Hall Vs. Seguin, What It All Boils Down To

What do you want the face of the Oilers to be? Tenacious hockey or high hockey IQ hockey? At this point it is beyond center vs. winger, it's about who is stronger in terms of character and who fits the Oilers glove the best when it comes to being what our club wants to be about.

Contrary to what some may say, they are both highly skilled and are very close despite Hall's Spitfires mopping the ice with Seguin and the Whalers. Hall seems like a guy that has a lot of physical gifts while Seguin seems like a guy that thinks the game at a higher level and IMO just seems like a smarter person.

Hockey isn't about who has the highest off ice IQ or else Horcoff would be as good as some claim him to be. That said when you have a combination or skill, physical talent, and high hockey IQ, you have a potential winner. Hall has shown that he knows how to lead a winner (at least at the CHL level), but we won't know how he could be as a leader on a team like the Oilers unless we draft him.

If you want the Oilers to be a gritty team that's led by guts and glory, Taylor Hall is your guy. If you want the Oilers to be known as a smart team with an exceptionally smart franchise player, you want Seguin. The Oilers had both in Messier and Gretzky, and while neither projects to be as good as two of the greatest players of all time, it's an example of grit and smarts on the ice combined with exceptional talent.

It is close ladies and gentlemen, don't let anyone tell you otherwise. It's all about what you want as a key intangible to build the team around. Eberle and Gagner would be two examples of our scouts favoring hockey IQ, will it happen again? Or will this be the time to add a star that is willing to bleed to win? We all know that for the most part our team is as soft as a down filled pillow and as hockey dumb as a sack of hammers so we are lacking horribly in both areas.

Just like today's lottery, it's the equivalent of a flip of a coin, it can go either way. The beauty of it is that IMO there is no wrong answer when it comes to who the Oilers should pick.