Oilers come away empty-handed from Day One of cringe-worthy NHL draft
Remember when this used to be the biggest day of the hockey year in Edmonton?
Draft day used to stop traffic in this city. It was when the eyes of the hockey world turned to Edmonton and all of the Oilers hard work over the past season finally paid off.
There would be watch parties in bars and draft parties in homes as fans of the rebuilding Oilers waited to see which young superstar was going to lead their team out of the darkness and into the sun.
First overall in 2010. First overall in 2011. First overall in 2012. First overall in 2015.
Darnell Nurse seventh overall in 2013. Leon Draisaitl third overall in 2014. Jesse Puljujarvi fourth overall in 2016. Evan Bouchard 10th overall in 2018.
The last weekend in June was Edmonton's time to shine.
Now, fans in Edmonton barely know the draft is even happening, mostly because the Oilers had nothing to do with the first day.
Edmonton had to sit out the first round Friday night and, barring a trade, won't pick in Saturday's second round, either.
This is the other side of going all in to chase a Stanley Cup.
They didn't have a first rounder in 2023 and don't have a first-round pick next year.
Edmonton's first pick this year doesn't come until 83rd overall in the third round on Saturday — their compensation for deciding that Dylan Holloway wasn't worth $2.29 million and refusing to match the St. Louis Blues offer sheet.
Ouch.
Not being a part of the first day was good in one respect — the NHL once again turned a live event into an awkward marathon of cringe — but getting a new prospect would have been nice.
Where did the high picks go?
Edmonton didn't have a 2024 first-round pick (they spent it on the Adam Henrique, Sam Carrick deal), so they traded this year's first round pick for Philadelphia's 2024 first round pick and took Sam O'Reilly at 32nd overall.
They traded this year's second round pick to Arizona back in 2022 in the Zack Kassian salary dump. The Oilers sent Kassian, their 2022 first round pick, 2024 third round pick and 2025 second round pick to the Coyotes for Arizona's 2022 first round pick. The Oilers took Reid Schaefer 32nd overall and would later send him to Nashville in the Mattias Ekholm exchange.
Edmonton's other second-round pick, the one they received for not matching Philip Broberg's offer sheet, went to Boston in the Trent Frederic trade.
Edmonton's first round pick next year went to San Jose for Jake Walman.
The lack of high picks is going to catch up with them down the road, right around the time that Connor McDavid might be up for a new contract and deciding if Edmonton's Stanley Cup window is still open, but GM Stan Bowman is counting on college and European free agents to help fill the void.
E-mail: rtychkowski@postmedia.com
Slim pickings: Edmonton Oilers selecting late, sparsely at this year's NHL Draft
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