Slim pickings: Edmonton Oilers selecting late, sparsely at this year's NHL Draft
The NHL draft may be the lifeline for some rebuilding teams like Philadelphia or Buffalo, or retooling-on-the-fly clubs like Nashville, but when you're in the Connor McDavid -Leon Draisaitl win-at-all-costs mode here, the draft is pretty much an afterthought.
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How much of one? The Edmonton Oilers ' first pick June 27-28, barring a trade, will be No. 83. They have never, since their first draft in 1979, had a first selection this late. Let us hope the Oilers' scouts are well fed so they don't fall asleep.
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Until now, the pick of OHL defenceman Beau Akey (56) in 2023 was as far back from the first round as you could find. The 2025 third-rounder (83) is from the St. Louis Blues, compensation for foolishly not matching the $2.29m AAV offer sheet for winger Dylan Holloway last August. To compound things, after No. 83, they don't pick again until 191 (sixth-round), then 223, the second-last name called in the entire draft.
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Now, the Oilers did find defencemen Mike Kesselring and John Marino (both now in Utah) with their sixth-round selections over the last 10 years and also got Vincent Desharnais (now in San Jose) in the seventh in 2016, along with centre Kyle Brodziak way back in 2003. But way more swings and misses.
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Yes, they've had just three picks in a draft before. It happened in 2023 when they chose Akey, goalie Nathaniel Day (184) and centre Matt Copponi (2016). But, three picks is the fewest they've ever had. Now, maybe they trade Evander Kane and/or Viktor Arvidsson for draft picks between now and the draft because of cap problems, but for now, it's pretty barren stuff if you are an Oiler scout.
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The Colorado Avalanche, in the same window for winning with Nate MacKinnon and Cale Makar, two of the best 10 players in the world, have just two picks later this June. The Blues have three, as well. To put that in perspective, Nashville has three picks in round one, same with the Flyers. And, before you ask, the Cup champion Florida Panthers have six 2025 selections but none until round 4, but with two straight Cups, and able to trade their way into continued strength, who cares, eh?
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So this Friday, when the NHL's two-day decentralized draft is in Los Angeles at the 7,100-seat Peacock Theatre, across from Crypto.com Arena, the Oilers personnel will be hunkered down at Rogers Place rather than sitting at big tables on the noisy, interesting draft floor along with all the other teams at an NHL rink. They will have a designated team rep at the Peacock Theatre, which has had Emmy and Grammy award shows in the past, but the scouts and braintrust will be off-site.
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