I respect the Oilers as a division rival and look forward to see them play the Av's. As a Colorado fan, just be grateful you guys have good management that cares about winning. It's gonna take sometime still, but the Oilers are going to be a force to reckon with very soon.

If your Calgary who do you take at the draft? I think we have to take Barkov or Mackinnon but man would we get ripped for passing on Jones.

(all assuming we pick first which is unlikely)
- KABLOOEY

The only guy I don't want you to get is Jones. We can deal with Drouin, Mackinnin, Barkov etc.. if anything it would be exciting hockey.

But like (frank) I want to see Jones taking out Hall

The only guy I don't want you to get is Jones. We can deal with Drouin, Mackinnin, Barkov etc.. if anything it would be exciting hockey.

But like (frank) I want to see Jones taking out Hall
- Lahey

I hope Feaster goes off the board again.

Why in the hell is everyone so pissed off, ST said this was going to be a 5 year plan and we are/were in the hunt up until now and we lost to an explosive anaheim team and only lost by 1 goal. We came out like a bat outta hell in the first and they got a quick one after. Then in the second we run into penalty trouble which has plagued us this season at the worst possible moments. I personally like the progress I've seen this year compared to the previous 3.

If we miss it next year I might flip my lid.
- Forsberg4Prez

It's been over 6 years now?

No team needs 5 years to rebuild.

After the cup run in "06 when we lost Pronger and company, I would have initialized rebuilding then.

Tambelini had an opportunity to make us a playoff team at the deadline. Not by adding a 4th line center though.

Like Dan Tencer said last night, "Look at Anahiem, their first 2 lines are their scoring touch, the second 2 lines are all energy players, no matter how young or old"

It's been over 6 years now?

No team needs 5 years to rebuild.

After the cup run in "06 when we lost Pronger and company, I would have initialized rebuilding then.

Tambelini had an opportunity to make us a playoff team at the deadline. Not by adding a 4th line center though.

Like Dan Tencer said last night, "Look at Anahiem, their first 2 lines are their scoring touch, the second 2 lines are all energy players, no matter how young or old"
- Eersel

Even Jay Feaster realized the Flames were dead in the water so he made plenty of big moves at once.

The Oilers brass are just far to comfortable in their nice big office chairs. Time are a changing!

I hope Feaster goes off the board again.
- sanfordnson

Curtis Lazar

I hope Feaster goes off the board again.
- sanfordnson

It scares the living shi t out of me.

Curtis Lazar
- Lahey

Sure, with our Pitt pick.

I told you this two blogs ago, and I'll say it again.

Your team has been in perpetual rebuild since 2006, not because you don't have the right players on the ice, but because your organization is downright awful at developing talent.

There's no question that your scouting staff has made it's share of mistakes over the past 20 years or so. The Oilers draft record is a who's-who of who-the-f***-is-Jesse Niinimaki-or-Jani Rita. Even the can't-miss picks you've had (RNH, Hall, Yakupov) haven't made the Oilers into a playoff team.

So, first of all, your management needs to address scouting. Especially now that you're not picking first overall. You should hope that Tambellini goes out and finds a new director of scouting, one with a proven track record, and then give him the ability to fire everyone you've got there and bring in his people.

So that puts the right bodies in the organization.

Back to your early picks, and the second problem. The Oilers are rushing their players into the NHL. Last place is last place, they would have been there with or without Hall and Eberle and RNH. So why not give them the extra year of junior, or a year in the minors, to work on their craft, develop their skills, gain confidence while becoming dominant players in that league? There's two possible answers to this. One is that the Oilers management lacks patience and decides that the best place to develop teenaged hockey talent is in the best league in the world, despite the fact that every single piece of evidence points to the opposite. The other possibility is that Oilers management has absolutely no confidence in their minor league development system. I'd say it's probably a combination of both. With the amount of draft picks an NHL team gets, they should be able to churn out quality NHL players at varying roles and skill levels IF their minor league staff understands how to develop talent, which they clearly do not.

So, the question is, why is the rebuild taking forever? The short answer to that question is that the Oilers have done it ALL WRONG. They couldn't help finishing dead last in the league, they were terrible. Any monkey in a suit could have picked Hall or RNH or Yakupov. But even talents like that need time to develop, and instead the Oilers threw every single one of them into the NHL before they were ready, and it's no wonder why the Oilers continue to suck, and will continue to suck as time goes by.

Until they address their ORGANIZATIONAL deficiencies, NOT their on-ice deficiencies, they are going to be in a perpetual state of rebuilding.
- the_terror

So much wrong and misinformation I don't even know where to begin.
Instead of wasting your time, maybe you could have spent 5 minutes actually doing some research about the Oilers.

First, not even going to get into the re-build start date debate. If you still want to believe it was 2006 then there is no changing your mind now.

Next, drafting was an issue, like it is for most teams at some point, but has been greatly revamped and improved with a new scouting staff.

Development, for years the Oilers shared a farm team with other NHL teams and had little to no say in the development and system of play. This has been rectified with the OKC Barons. Also new player development coaches.

Rushing players into the NHL, Most first overall picks go straight to the big show, especially when the team has a need for them because they had gutted the roster to re-build. Hopefully now that the core is in place prospects (who will not be top 3 anymore) will get the proper development. Hall, RNH and Yak had little left to learn in junior and could not have gone to the AHL.

If you would actually look at the farm team you would see a plethora of Oiler draft picks from the last few years all developing and hopefully soon joining the team or becoming trade chips to finish building around the core that is finally in place.

I think if you guys draft 10 to 14 (assuming you don't win the lottery) you'll have a shot at Ristolainen (sp) or Zadarov. Both very good D man.
- KABLOOEY

WHat- we will be drafting a top 7 pick easy this year... our schedule and performance will prove that... and with any luck top 5 for Barkov... I mean really FFS we couldnt beat a depleted ANA roster last night- we may win 3 out of the remaining games- 5 wins is a real stretch...

It's been over 6 years now?

No team needs 5 years to rebuild.

After the cup run in "06 when we lost Pronger and company, I would have initialized rebuilding then.

Tambelini had an opportunity to make us a playoff team at the deadline. Not by adding a 4th line center though.

Like Dan Tencer said last night, "Look at Anahiem, their first 2 lines are their scoring touch, the second 2 lines are all energy players, no matter how young or old"
- Eersel

B.S.
Hindsight is always better.

If your Calgary who do you take at the draft? I think we have to take Barkov or Mackinnon but man would we get ripped for passing on Jones.

(all assuming we pick first which is unlikely)
- KABLOOEY

Colorado will all but lock up Jones... that team is bad - very bad... Should Calgary win the lotto and get Jones - I say that will fast fwd things...

Colorado will all but lock up Jones... that team is bad - very bad... Should Calgary win the lotto and get Jones - I say that will fast fwd things...
- saskoil21

I hear ya but man do we need a centre. Maybe we could package our 2 other 1st's and move up for a centre.

It scares the living shi t out of me.
- KABLOOEY

i wouldn't write off the fact he might trade all those 1st picks for just a mediocre player...that's scary.

In all honesty if we dont make any trades this offseason we are going to be sitting here next year talking bottom 10 in the league again... I cant speak for everyone else here but this is getting very (frank)ing sick and annoying already...

Kreuger has his gaffes as well- last night- why did Gags take the draw over Horcoff or Smithson near the final seconds of the game?- further why the (frank) was Smyth on the ice in the last 5 mins of a game??? If playoffs are on the line I just think a coach should go balls deep and ice guys with scoring abilities! Seems to me that this year was mailed in...

I hear ya but man do we need a centre. Maybe we could package our 2 other 1st's and move up for a centre.
- KABLOOEY

If you win the lotto and get Jones then swap draft picks for Barkov many people in Edmonton will eat their (frank)ing shorts...

Richard Cloutier: Do Oilers Fans Have a Right to be Angry?
- Maxbone

I use to be a masterbater when I was in high school, so let me present a case for both sides of this. ( Cloutier Quote)

Cloutier is not the GM of the Oilers. FYI, the Oilers have never in their entire history had an untouchable asset. They traded several HOF players, including the player with the most points in history. Trading the 'untouchables' this year would not have won the cup, why trade a potential star player before he can legally drink?

How does a goaltender get proven? They play games. What a stupid comment, should we have traded for Bishop? Guess what, he isn't exactly proven either. How about Bernier, yup, less proven.

Which large productive (cause having big goons does not make a team better) were available for trade? Lucic, nope. Backes, nope. Getzlaf, nope. Malkin, nope. Perry, nope.
- Al Hacker

Because ANY team had a shot at any of these players! Aiming your sites a bit high aren't you? The Oilers don't need to add elite players, they need to add good veteran playrers on offense and defense. The Oilers have more than enough movable assets to accomplish this, but as Richie likes to point out, the "kids" are all untouchable. Which I firmly do not believe, I just think they're way over valued. Personally I think the sooner Edmonton uses a few of it's assets as currency instead of trying to hold on to every piece they've acquried like a squirrel and his nuts, the sooner they'll be on the road to contention.

I have a suggestion to all oilers fans. We need some pay back after the way the ducks fans treated the shultz's tonight. So aside from salenne lets boo the (frank) out of them, lets boo perry, lets boo getslaf, lets boo EVERYONE. idiot duck fans need to relize they are having a fluke season. Radik dvorak with 40 points the broadcaster said tonight. I hope i miss heard him. Dvorak with 40 points now thats a fluke. We need to teach them ugly ducklings proper respect for the best up and coming team. They'll be cryin in their stews when we start whoopin their asses. We gotta stick up for our players and they will raily behind us. Maybe we'll even win some games. Can't hurt to try.
- deadsector

We just have to cheer "Schultz" every time he touches the puck... and just for fun yell "fist him!" every time Fistric throws a hit