First round - Reid Schaefer, 32nd overall - the Oilers were originally slated to pick 29th in this round but they swapped picks with the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for Zack Kassian, a third-round pick in 2024, and a second-round pick in 2025 - this first round pick originally belonged to Colorado who flipped it to Arizona in exchange for goalie Darcy Kuemper.
Local Edmonton boy Schaefer originally caught the eye of Oilers scouts after going 32-26-58 with 88 PIMs and a +29 in 66 games for the Seattle Thunderbirds of the WHL, breaking out after only two assists in 18 games the previous season. He then wrapped up his junior career with a bang, going 28-33-61 with a sparkling +30 and 92 PIMs in 55 games. His emergence also helped the Thunderbirds the last two seasons in the playoffs, as he put up 21 points in 25 games for the Thunderbirds in his draft year followed by 19 points in 19 games the year after as the Thunderbirds lost in the WHL finals to the Edmonton Oil Kings, who would go on to be out early in the Memorial Cup tournament.
Schaefer's time in the Oilers organization wouldn't last long, however, as he was included as part of the trade package for Mattias Ekholm at the 2023 trade deadline. It was thus last season that he made his AHL debut with the Predators' farm team the Milwaukee Admirals, putting up 7-14-21 with 39 PIMs and a +1 in 63 games.
A very modest start to his pro career but one season does not make a player, thus I don't feel I can judge him as a prospect at this point.
Fun fact - Matt Savoie, now the Oilers' top prospect after they traded Ryan Mcleod to Buffalo for him, was drafted ninth overall by the Sabres in the first round of this year's draft.
Trending up or down? The jury's still out depends on how he does in his follow-up AHL season.
Did the Oilers miss out on anyone? Seeing as how this was literally the last pick of the first round, that would be impossible. It's possible the Oilers may miss Schaefer himself in the coming years, but it's worth noting that Savoie as a prospect is an upgrade on Schaefer.