Oilers focus on skill, competitiveness in late rounds of NHL draft

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a day ago

When you are picking 83rd, 117, 131, 191 and 223 in the NHL draft, the burning question is probably whether captain Connor McDavid, GM Stan Bowman and head of hockey ops Jeff Jackson will still be here in Edmonton when any or all of the kids the Oilers selected Saturday are anywhere near the NHL in, say, 2030.
Nothing against WHL forwards Tommy Lafreniere or David Lewandowski, their first two picks, or Ashir Barnett, Finnish goalie Daniel Salonen and California-born centre Aidan Park, who went later, but we're not going to see them in a while. Not with the Oilers current lot in life in their win-now mode with McDavid and Leon Draisaitl in their prime,
'Gets challenging when you have to wait 82 selections,' admitted Oilers head of amateur scouting Rick Pracey, who took sitting as part of doing business. 'Going without picks is just the cycle of our team. We were super excited to be playing for the Cup. Getting through the first day (Friday) there was a lot of highlighting going on but then you get some time to breathe and reset.'
With no first- or second-round picks, the Oilers finally got to call out a name at No. 83 on Saturday, deep into Round 3, keeping it close to home by taking Kamloops Blazers right-winger Lafreniere, who has lots of drive to his game. The Quebec-born Lafreniere has come a long ways after he was an eighth-round pick in the WHL bantam draft. He's small at 172 pounds but had 24 goals in his first full WHL season for the rebuilding Blazers.
'We like Lafreniere's path, he's had to take the long way. He was part of our efficiency model of a first-year player in the CHL. We like his production and he's worked his way up the lineup. We think he'll take off offensively,' said Pracey.
'Sense, skill and compete were non-negotiable at 83.'
And they chose the German-born winger Lewandowski, who played his first WHL season for the Saskatoon Blades this past season, with their second choice at 117 in the draft. Lewandowski, who is from Dusseldorf, played for Germany at last winter's U20 world junior with a couple of goals. He had 39 points in 52 Blades games.
'His skating has to come a touch but he makes good plays in small areas much like Tommy … both good off the cycle and can extend time' with the puck, said Pracey.
'We feel we got real lucky at 117.'
Staying with North American-based players, the Oilers traded a fifth-round 2026 selection to Nashville for a fifth-rounder (131) Saturday and took U.S. Development Team defenceman Barnett, who is going to U of Michigan. The captain of the U.S. U18 world championship team this past spring has a history with Oilers GM Stan Bowman, growing up in Chicago.
'Yeah, he's a friend of my son. He's been over to our house. I've followed him for a long time and now he's off to a good college,' said Bowman.
Their other picks in rounds six and seven were the right-catching Salonen, 19 — the fourth straight year, after Finn Eemil Vinni, Nathaniel Day and Samuel Jonsson, and 10th time in the last 12 drafts the Oilers have taken a goalie and with their second-last pick of the draft — and the centre Park. His uncle Richard played 738 NHL games.
Salonen was goalie of the year and top player in the U20 junior league in Finland with a .933 save percentage and a 24-1 record for Rauman Lukko this past season. He was also 9-2 in the playoffs.
Park, 19, who is from Hermosa Beach, about 40 minutes from the Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles where the draft was held, was actually in the seats wearing a hoodie and shorts when his name was called, and got a loud cheer when the Oilers called his name. He once played for the Los Angeles Jr. Kings, and last season was with Green Bay in the USHL, notching 33 goals and 66 points in 55 games, and later with the Calgary Hitmen for three playoff games. He's also going to U of Michigan in the fall.
'He's been a big scorer going back to when he was at Shattuck (St. Mary's prep). I've known about him for a while. For whatever reason, he's been passed over, but we feel he's got a lot of game. Later in the draft, you're looking for guys with a lot of upside,' said Bowman.
Apart from the Oilers picks, the junior Oil Kings' best player, defenceman Blake Fiddler, was Seattle's first selection in Round 2. The Kraken traded with Philadelphia to move from 38 to 36 to take the former NHL winger Vern Fiddler's son. Fiddler was projected to be a late first-rounder but sat through five hours at Peacock Theatre in L.A. without his name called.
It was a nervous time but Fiddler shrugged off the rejection Friday.
'Me and my dad always say the draft doesn't matter. He was undrafted. It doesn't matter where you go, it's the work you put in after,' said the 6-foot-5, 220-pound 17-year-old, who played for USA at the U18 worlds this spring.
Vern played 877 NHL games.
Why did the right-shot, big-body Fiddler get through the first round?
'I think teams maybe want to see a little more bite to his game,' said Oil Kings GM Kirt Hill, who chatted with the Kraken before Round 2 started and had a feeling they would try to trade and move up to take Fiddler.
Can you teach aggressiveness? Or is inside a player?
Fiddler will figure it out.
'I think not going in the first round might be motivation,' said Hill.
This 'n that: The Oilers hope to get Lewandowski over from Germany, and maybe Salonen from Finland for Monday's development camp … Good move by Vancouver, taking Sherwood Park's Braeden Cootes with the 15th overall pick. Cootes was captain of Seattle Thunderbirds. 'An all-around guy who can play in all situations,' said Hill of the 18-year-old centre … Former Oilers captain Shawn Horcoff's son Will, who plays at University of Michigan, went 24th overall to Pittsburgh. You're entitled to say 'Horc has a son old enough for the draft?' Yup, Shawn is 46. The scouting book on Will Horcoff is big kid, nice hands, but has to work on his feet. They said the same thing about Shawn's footspeed, of course. Shawn, the assistant GM in Detroit, played 1,008 NHL games with a through-the-roof work ethic … Fort Saskatchewan's Kale Dach, who had 87 points in 54 games for Sherwood Park Crusaders this past season, was drafted by Pittsburgh in Round 7. He is not related to Kirby Dach.
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