Alberta squads opt for centremen: Draisaitl to Oil, Bennett to Flames

The Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames, two teams who have had trouble winning hockey games in the last few years, have apparently had it with seeing their teams beaten out by the centreman depth of teams like Los Angeles and Anaheim, the latter of which added all-star Ryan Kesler to its arsenal Friday.

The Oilers and Flames general managers both selected centremen, Leon Draisaitl and Sam Bennett, respectively, and both men emphasized in their short interviews on TSN post-pick that having depth at centre is essential in the modern National Hockey League.

Draisaitl will be billed as the highest German international player selected in a major North American sports league (although Dany Heatley was selected No. 2 in 2000) when the Oilers took him with the third overall pick. Draisaitl tied Sam Reinhart, picked a spot above him, in points last season by 17-year-olds.Kingston centreman Bennett, meanwhile, will go to Calgary. For the second consecutive season, the highest-ranked player by Central scouting was passed by three teams. Bennett scored 91 points (and had 118 penalty minutes!) with Kingston in his draft year and goes to the team that made his Frontenacs general manager Doug Gilmour famous.

The Oilers, in the midst of a lengthy rebuild and without a playoff appearance since their surprise Stanley Cup appearance in 2006, have had difficulty attracting professional players to their club, but are trying to subvert that by drafting an impressive group of forwards who may, one day, help this team back to where it was in the 1980s.

Draisaitl seems pleased with his what's coming in his immediate future. "Wearing the same jersey as Gretzky, Messier and all those stars is a huge honour," he told TSN's James Duthie. "They have a lot of great talent. A lot of young guys."

The German had no trouble adjusting to the more physical Western Hockey League in his rookie campaign a year ago, and Oilers GM Craig MacTavish wasn't shy about comparing him to Anze Kopitar right at the table. When Duthie prefaced a question by saying that obviously the Oilers didn't expect him to be as good as Kopitar right away, MacTavish shot back "no no, we do" to effective guffaws.

But part of what makes Kopitar that force with Los Angeles is his elite defensive ability, while Draisaitl is known more for his offensive game and his hands. It's not like the Oilers couldn't use the extra attacking punch, however. The Oilers are lauded for their young forward talent like Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle, but that has so far not translated to a lot of goals at the NHL level. The Oilers were 25th in the league in goals per game a year ago.

As for Brad Treliving, the rookie GM with Calgary, he now has two young OHL East centremen on his roster, the other being Sean Monahan who had an impressive rookie campaign with the Flames. While the Flames certainly lack forward depth and have a skeleton of a defensive corps, they'll certainly believe they have two centremen to work around as they look towards the future.

The Flames may not have a lot of big names, especially since trading Jay Bouwmeester and Jarome Iginla two springs ago. It's no secret that they've entered Year 2 of their rebuild, but there are some other pieces there. Mark Giordano, a steady defenceman who received a first-place Norris Trophy vote this past season, is under contract for two more seasons and another vet, Matt Stajan, was re-upped and has been one of the most underrated centremen in the league since being traded from the spotlight of Toronto. Defensive depth, high-level forwards and goaltending remain the key issues for the Flames, and nobody will pretend this team is playoff-calibre just yet.

But it is a step. Both teams appeared to get their man and were able to simultaneously fill a need while also selecting one of the best players available. It's still a tough, tough division with Los Angeles and Anaheim however, and a very long way to go.