Who Should the Edmonton Oilers take 8th Overall?
By Zane Tomich
Dreams will come true for a few hundred young hockey players in Vancouver on June 21-22. The Edmonton Oilers hold the 8th overall selection in this years draft. You can bet your keister a very good player will be taken at that position.
So who will they take at number eight? Well, the answer isn’t quite as clear-cut yet; but there is some semblance of an idea as to who the Oilers could have to choose from once they hit the podium.
This is a weird draft. There is a plethora of high-end talent available this year. The only question is, how will the selections outside the top-two play out?
We know it is a slam dunk fact that Jack Hughes and Kappo Kakko are the consensus top-two picks.
After that, your guess is as good as mine.
Here are my choices for the Oilers at number 8:
Kirby Dach: I fell in love with his game back in 2018 at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup in Edmonton, go figure. I have heard more than once people comparing him to Ryan Getzlaf (sorry Oilers fans, but you know you’d love him if he was in Edmonton). Now that’s a pretty darn good comparable if you ask me.
With the Saskatoon Blades this season, Dach scored 73 points in 62 games and added 8 points in 10 playoff games.
Dach has great size at 6″4 and will most definitely fill out into a rugged beast in a few short years. His play-making ability and overall skill is elite. He can skate and competes hard. As a right-shot pivot, he could be the perfect complimentary piece behind Connor McDavid on the second line. Dach and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins together would be a dynamic duo.
Dylan Cozens: Another player who really impressed me when I watched Team Canada at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup last year. What I like most about Cozens is his two-way game and elite skill. He can do it all. He plays center and wing and he utilizes his big 6″3 frame by playing a power game. Good skater too.
With the Lethbridge Hurricanes this season, he accumulated 84 points in 68 games. He scored 34 goals and 50 assists and added another 8 points in 7 playoff games. Lots of tools in the toolbox with this player as he can score, make plays, and play a reliable defensive game.
Cole Caufield: His size (5’7, 163 lbs) immediately stands out when you look at this player; but how can you ignore someone who shatters a USHL record by scoring 72 goals in 64 games? You just can’t.
Lets be honest, with the NHL taking a shift towards speed and skill, this type of undersized player of phenomenal skill will thrive. His goal-scoring prowess would inject godly potency to the Oilers top-six down the road. He reminds me of Brian Gionta in his prime or Alex Debrincat.
Honorable mentions:
I keep hearing Philip Broberg being a possible selection within the top-10. That could very well happen as this year is forward heavy in the higher selections. It is possible a team with major defensive needs reaches a bit by taking someone like Broberg higher than he’s ranked.
In the Oilers case, although intriguing to add another quality defence prospect, they should stand pat and take one of the many elite forwards inside the top-10. They need a forward badly. Their answer lies with the number 8 selection.
I have a very strong feeling one of either Dach or Cozens will be available when the Oilers pick. In that case, they would do right to snatch up one of the WHL stars.