Oilers GM Scouts Broncos Game

The exciting young talent on the Swift Current Broncos has been drawing some big names in to scout this year, including Edmonton Oilers General Manager Craig MacTavish. He took in Monday's game against Prince Albert.

"Lots of good players in this game with Julius Honka," MacTavish said. "(Leon) Draisaitl (of the Raiders) too so lots of guys to look at."

The former Oilers forward and Head Coach actually was on hand at a World Juniors exhibition event in Lake Placid when Honka made his first recruiting trip to Canada with he and Broncos Coach/GM Mark Lamb.

Craig MacTavish Interview"We ended up taking Julus and driving (him) across the border," MacTavish said. "That was a very eventful trip for Mark and I because we got rear-ended at the US/Canadian border."

"We ended up bringing Julius back and he's been just a great addition to the Broncos and a player that garnishing a lot of interest from NHL teams."

As a GM he relies on his scouts for most information on prospects, but also likes to get a look at some of the better ones himself.

"Stu MacGregor is our head amateur scout and kind of directs me around to watch a few players," MacTavish said. "Looks like we're going to get another high pick again this year unfortunately, the other side of that is we are going to get another very good young player... it's nice when you're sitting there at that draft table to at least have some familiarity with the type of player you're going to be drafting."

"A little information can be dangerous, but it enables me to possible ask the right question at the right time to our staff and certainly rely on them and their expertise to make that pick."

After a string of high picks in recent years that have mostly been devoted to talented forwards, don't count on the Oilers nabbing another defenceman this spring. They did draft defenceman Darnell Nurse out of the OHL in 2013, but need on the blue line won't dictate necessarily what they do with a high pick.

"Needs plays into it," MacTavish noted. "But certainly the most important thing is to make sure you're getting the best player. That's our drafting philosophy. We want the player that is going to have the biggest impact on his NHL team."

It's looking like another year towards the bottom of the standings for the rebuilding Oilers. This is the first year for MacTavish as general manager and he is sticking with the team's long term strategy.

"These things take time," he said. "Anytime you're building something that is worthwhile there is always going to be unforeseen setbacks. We're still very much committed to what our owner's vision and our fan's vision as well is to build a team that is going to have long term sustainable success and challenge for the Stanley Cup. We've suffered too much for too long to settle for anything less at this particular time because we've grown tired of the process."

"We're going to let our players develop and five years is really in my mind the length of time necessary for the players to fulfill their potential. We're still a few years away from that happening. Right now our mindset is to continue to give them time and develop those players and try and add more experience and character and depth around those guys to help teach them how to win. We're seeing some positive signs over the last little while."

He added it was nice to spend some time picking the brain of a good friend and former teammate like Lamb during his visit.

The Broncos are off to MacTavish's home city on Friday when they visit the Oil Kings. They're in Red Deer on Saturday. Both games are live on The Eagle 94.1 FM with Pioneer Co-op Home Centre Broncos Hockey.