The Pipeline Show bring us a first with its Edmonton Oilers draft coverage

It's been a long time coming. Despite the fact that we've managed to get multiple bloggers for many teams, we've never had an Edmonton Oilers contribution. This was shocking to me, as in its prime the Oilers blogosphere provided much of the inspiration for your humble author (and many others) to write silly things about hockey on the Internet.

Well, we finally got an Edmonton blogger in Dean from The Pipeline Show. For Edmonton people out there, they can be found on TEAM 1260 but for most of our readers, you can find their shows at their Web site and blog. They've been spotlighting different prospects each week and doing Mock Drafts of their own, so make sure to check their work out.

Thanks a bunch, Dean! Keep up the good hockey fight.

1. What do you expect the Oilers to do with 10th pick? Talk about some of the prospects (who might realistically be available around that time) who you have your eyes on. Who would you like to see the Oilers draft?

At number 10 I expect the following 5 players to be options for the Oilers. Nazem Kadri, John Moore, Scott Glennie, David Rundbland and Oliver Ekman-Larsson. I think it’s between Moore, Glennie and Rundbland and in our mock draft at http://thepipelineshow.blogspot.com I have them taking Glennie, while my co-host Guy Flaming has them grabbing Moore. Some have Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson falling to 10, if that happens the Oilers will be dancing in the streets, but I don’t see it. Same goes with Dmitry Kulikov.

2. Do you think the Oilers will make any draft day moves? If the Oilers had to move a pick to land, say Heatley, would it be worth it?

If it was my decision I would deal the 10th overall selection in a package for Heatley. We talked on our show last week about this. Would you deal the pick or Jordan Eberle (last year’s first rounder) in a package for Heatley. I would rather deal the pick because you already know what you are getting from Eberle as far as skill, character and the ability to perform in big games. At #10 who knows it could be Steve Kelly.

3. Take us back for some of your favorite Oilers draft memories. Obviously, the Gretzky era probably contains many of those moments. Are there any other steals/bargains/etc that stand out?

Getting Andy Moog in the 7th round of the 1980 draft and then selecting Grant Fuhr the next year in the first round gave them maybe the best 1-1A goaltending tandem ever and set them up for the 80’s. Of course getting Messier, Anderson and Kurri in the 3rd or 4th rounds was incredible considering all 3 are in the HHOF. Fernando Pisani was a great bargain in the 8th round of 1996. The Oilers haven’t drafted in the top ten very often but got it right with Ryan Smyth 6th overall in 1994.

In 2006 the team didn’t have a first round pick after trading for Dwayne Roloson and reaching the Stanley Cup Finals. But they grabbed D-Man Jeff Petry who is currently at Michigan State. He was voted Hockey USA’s top player in 2007 while playing in the USHL.

4. On the other hand, the Oilers have probably had their fair share of blunders. Talk about some of the more head-splitting/"what if?" moments.

No contest. Edmonton hosting the draft in 1995. The entire crowd is chanting Shane Doan’s (from nearby Halkirk, Alberta) name. The Oilers instead draft Steve Kelly who went onto play 27 games for the Oilers and score one goal.

Honourable mention to Jesse Niinimaki in 2002, as he wasn’t on any first round list and didn’t suit up once in the regular season for Edmonton.

Soapbox Time: Feel free to use this as a moment to get something off your chest. Talk about the future of the franchise, the underrated perks of living in Edmonton or whatever else.

The Oilers want to get bigger and need to make #10 count more than ever. They also need someone from the prospect system to take a giant step forward this year. A player doesn’t have to make the team out of camp but has to have a sky rocket type season. Rob Schremp needs to bounce back from a horrible season, and he and the rest of the AHL team should with Rob Daum behind the bench for a full season.