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I got a fever...and the only prescription is more draft picks.

Why draft one player when you can draft two? Or three? Or four? Or five? Not five, no...let\'s not get carried away. With picks #7 and #14 on the board, the Edmonton Oilers were in good position to add two solid prospects to the system. But when the opportunity to land more 1st round picks showed up, GM Mike Cleary couldn\'t resist. An inside look into the Oilers\' draft room...

#7 overall: Brendan Perlini, LW, Niagara IceDogs

Mike Cleary was quite active hours before the draft kicked off; working the phones to find a way to trade up a couple ranks. Just a bit out of reach to snag either defenseman Haydn Fleury or left winger Brendan Perlini, Cleary felt moving up a spot or two would be necessary. While that didn\'t happen, Perlini just so happened to fall on their lap. The 6\'2\", 205lbs forward has a scoring touch, good speed and plays a physical game. Just a solid all-around hockey player, Perlini will have no problem playing on an offensive line alongside skilled forwards Nazem Kadri and Jordan Eberle, or on a more physical unit with JF Jacques, NickBjugstad or James Neal. Perlini was ranked #5 on the Oilers big board.

#14 overall: Jared McCann, C, Sault Ste.Marie Greyhounds

Sitting at 14th, the Oilers could have went many directions. They decided to fill a need by selecting Jared McCann, a defensive minded center who excels at taking draws. He projects as a 3rd line center and penalty killing specialist. Edmonton has a young core of players up front-JF Jacques is the oldest top 6 forward at 29 years old-so they could afford to use a mid first round pick to solidify it\'s 3rd line and special teams.

#22 overall: Brycen Martin, D, Swift Current Broncos

Edmonton traded it\'s 2015 1st round pick and Boston\'s 2015 2nd round pick to get back in the 1st round. With that pick, they addressed a huge need by drafting the offensive defenseman. A natural born leader, Martin is extremely fast and should turn into an elite puck mover. By matching him with a shutdown defenseman like Luke Schenn, Chris Summers or Brooks Orpik, the Oilers shoud be able to live with Martin\'s defensive flaws.

#30 overall: Alex Nedeljkovic, G, Plymouth Whalers
Toni Rajala and Daniel Winnik were sacrificed to land the best goaltender in the draft. These two inconsistent players we expendable and GM Mike Cleary couldn\'t let Nedeljkovic slip any further down the board. Very similar to Blue Jackets\' goaltender Zach Fucale, who was drafted 19th overall a year ago, Nedeljkovic proves to be great value. The Oilers just lit a fire under Carey Price. Who\'s the man? Time will tell.


Edmonton Oilers
Posted: 2014/07/01

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