With a new GM in tow looking to make his mark on this team and its prospect stable, will Tambellini make the kind of impact at this years draft that Lowe always talked about but could never get it done?
Lowe's regime seemed to always be about the fish that got away. "He was the biggest damned Yellow Perch that I've ever seen, 7 to 8 pounds I say, but he broke the net because he was so heavy and he swam away". Now anyone that knows anything about Yellow Perch knows that story is a whopper and then some!
We always got to hear about which players the Oilers were sweet on, but they could never seem to get into position to get them. This culminated in the '07 draft when Lowe felt that he had a deal in place that would've seen the Oilers move up to draft Kyle Turris. Maybe that was just a 2lb. trophy Perch, but that little son of a gun still wasn't in the boat and on ice so it still didn't count.
Will this be the year where the Oilers come out of nowhere to secure a top 5 pick to select a player that they are really high on? The next Marian Gaborik? It's pretty easy to sit back and say "boy, I wish that I had the 4th overall pick so that I could draft so and so", but we need someone to put complete trust in his scouting staff and take a swing for the fences by trading some NHL assets for the right to get a potential superstar.
We've got lots of guys with holes in their games, Schremp and his skating and grit, Nash and his lack of mass, numerous vertically challenged individuals, Plante and his mobility, etc. We need a guy that has speed, skill, grit, and finish. You usually don't find guys like that in the mid-late 1st round or beyond.
We may as well take advantage of the fact that we've had 2 of our franchises worst seasons in the last 3 years here by giving Gagner someone to gel with and lead the Oilers going forward.
Tambellini may or may not look to make a splash at the draft, but if he does, for once can we lowly Oilers fans see our logo climb into top 5 on the 1st round draft board for once? And if nothing happens and we stand pat, can we not hear about how we nearly landed Tavares or Hedman but they spit out the hook at the side of the boat?
