No pick in the NHL draft can ever be a sure thing, but the ability to draft well is a critical skill for a quality general manager. In recent days, some fans have been taking a look at Ken Holland's draft record - and it isn't great.
Phillip Broberg has recently requested a trade due to lack of ice time, but the Oilers don't feel like he can make a quality contribution to a contending team yet. The result has been the Oilers sending him to the minors, and the player becoming disgruntled with the team. Drafted ninth overall by the team in 2019, Broberg is still a young asset the Oilers should protect, but now, fans are wondering if they should've picked Broberg at all.
Some elite players went in the 2019 draft just shortly after Broberg's selection. Trevor Zegras was the next pick, and other quality forwards like Matthew Boldy, Cole Caufield, and Alex Newhook went not long after.
As some fans have pointed out, this draft could haunt the Oilers for a while. Instead of the team selecting forwards who could make a solid contribution to the top-six and team offence, Ken Holland made a gutsy pick with Broberg, and it's only resulted in a disgruntled player bouncing back and forth between the minors and the NHL. When Holland's contract as GM expires at the end of the season, it will be mistakes like these that cause the Oilers to look elsewhere for a manager.
