Edmonton Oilers Draft Picks

Edmonton Oilers Draft Picks

The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey franchise based in Edmonton, Alberta. They play in the Northwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Hockey League (NHL). They were founded in 1972 as a member of the World Hockey Association (WHA) and played in the WHA until 1979 when they joined the NHL. During their time in the WHA the Oilers drafted 59 players with the 1977 draft being their fifth and final. The NHL Oilers have drafted 340 players in 33 drafts.

The NHL Entry Draft is held each June, allowing teams to select players who have turned 18 years old by September 15 in the year the draft is held. The draft order is determined by the previous season's order of finish, with non-playoff teams drafting first, followed by the teams that made the playoffs, with the specific order determined by the number of points earned by each team. The NHL holds a weighted lottery for the 14 non-playoff teams, allowing the winner to move up a maximum of four positions in the entry draft. The team with the fewest points has the best chance of winning the lottery, with each successive team given a lower chance of moving up in the draft. The Oilers have won the lottery twice, in 2010 and 2012. Between 1986 and 1994, the NHL also held a Supplemental Draft for players in American colleges.

Edmonton's first draft pick in the WHA was John Rogers, taken sixth overall in the 1973 WHA Amateur Draft. Their first pick in the NHL was Kevin Lowe, taken 21st overall in the 1979 NHL Entry Draft. The highest the Oilers have picked is first overall, which they did on three successive occasions between 2010 and 2012. They selected Taylor Hall (2010), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (2011) and Nail Yakupov (2012). Ten picks went on to play over 1,000 NHL games: Mark Messier, Paul Coffey, Lowe, Jari Kurri, Jason Arnott, Kelly Buchberger, Ryan Smyth, Glenn Anderson, Kirk Maltby and Miroslav Satan. Five of Edmonton's draft picks, Anderson, Coffey, Grant Fuhr, Kurri and Messier, have been elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame.