Looking Beyond #1: Who Should The Oilers Target Past The #1 Pick

The Edmonton Oilers 2010 draft will not be decided by who they take 1st overall. Yes, that player will be key for the Oilers future, and have a huge NHL impact, but who the Oilers take at picks #31 and #48 will make or break the draft for them. There is a chance that the Oilers might jump back up into the first round. It might be a trade with Boston, or the Rangers, or really any team that is under pressure to win now that might want a guy like Sheldon Souray or a package of guys like Andrew Cogliano and Patrick O'Sullivan. Its also possible that the Oilers might go and get Jason Spezza for a package of players, meaning they would take Taylor Hall first overall and be able to look for some defense and goalie with their 2nd round picks.

The Oilers seem to be set for prospects at the Left Wing position. Other than that however no position is really set for good with prospects. The Oilers need a #1 center for their team. That will get cleared up on draft day, either by trading for Spezza or taking Seguin #1. At Right Wing the Oilers have Jordan Eberle, Ales Hemsky and Zach Stortini on their roster and will probably add someone else at Right Wing over the summer. At defense the Oilers have Ryan Whitney, Tom Gilbert and Ladislav Smid all on the roster, and Jeff Petry, Alex Plante, Taylor Chorney and Theo Peckham on the farm. In net the Oilers have an older Nik Khabibulin as starter and at backup have Devan Dubynk and Jeff Deslauriers. They also have goalie Oilver Roy in the system who very well could be a #1 guy in the NHL some day.

With the 31st overall pick the Oilers need to add a young defender to the pool of prospects. The one guy that stands out to me, who I think could be a real good defender one day for the Oilers is Red Deer Rebels defender Alex Petrovic (pictured). Petrovic is the only defender that was really able to shutdown Jordan Eberle in the WHL this past season and is seen a low 1st round talent that will be a shutdown defender playing in the top 4 for a team someday. He would add some depth to the Oilers prospect pool and possibly have an impact on the Oilers sometime soon. Petrovic fits the Oilers, so its possible the Oilers call his name to kick off day 2 of the NHL draft. Another guy the Oilers should look at is Winger Kirill Kabanov. Now Kabanov is without doubt a 1st round talent, but he seems to be falling down charts, mainly because people fear he could fled to Russia if things don't work out. He has said many times that he wants to stay in North America and that he doesn't want to return to Russia. Its gotta be hard for teams to 100% believe him though, because so many Russian born players have returned home the past few seasons. Kabanov would be a nice addition to the Oilers and could make the roster out of camp THIS season if drafted.

With the 48th overall pick this year the Oilers should again turn to defense. Troy Rutkowski from Portland of the WHL could be an Oiler target here. He would add some depth to the prospect pool, and could make the team one day. His scouting report has him as a mid-2nd round guy. He could be a nice pick for the Oilers. Another defender to look for at 48 is Brock Beukeboom. Brock is a defender that the Oilers are rumored to like (ESPN.com even had a rumor central article about it). Brock could add some depth just like Rutkowski can to the Oilers system. Brock is 6'1'' 202 pounds and is more of a shutdown guy that could fill that need for the Oilers down the road.

Those are just some names to look for on July 26th as the Oilers have two 2nd round picks. They also have their own 3rd round pick and could possibly have Calgary's 3rd rounder (it is conditional, the flames pick if its this year or next year, it was part of the Staios trade). The Oilers will get a top player 1st overall, but the story of this draft will be who the Oilers take at 31 and 48. Leave any comments with any ideas of players you think would be good additions to the Oilers at the draft.