NHL Lottery 2012: Edmonton Oilers Faced with Tough Decision Atop Draft

The Edmonton Oilers have a golden opportunity to make (somewhat dubious) hockey history at the 2012 NHL draft, though they might just have to pass.

The Oilers won the draft lottery on Tuesday night, giving them the No. 1 pick for the third year in a row and the opportunity to be just the second team in league history after the Quebec Nordiques of the late 1980s and early 1990s to register the first selection three years running. Five years later, the Nordiques were hoisting the Stanley Cup.

Except they weren't the Nordiques; they'd moved west to become the Colorado Avalanche.

So why, pray tell, wouldn't GM Steve Tambellini simply use the precious gift they've been granted by the hockey gods? Why would there be any question about the Oilers forcing the long-gone Nordiques to step aside in the record books?

Easy: It's about need.

The Oilers would have something of a "moral" obligation to spend the No. 1 pick on Nail Yakupov of the Sarnia Sting from the OHL. The Russian winger is the consensus top prospect in this class, with the talent, speed and determination to be a prolific scorer in the NHL despite his limited size (5'10 1/2", 189 pounds).

Thing is, Edmonton doesn't really "need" another sniper, not after nabbing Taylor Hall in 2010 and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins in 2011.

Rather, the Oilers need to upgrade defensively, with six of their blueliners set to hit free agency in some capacity this season and nobody under contract beyond 2014.

But as long as the 2012 draft is on quality defensemen, none of the available options merits at No. 1 overall.

Not because they're not talented enough, but rather that the sort of offensively-gifted defensemen that everyone seems to love these days take time to develop and aren't quite the "sure things" that physically mature forwards tend to be.

Still, given their current assets and areas of need, it would (and figures to) behoove the Oilers to shop the top pick around the league, preferably in pursuit of an NHL-ready defenseman. Should Tambellini be able to find one while moving down the order, in prime position to pick up a primo prospect on the blue line, his Oilers would move closer to Stanley Cup contention much faster than if they made Yakupov the umpteenth talented scorer to join Edmonton's young core.

In other words, don't be surprised when the Oilers aren't the first team up to the podium at the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh on June 22. They'll be too busy hoarding defensemen and plotting their takeover of the NHL.

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