Much to the chagrin of the entire National Hockey League community, the Edmonton Oilers have had a top-10 draft pick every single year since 2007, and in that time they’ve picked first overall an absurd four times.
The Oilers are so bad we’ve watched their owner’s son grow up on stage at the NHL Draft
The son of Oilers owner Daryl Katz has been on stage at the draft for a top-10 pick every year since 2009. We’ve watched him grow up!
Bruce Bennett/Getty Images
It’s so bad that the league’s general managers are actively looking for a way to fix the problem. And as we were reading this story by our colleague Pat about those efforts by the GMs, we noticed the photo featuring a young man with mop-like hair, a nice orange tie and well-fitting suit.
“Hey, he looks familiar. Wait a second. I know that kid.”
Well ... OK, we don’t really know him. But we feel like we do. And that’s because over these last seven years, we’ve watched this little boy grow up from a young child to a young man. He’s the son of team owner Daryl Katz, and been on stage for every top-10 pick the Oilers have made since 2009.
Let’s take a trip through Katz Jr.‘s childhood.
2009: Oilers select Magnus Paajarvi 10th overall.
2010: Oilers select Taylor Hall first overall, and Little Katz didn’t grow much since last year.
2011: Oilers select Ryan Nugent-Hopkins first overall, and heeeere comes the growth spurt!
2012: The year Katz Jr. got braces and also the Oilers picked Nail Yakupov first overall.
2013: Darnell Nurse selected seventh overall; Katz Jr. passes Gary Bettman in height.
2014: Leon Draisaitl picked third overall by Edmonton; Katz Jr. now tall enough to play in NHL. (Braces are gone!)
2015: Connor McDavid picked No. 1 overall, Katz Jr. is now basically an adult.
2016: Oilers select Jesse Puljujarvi fourth overall in the draft, and Katz, Jr. looks kind of tired of doing this every year.
By the time the Oilers select first overall in the 2019 draft, Katz Jr. will probably be off to college and unavailable to pose in these draft photos. Until then, we look forward to his yearly check in at the 2017 NHL Draft in Chicago where the Oilers will (probably) again have a lottery pick.
* * *
photo credits: Getty Images, USA Today Sports Images
See More:
