Edmonton Oilers 2007 HRDR - By Country

Edmonton Oilers

2007 Version

Historical Review of Draft Results

Results by Birth/Origin Country of Draftee

Please reserve comment for a future post wherein I will request commentary on the review as a whole.

At issue here is the ability to isolate the players nation of origin as a factor in evaluating the ability of an organization to draft players. To do that it is important to modify the player-grade scores such that a single 'Hall of Fame' player does not skew the results of a single 'nation' category entirely. Since all nations will be treated as equal, for purposes of drafting, no other modifications to the grading scores are required.

The grading scores are organized and summarized in the table below. Please remember that the nation listed is the nation that they were born in and not the nation where they learned to play hockey. As most players did the majority of their development, as hockey players, in the country of their birth it is an issue to be aware of and not a fatal flaw in the study itself.

Well. It isn't very hard to see where the majority of the draft resources of the Oilers have been wasted. The organization has a terrible record of drafting players out of the United States, Sweden and Russia. Sure, Mike Comrie was drafted out of the NCAA, but he is Canadian and so his points go to Canada. Even if you did reclassify players like Comrie it wouldn't help much. It is scary just how bad these results are. A damning indictment.

Canada does as well as should be expected and Canadians have been the mainstay of the team since it's inception. The wonder nation is Finland. Whoever the Oilers have scouting Finland deserves a big raise. A high percentile score combined with a high grading score indicates that this is no fluke. Perhaps the Oilers should take what works for them in Finland and replicate it elsewhere.

It is interesting that the Oilers haven't touched Finland since the Niinimaki blow out and in, what appears to be, a COMPLETE reversal of policy the team has drafted 8 Swedes in the last 7 years. In all of the 22 years prior... 3. Wow. It's like magic.

Question: What is the story in Russia? Answer: Nuts.

Historically The player profiles show that the Oilers didn't jump on the 'Draft Russia' bandwagon until very late in the game (1 pick in '87, 1 in '88, 2 in '89). Hard to draft a Bure, Malakhov, Larionov, Datsyuk, etc when they aren't even on your board. Russia was, apparently, not in Mexico.

One would think the Mikhnov pick would have made the situation worse (the whole story reads like tragi-comedy) but the team has continued using decent, early, picks out Russia way (a 3rd in 2003 and 2nd in 2004) and this leaves me with the answer I gave.

Nuts.

Question: How about Sweden then? Answer: Don't know anymore.

I used to think that the Oilers, as an organization, just HATED Sweden. You would have thought the scout in Finland never crossed the border as they, obviously, never saw guys like Alfredsson play the game. This is shameful. Or was anyways. As noted, activity in Sweden has picked up considerably. Funny thing though... highest ever pick used on a Swedish player is... in 1987, in the 4th round, #64, Peter Eriksson. 1987. Wow. No Swede has EVER been picked before the 4th round by the Oilers.

I have to think that a LOT of good players have been missed because the Oilers lack/lacked a decent scouting organization in Sweden. That kind of a record is beyond bad. It is pitiable.

Question: Hey! Hungary? Answer: Cool.

I actually approve of 'taking a flyer' style picks out of places like Hungary. Just getting a player drafted in Hungary makes headlines there. Good for them and good for us. Could have been worse. Could have been Russia. Or Sweden. Or even the good old USofA.

------

Edmonton Oilers 2007 HRDR - Introduction
Edmonton Oilers 2007 HRDR - Draft Results Summation

Edmonton Oilers 2007 HRDR - Yrs 1979 to 1983
Edmonton Oilers 2007 HRDR - Yrs 1984 to 1988
Edmonton Oilers 2007 HRDR - Yrs 1989 to 1993
Edmonton Oilers 2007 HRDR - Yrs 1994 to 1998
Edmonton Oilers 2007 HRDR - Yrs 1999 to 2003
Edmonton Oilers 2007 HRDR - Yrs 2004 to 2007

Edmonton Oilers 2007 HRDR - Draft Results By Year
Edmonton Oilers 2007 HRDR - Draft Results By Pick
Edmonton Oilers 2007 HRDR - Draft Results By Round
Edmonton Oilers 2007 HRDR - Draft Results By Age
Edmonton Oilers 2007 HRDR - Draft Results By Position
Edmonton Oilers 2007 HRDR - Draft Results By League
Edmonton Oilers 2007 HRDR - Draft Results By Country of Birth

Edmonton Oilers 2007 HRDR - Player Grading System
Edmonton Oilers 2007 HRDR - Graded Players Summary
Edmonton Oilers 2007 HRDR - Data Set Changes

------

Have a great evening everyone.