Edmonton Oilers 2009 Draft Thread

[UTMCretin]

Discussion/reaction thread for Oilers draft picks.

NHL Draft - 2009
Rnd Pick Overall Team Player D.O.B. Birth Place Country Ht Wt Amateur League Amateur Team Pos
1 10 10 EDM Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson 12 Apr 1991 Norrkoping SWE 6' 1" 201 SWEDEN Timra LW
2 10 40 EDM Anton Lander 24 Apr 1991 Sundsvall SWE 6' 0" 194 SWEDEN Timra C
3 10 71 EDM Troy Hesketh 5 Jul 1991 Minnetonka, MN USA 6' 2" 178 HIGH-MN Minnetonka D
3 21 82 EDM
(from PHI) Cameron Abney 23 May 1991 Aldergrove, BC CAN 6' 4" 192 WHL Everett RW
4 8 99 EDM
(from DAL) Kyle Bigos 12 May 1989 Upland, CA USA 6' 5" 230 BCHL Vernon D
4 10 101 EDM Toni Rajala 29 Mar 1991 Parkano FIN 5' 10" 163 FINLAND-JR. Ilves Jr. RW
5 12 133 EDM
(from MIN) Olivier Roy 12 Jul 1991 Amqui, QC CAN 6' 0" 165 QMJHL Cape Breton G

[UTMCretin]

Just to give an idea of what kind of player we got with our first pick:

An Extremely fast and fluid skater, and quite possibly the second best player in the 2009 draft. Many comparisons between Magnus and many of the other great Swedes like Forsberg and Sundin who's numbers were comparable at the time. More fairly a comparison between Naslund and Svensson-Paajarvi is a more precise pairing, as his defensive game is not anywhere near the quality of his offensive game. Although he's got a great physical makeup, his style of play shys away from the physical stuff. Aside from that he's a tremendous playmaker and stout goalscorer, putting in quite a few goals, and is adept on the breakaway. He's a guaranteed top 10 pick and may play himself into a top 5 selection.

Magnus perhaps is the stereotype of the skilled Swede coming over here in recent years – outside speed extraordinaire, ability to freeze defenders and make all his good moves work even more effectively. He was a good contributor to his team at the World Junior tournament and I think will be an essential member of any NHL team in years to come. He showed, at the World Junior championships, why the 1980 comparisons to Mats Naslund, Kent Nilsson and more recently a Peter Forsberg will follow him over to his NHL team. He’ll be a high draft pick and I’m sure he’s going to be a combination of the kind of offensive flare and skills that have made those other three predecessors great NHL players.

[Nolan]

I like the Svensson pick alot given some time I think he can become a very talented offensive player, which is something we despertly need.

[skorff26]

I like the draft, Svensson should probably have gone higher; he will be very good.

I think Lander will develop into a solid 3rd or 4th line C so decent value.

I really like the Hesketh pick, I think he'll end up being a solid player.

I don't know much about Abney and Bigos, but I like their size 6ft 4in anc 6ft 5in respectively