Call ‘Em Up: Canada’s Draft Needs on June 25th

In two more days, the annual festivities in Los Angeles will begin. After tonight’s Award Show in Las Vegas, the attention turns to the state next door, where all future NHL’ers will gather to live their life-long dream: hearing their name being called on Draft Day. While not many of them will want to be part of the Edmonton Oilers, with the 1st overall pick the Oil have the luxury of either changing their franchise or ruining another important decision.

The Edmonton Oilers have the 1st overall pick in the Draft, after a failed season of sorts. Steve Tambellini and his crew have likely made their decision already on who they will pick, and most people will say it will be Taylor Hall. Although, I believe centre is a more pressing issue, Hall is the franchise player the Oilers have been looking for since their Stanley Cup Run in 2006.

The Ottawa Senators are clearly looking to draft a pseedy forward after two straight defenseman in ’08 and ’09. There is also the possiblity of trading down, but if Bryan Murray really wants to re-tool this team on the farm, he can’t trade down. Obviously available option include Emerson Etem, Mikael Granlund, and Austin Watson, but don’t be surprised if a shocker is pulled of here.

The Vancouver Canucks need to find some measure on D, after the likely exit of Willie Mitchell and no real defensive prospects. Although they have a deep pick, they should be able to find some quality D-Men, such as Mark Pysyk, Jon Merrill, or Jarred Tinordi. The real question though, is Mikke Gillis going to find some help for his team tomorrow, and trying to get over that hump.

The Montreal Canadiens will not have the luxury of picking early sicne their Cinderella Run this past playoff season. If there is a need in Hab Toiwn, it likely is down the middle, where they need a strong man. However, Jacques Martin does not like those guys, so you have to wonder how much of an influence he will have on this. Some available players could be Brock Nelson, Jaden Schwartz, or Beau Bennett.

The Calgary Flames do not have a first round pick this season, due to the Olli Jokinen trade a couple year back. Their first pick should look at a pure offensive forward, but how many of those can you find in the 2nd Round? Actually, there’s always a possiblity, as exemplified by Henrik Zetterberg. Look for them at stealing Kirill Kabanov in the middle of the Second, and roll the dice. And really, why not?

The Toronto Maple Leafs do not have a first round or second round pick this time around, due to the pugilatory Phil Kessel trade. They’ll obviously be looking for some physical guys down the pipe, as Brian Burke always does. It’s a good thing they stocked up on 4th and 5th round picks, because if they didn’t, they would be screwed. I have no clue who could be available at that time, but we should get more information as the picks go by…

Tomorrow, the NHL Draft takes place, and three writers here at Too Many Men will be live there. Myself, Susan Lee of Ducks Daily Blog, and Gavin Humes of Rink Royalty. Should be a blast!