The Oiler's history of drafting and developing players is like studying a shooting star. It shines bright at the beginning and then peters out near the end.

This is a very long article. In it I study 20+ years of Oiler's draft history, (very) briefly noting every player in terms of his contribution to the club and (to a limited extent) the NHL as a whole. I do not consider a player's value in terms of trades or transactions that the Oiler's may have made regarding that player - I only look at overall contribution. At the end of this I note some trends that appear, or in one case fail to appear, in Oiler draft philosophy. Finally I do a general summation.

Some opening notes:

1. There may be a small number of mistakes made regarding the exact spelling of a player's name, etc. While I thank everyone who submits corrections to be made, the number of mistakes should be VERY low and should not affect the reading of this article.
2. This IS an opinion piece. Some of you may have a different reading on the careers of some players, etc. While I do appreciate that - go write your own article if you have anything other than kind words to say. I am not saying you cannot critique - just don't be an ass.
3. The source material for this article was drawn from the Oil Slick Magazine archives (now at Rivals.com), the Internet Hockey Database and www.hockeysfuture.com. My great thanks to all those groups.
4. I have said that this is a long article - if you have access to a laser printer, or similar fast-printing device, please feel free to use it.

General wisdom has it that a luke-warm draft nets a team at least one NHL caliber player, a good draft nets the team two NHL caliber players and to get three solid players out of a single draft is something to celebrate. I used a general system to individually grade the players and the draft years. Any player that does not receive a grade was a player that simply meant nothing to the NHL - they did nothing. Here then are the Edmonton Oilers:

Grading Systems

Hall of Fame - we know who these guys are, their accomplishments speak for themselves. While Hall of Fame players are often called 'superstars', this is actually a misnomer. A Hall of Fame player can also be a player who has been a 'star' long enough and consistently enough to earn the universal respect of the hockey world. Kevin Lowe only has one remarkable statistic on his Hall of Fame resume, the number 6 - which is the number of Stanley Cup rings he earned in his brilliant career.

Star player - 'star' players are players who have excelled, literally excelled, at their position or role on the team. However, they have never done enough to be considered one of THE elite players at the position. Players that get this rating don't always have to have amazing point totals; Guy Carboneau never had great point totals but he did win a whack of Stanley Cups and trophy hardware, enough in fact that he could be Hall of Fame material - let alone a 'star'. Brendan Shanahan will be hard pressed to get in the Hall, as will Doug Weight, but they are both 'star' caliber players.

Solid player - never quite gaining 'star' status, a 'solid' NHL player is one who would be welcome on any NHL team. Their contribution(s) to their team's - whether it is from sheer talent (think Jamie Langenbrunner or Slava Kozlov) or their desire (think McSorley - pre-hatchet work) is generally not in question. They have produced enough, over a long enough period of time, to be considered an asset of some worth.

Journeyman player - no NHL team can survive without the role-players on the team, someone has to do the dirty work. They are 'solid' players in their own right but never achieve the higher rating for one of two reasons: they never played enough games or they never really rose above the 4th line/#6 defenseman status they had. Where a player like Grier could eventually be considered a 'solid' player (a few more years of comparable performance should do it), a player like Dowd will be hard pressed to ever be considered more than a 'journeyman'.

? player - typically players who just never panned out, never fulfilled his potential, and ultimately frittered away their NHL career. Note that some players in this category could have had one, or even two, remarkable seasons - they just never put it all together for any real length of time. This category can also be used to describe players who are in the NHL right now, but their careers are still in a state of flux - will they pan out, or won't they. Think Jimmy Carson - great rookie campaign in LA followed by a decent season in Edmonton followed by lackluster play the rest of his career. Too much raw talent to be a 'journeyman' he never fulfilled his promise as a 'star' and ultimately was not around long enough to be considered any sort of 'solid' player.

Coffee player - the guy who shows up for a few games as an injury fill-in but is sent right back down when expendable. No impact at all on the major leagues.

Star prospect - think Luongo. He hasn't done much yet, but EVERYONE is sure that he will.

Solid prospect - think Mike Comrie. Sure he may not be the next Selanne, but everyone expects that he SHOULD be able to do something at the pro-level. He might just end-up as a 'journeyman' that bounces from team to team and pots 20-40 points a year BUT at least he is expected to do SOMETHING.

? prospect - will this guy even make it to the NHL? Who knows? They may be a surprise to everyone if they ever find the right situation with the right team. Question is, is Edmonton that team? Most '?' prospects will probably get a cup of coffee with the team, but anything more than that is a guess.

Draft Years:

A	Any draft year that produced a 'Hall of Fame' player. A 'star' player, and at least one other 'solid' NHL player. Two or more 'solid' NHL players, and at least one 'journeyman'.
B	Any draft year that produced a 'star' player, gets this grade. One 'solid' player and two 'journeymen' generated. Three proven 'journeymen' would also make this grade. One 'star prospect' will net this grade on a conditional basis.
C	Any draft year that produced a 'solid' player, gets this grade. Two proven 'journeymen'. Two 'good prospects' get this grade on a conditional basis.
D	Any draft year that produced at least a 'journeyman' player, gets this grade. One 'good prospect', or at least two 'decent prospects'.
E	Any players of the '?' description. At least one 'decent prospect' in the system.
Z	Worse than an 'E' grade. This is beyond just a 'bad' draft.

Some Abbreviations

AJHL - Alberta Junior Hockey League
BCJHL - B.C. Junior Hockey League
CNHS - Canadian High School
CNUN- Canadian University/College
OHL - Ontario Hockey League
QMJHL - Quebec Major Junior Hockey League
SJHL - Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League
IHL- International Hockey League (N.A.)
INL- International League (typically European)
USHS - U.S. High-school
USUN - U.S. University/College
WHA - World Hockey Association
WHL - Western Hockey League