Edmonton Oilers general manager Craig MacTavish got an eyeful from his vantage point in the Prince George Cougars booth in the CN Centre pressbox.
He was trying to visualize how certain members of the Cougars and Seattle Thunderbirds would look on the ice wearing an Oilers jersey.
MacTavish kept close watch on the most likely draft-eligible candidates - Mathew Barzal, Ryan Gropp, Keegan Kolesar and Ethan Bear of the T-birds and Jansen Harkins, Brad Morrison, Jared Bethune, Tate Olson and San Ruopp of the Cougars.
"Our focus is turning to the amateur draft and it's a good weekend to see a lot of high-end prospects with Harkins, Barzal, Bear and Gropp, it's a good opportunity to see all four of them," said MacTavish.
"Barzal is hard not to like, the way he moves the puck and sees the ice, and really all four of those kids I mentioned have played exceptionally well. Barzal is coming off an injury and he looks like he's pretty close to full power tonight."
MacTavish watched Harkins play in the BMO CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game two weeks ago in St. Catharines, Ont.
"We were very impressed by what we saw from him in the Prospects Game," said MacTavish. "So I think he's going to have a very good career in the NHL."
The Oilers have two first-round picks in 2015, including their own, which will almost certainly be a top-five pick, as well as the Pittsburgh Penguins' first-round selection. They received that pick along with centre Rob Klinkhammer when they traded winger David Perron to the Penguins on Jan. 2. The Oilers will be among several NHL teams in the hunt for Connor McDavid and Jake Eichel.
"There will be long odds of that happening now with the way the lottery works but it looks like we'll get a good pick in the first round and there are lots of good players so we should be able to find one," said MacTavish.
It's not likely the Oilers will get a shot at drafting either Barzal (ranked ninth among North American skaters in the NHL Central Scouting midterm rankings) or Harkins (ranked 18th).
But as for the other aforementioned Cougars and T-birds, they could very well become Edmonton property at the draft table in June in Philadelphia.
In the midterm report, Gropp was ranked 62nd, Kolesar was 92nd, Bethune was 101st, Olson was 106th, Bear was 133rd and Morrison was the 150th -ranked North American skater.
Friday's 9-2 Seattle win wasn't a great indicator of what the Cougars are capable of and while they were better in Saturday's 3-0 loss, their offence was stagnant in both games.
MacTavish talked extensively with Cougars general manager Todd Harkins during the two weekend games and they share a common bond, each at the helm of a team projected in the early season as a solid playoff contender. Now, four months into their season, the Oilers are last in the West, second-worst overall in the NHL, while the Cougars are last in the West with the third-worst record in the WHL.
"There are some similarities with the situation we're both in," said MacTavish. "I takes time to develop players and the WHL, much like the NHL, is a tough league for youth and both organizations have young teams and bright futures."
