Odds of winning NHL draft lottery
TEAM CHANCES (in per cent)
Columbus 48.2
Edmonton 18.8
Montreal 14.2
NY Islanders 10.7
Toronto 8.1
Anaheim 6.2
Minnesota 4.7
Carolina 3.6
Winnipeg 2.7
Tampa Bay 2.1
Washington* 1.5
Buffalo 1.1
Dallas 0.8
Calgary 0.5

Yes! Yes! Yes!

now im gone wondering if we lost the race for 29th with the oilers if we wouldve won the first pick

- _-

I seriously predict some sort of trade between the Oilers and the Habs first round picks.

It fits too perfect. You guys need Yakupov, CBJ still get Mickhail. We need Murray, and could use ANY other kind of draft/prospect/player equity we can get.

How do the Oilers possibly pass on Yakupov? They could have the most disgusting top 6 for years to come.

This is probably the most likely scenario.

The 2011-12 Columbus Blue Jackets might go down as the most cursed team in the history of pro sports.

Because their best defenseman is this guy:

Not a chance they trade down unless its a legitimate number 1 dman which I don't see happening. Nail/Hall/Eberle/Hemsky/RNH/Gagne. So sick!

ah ok ty. thought i saw tampa at #14 but was obv hallucinating.

Oilers would be wise to move Gagner this offseason, his value has never been higher imo.

I referenced this scenario as exactly why I didn't like the Hemsky resigning.

lol That would be the most ridiculous thing. Who would be the Oilers 2nd line center? Horcoff? Dont get me wrong, Im not big on Gagne, but he is our best option at the 2nd line center position at this moment. Unless they get a better 2nd line center first, Gagne stays.

If only they didn't trade their best defenseman for Nick Schultz.

Tom Gilbert was our best defenceman? I'll give you 3rd but that is max. He is weaker defensively, and we need a good man in our own zone. I wasnt thrilled when that trade was made, but Gilbert was not in our top 2 dman

Checking in for duty... Ill have a Sabres write up one of these days when I am drunk and angry...

and GL if Iginla comes to Buffalo it cant be that bad for you.

...Ive also been waiting to get this card as I think its awesome

Pretty sure that's Petry. Either way it says alot about our dmen.

Our best defenseman in 3 years is gonna be Oscar Klefbom, I loved what I saw at the world juniors. Only other prospect worth talking about yet is Teubert, and he's been written off by most. I'm holding out that he turns into a Jason Smith one of these years though.

The only current legit NHLer is Smid, he's got potential to be a solid 2nd/3rd pairing guy.

The rest belong in the AHL.

Oh man, I forgot to mention this earlier, but a family friend of ours is a scout for the Oilers; he was with the Panthers for almost a decade but lost his job during the lockout, then was picked up by Edmonton and has been there ever since. His mother taught me in kindergarten, lol.

Anyways, we see him after mass on Easter Sunday and I asked him "hey [Oilers scout who shall remain unnamed], is it a given that you're going with either Murray or Dumba at 2nd overall? You guys gotta address that blueline."

His response: "Let's see how the lottery plays out first, but we're not inclined to think that way. We'll see what happens." Sigh, pretty tight lipped about the whole thing.

/letdown story that could've been juicier but wasn't

Thanks for the blueballs geddy!

I think what Tambellini said right before the draft was very telling of their plans. paraphrasing:

Duthie - "Would you say that if you were to get the first pick, some might argue that you would have too much of a good thing? Would you consider passing on a skilled forward that was widely regarded as the best player in the draft?"

Tambellini - "We are not making any decisions, everything is an option to us this year with the amount of talent we have. In past years we had to draft the skilled forward, this year we are capable of making a move for the best player that suits are team."

It was also painfully obvious that the answers had been rehearsed, as they were all just SNAP answered with no hesitations and were all perfect answers (all 5 GMs got asked one).

I really don't want to entertain the thought of Iginla getting traded but I guess I have to...Boyes and Hecht come off the books, does Buffalo have the cap room to accomodate for a $7m/yr addition?

If it's going to happen, New York and Pittsburgh are the most likely destinations for Iginla, imo.

Also, sounds like Derek Roy and Lindy Ruff are clashing in the local media. We'll take Roy off your hands if we decide we're not gonna tear it down.

MONTREAL BABY

I did some preliminary looking a couple days ago and FWIW it doesnt look good in general for the Sabres unless they make some moves.

Myers extension kicks in so he goes from 1.3 to 5.5, Ennis is an RFA as is TJ Brennan (and Kaleta unfortunately) and Sulzer has a good shot at returning for the right price but is a UFA.

I really projected this offseason as the year they could make some moves, but with all the moves last year it chewed up their space... they are sitting at around ~5mil in cap space BEFORE the resignings etc.

Not going to get way into it but its the standard overpayment of Vanek, Pominville, Leino, Stafford, Sekera thats killing any chance to do anything...

...essentially they will probably have the same team next year, unless they move Roy but I could see him being more of a trade deadline move BUT with the Ruff/Roy crap going on then who knows.


(this is with the cap not going up a ton)

If he moves on, it's because he wants to win a Cup, not because he wants to toil with another hopeless franchise. Might as well not move the wife and kids if that's the result.

lol Geddy, nice troll.

Lottery sucked, oh well I guess we'll take the AIDS known as Ryan Murray.

Montreal might take Galchenyuk at 3rd if all things remain equal. Really don't think that's a huge reach, except for the fact that he really didn't play this season.

Might as well draft Malcolm Subban and trade Price and have 2x more swag.

Subban getting cut from the WJC nat'l team was legit lol. Hockey Canada is so stupid.