1989

A passing Oiler draft - but just barely (interestingly enough). Semenov came in as an overager and played a couple of decent years in Edmonton before bouncing his way around the league. He played some 360+ games in the NHL and was a producer, but was just too inconsistent to earn a 'solid player' rating. Beranek has also been an enigma and was in Edmonton twice. Nevertheless he does have 400+ games under his belt despite a two-year lay-off when he went back to Czechoslovakia, this one is a judgement call but I will rate Beranek a journeyman player. White has played some 65+ NHL games, and that is all there is to say about him. Payne and Martini also played a few games in the NHL. Grade C.

1990

Ugly, ugly, ugly. This is the one-year the scouts should have signed their paycheques back over to the team. Hard to say if any of these picks could make a cup of coffee, let alone find their way to Edmonton to play a hockey game. Grade Z.

1991

Oilers earned a passing grade for this draft year. Oliver was too one dimensional to last long in the NHL, his first two years in Edmonton were productive but he never did much after that and fizzled out of the league soon after. Wright was only in Edmonton for 41 games but has found himself a home in Pittsburgh where he does have three decent seasons on the fourth line. Rucinsky was only in Edmonton long enough for the proverbial cup of coffee. However, after Edmonton he has gone on to play over 450 solid NHL games and is a proven point producer and a solid 2nd line winger with some skill. Grade C.

1992

Another year of suspect scouting, another failed draft year. While hard hitting Maltby eventually found a home in Detroit (and would rate as an okay journeyman player by anyone's standard), Intranuovo and Gage were barely blips on the NHL radar screen. Hulbig is in limbo at the moment, while he never did much in Edmonton (one good play-off season) he may have found a home on Boston's hitting line. Grade D.

1993

The best Oiler draft year in a long, long time. Most people are pretty high on Norton but his last year of development seemed to see him get stuck in neutral - thus his '?' rating. Satan and Arnott have both had two excellent seasons each and seem capable of becoming full-time 'stars' in the NHL. Time will tell. There is no question that they are solid players now. Grade A.