NHL Northwest

The 2013 NHL draft is upcoming on June 30, and the experts are starting to post mock drafts.

The draft order won’t be finalized until the playoffs are completed, but the Canucks can expect to pick approximately 26th overall, as they did in 2012 after a similar first-round loss following a successful regular season. 

Though the Edmonton Oilers had a disappointing season in 2013, the team was by and large led by the young stars that it had accumulated over the past couple of years.

Taylor Hall emerged as a leader for the team, both through his performance on the ice and his outspokenness off of it. 

The future appears bright for the Edmonton Oilers, but despite having the three most recent first overall NHL draft picks, the club still has some pressing roster needs.

Their minor league system, after almost a decade of neglect, is finally operating more smoothly and should produce at least two if not three players for next season.

The organization has several skilled, yet small forwards, and will likely have to move at least one if not two of these players to fill their most glaring needs.

Some observers of the 2013 edition of the Edmonton Oilers might argue they would like to replace the majority of the team.

Granted, it was a disappointing season on most levels, but the Oilers do have a core of at least 11 to 12 players that should flourish in the coming seasons.

While some players did not have very good years, much of this was due to learning a new system in a comparatively short period, and playing in situations in which they were clearly overmatched for different reasons.

After an ideal NHL draft lottery, it's safe to say the movie script is already being written.

And by ideal, I mean for Seth Jones and the Colorado Avalanche, not the Florida Panthers.

With yet another season without NHL playoff hockey in Edmonton, fans, media and the Edmonton Oilers’ brass need to focus on the 2013-14 season.

Fan patience seems to be reaching its limit with the Oilers’ rebuild moving into season four—yes, the camp that argues it began in earnest in 2010 is correct—although, there is limited merit to the argument that it began as early as 2008.

While many fans and pundits thought this might be the year to end the playoff drought, it was obviously a stretch to project this.

For the seventh straight season, the Edmonton Oilers have missed the playoffs, and right or wrong Steve Tambellini was relieved of his duties as general manager, and former Oiler player and coach Craig MacTavish was hired.

MacTavish has a long summer ahead of him as he evaluates the current talent on his team and addresses the problem areas needing correction.

The Vancouver Canucks cemented third place in the Western Conference by sealing the Northwest Division championship with a 3-1 triumph over the top-dog Chicago Blackhawks Monday night.

Losing head coach Joel Quenneville cited a shortage of effort on his team’s part, though it is hard to take too much away from the Canucks.

It’s an illusion, Niklas. “Tricks” are something clowns do for money.

At the trade deadline on April 3, 2013 the Calgary Flames finally made a decision to begin to try to rebuild the franchise. This decision came three to seven years too late depending on who you talk to, but finally the right decision was made.