With the 244th and 272th overall picks, the Edmonton Oilers select

#244 – Todd Bertuzzi to the Edmonton Oilers

Guys, he’s really, really sorry, OK?!?!

Cap Hit: $1,500,000

#272 – Jay McKee to the Edmonton Oilers

Jay McKee spells it “Mark Perish.”

Cap Hit: $800,000

I wanted to add some size to my wing and to my defense without paying the big dollars.

Looking at the stats, I couldn’t let these two slip away.

Jay McKee is a shot-blocking machine who destroys people who enter his zone. Last year, he was more defensively reliable (though offensively challenged) than his wealthier counterpart, Barrett Jackman. Though Jackman faced some pretty high competition, McKee was not exactly sleeping either when he waltzed to a +11 rating. His Corsi could be much better but he’s not the same young buck he was in his Buffalo days. Paired with the right offensive blueliner, McKee could be rather useful and could become my favourite sleeper pick so far this draft.

At the time, it was between picking Todd Bertuzzday and Curtis Glencross. I love Glencross’ speed and style of play, but at the end of the day I needed to choose the player who would better settle into a 2nd line role. Plus, Glencross left the Oilers to play in Cow Town and that’s a big no-no. Bertuzzi has size and skill, and past experience in a 1st line role. This may not factor much into the video game itself, but for now, he’s cheaper than drafting Dustin Penner.

However, many people say Bertuzzi doesn’t have enough character.

In my opinion, Bertuzzi has paid his dues for  what he did to Steve Moore. What he did, in some ways, is more justified (yeah, I can’t believe that I’m saying this) than what Dale Hunter did to Pierre Turgeon or what Claude Lemieux did to Kris Draper. Because face it, the argument about pre-meditation is less relevant to me when you consider Moore is not exactly John Grisham’s the “Innocent Man” as he made his own dirty hit on Naslund and he had retribution coming to him.

Bertuzzi took it overboard with the punishment, but it was beckoning like the second coming of Christ. And that’s the last time I side with the Canucks on any issue.

CLS Re-draft

Cycle Like The Sedins is doing a Fantasy Draft of the NHL and all the teams’ GMs are represented by a blogger(s) from each city. Yours truly is representing the Edmonton Oilers. I plan to draft a checking center and a #1 goalie next.

The winner is determined on a full season and playoffs simulation of the new EA Sports game NHL 10 coming out in September.

With the 196th overall pick, the Edmonton Oilers select

#196 – Tom Gilbert to the Edmonton Oilers

Guess who owns a Tom Gilbert jersey?

Took us a while, but now we have our first homer pick. GOILERS!

Cap Hit: $4,000,000

Tom Gilbert has emerged as one of the premier offensive defenseman in the NHL, and as a integral part of the Team USA blue line, with a surprisingly bad rep for defensive ability despite the stats to prove otherwise. He has vision and poise but some would criticize him for not having enough sandpaper in his toolbox, but has shown a competent knack for shaking off forecheckers in his own zone. Has improved every season and even last season on worse team.

Could be in for a big year in 2009-10, depending on whether or not Visnovsky and Souray can stay healthy.

CLS Re-draft

Cycle Like The Sedins is doing a Fantasy Draft of the NHL and all the teams’ GMs are represented by a blogger(s) from each city. Yours truly is representing the Edmonton Oilers and I’m planning on drafting either a shut-down guy or a 1st line RW next.

The winner is determined on a full season and playoffs simulation of the new EA Sports game NHL 10 coming out in September.

With the 188th and 189th overall picks, the Edmonton Oilers select

#188 – Blake Wheeler to the Edmonton Oilers

Chase me bitches!

Cap Hit: $2,825,000

#189 – Tuomo Ruutu to the Edmonton Oilers

Ka-Pow! Mottau! Tuomo Ruutu demonstrates that those two words do more than rhyme.

Cap Hit: $3,800,000

Two big wingers with size.

Wheeler is a young skilled player with a great shot and is hard to knock off the puck. Big Blake has a larger frame than Joe Thornton and can still grow into it for a few seasons to come. Tuomo Ruutu loves to hit and loves to score, playing a real power forward’s role. Plus, he’s cheaper than Penner, though still a bit pricey for my overall plan. Oh well. He’s gonna score and he’s going to destroy you, and that’s what I love about Ruutu.

Goaltender Pekka Rinne was dealt in the process of acquiring the second 7th round pick and I plan to acquire another goalie later on with some of the picks I acquired as a result of the deal.

Further demonstration of Wheeler’s awesomeness:

http://www.youtube.com/v/snwke86hEG0&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6

Here’s a goal by Wheeler caused by a Taylor Chorney turnover:

CLS Re-draft

Cycle Like The Sedins is doing a Fantasy Draft of the NHL and all the teams’ GMs are represented by a blogger(s) from each city. Yours truly is representing the Edmonton Oilers.

The winner is determined on a full season and playoffs simulation of the new EA Sports game NHL 10 coming out in September.

With the 105th overall pick, the Edmonton Oilers select

#105 – Niklas Kronwall to the Edmonton Oilers (selected by Antony Ta)

I don’t care what you think of Kronwall: he’s the full package of skill and power.

Cap Hit: $3,000,000

Niklas Kronwall has taken major steps to being more complete since his first few seasons, and now he is not only an offensive threat but a defensive threat as well. Some people say he leaves his feet. Some people say its the follow through. It’s certainly not a Scott Stevens momentum machine – it’s pure power.

At a cap hit lower than Brad Stuart, he’s pretty good deal, I think.

CLS Re-draft

Cycle Like The Sedins is doing a Fantasy Draft of the NHL and all the teams’ GMs are represented by a blogger(s) from each city. Yours truly is representing the Edmonton Oilers and I’m planning on drafting either a shut-down guy or a 1st line RW next.

The winner is determined on a full season and playoffs simulation of the new EA Sports game NHL 10 coming out in September.

With the 67th and 68th overall picks, the Edmonton Oilers select

#67 – Travis Zajac to the Edmonton Oilers

Holy, it’s like a Devils marathon in here.

Cap Hit: $3,887,500

#68 – Ryan Kesler to the Edmonton Oilers

So what if I drafted a Canuck? At least it’s not a Flame.

Cap Hit: $1,750,000

Both these guys have size, skill, and intangibles that make them extremely attractive and 1st and 2nd line centerman. Both have a relatively short history of injuries (compared to other available centerman, such as Todd White) and have pretty good faceoff abilities that makes them  useful on Special Teams.

Also important, both guys aren’t afraid to land the body. Most importantly, both guys have leadership qualities.

Plus, Kesler has a beauty of a cap hit.

CLS Re-draft

Cycle Like The Sedins is doing a Fantasy Draft of the NHL and all the teams’ GMs are represented by a blogger(s) from each city. Yours truly is representing the Edmonton Oilers and I’m planning on drafting a couple first pairing defenseman next. If not, a D-man and a winger.

A couple of trades by yours truly moved the Oilers up to pick twice in the 3rd round and moved us down to pick twice in the 6th, 10th, and 11th rounds. However, we gave up our 4th, 5th, 8th, and 9th round picks in order to move up to 3rd and 6th.

The winner is determined on a full season and playoffs simulation of the new EA Sports game NHL 10 coming out in September.

With the 53rd overall pick, the Edmonton Oilers select

#53 – Pekka Rinne to the Edmonton Oilers (selected by Antony Ta)

He’s a big technical goalie with the skills to pay the bills.

Cap Hit: $725,000

Pekka Rinne answered doubts that he could handle a bigger workload and he played more games than Dan Ellis last season. He has the flare and size to be a pretty good option as a 1A goalie at a beauty of a cap hit. I would’ve picked Marc-Andre Fleury instead but he already went to the L.A. Kings 44th overall …

CLS Re-draft

Cycle Like The Sedins is doing a Fantasy Draft of the NHL and all the teams’ GMs are represented by a blogger(s) from each city. Yours truly is representing the Edmonton Oilers and I’m planning on drafting either a 1st line centerman and a first pairing defenseman next. If not, two centermen.

The winner is determined on a full season and playoffs simulation of the new EA Sports game NHL 10 coming out in September.

Repost: With the 8th overall pick, the Edmonton Oilers select

#8 – Zach Parise to the Edmonton Oilers (selected by Antony Ta)

Let’s just forget the Oilers ever traded that 17th overall pick.

Cap Hit: $3,125,000

Parise does it all: he scores goals, gives assists, finishes hits and plays with intensity.

CLS Re-draft

Cycle Like The Sedins is doing a Fantasy Draft of the NHL and all the teams’ GMs are represented by a blogger(s) from each city. Yours truly is representing the Edmonton Oilers and I’m planning on drafting either a #1 goalie or #1 defenseman next. If not, a 1st line centerman.

The winner is determined on a full season and playoffs simulation of the new EA Sports game NHL 10 coming out in September.