There hasn’t been a shadow of a doubt that the Edmonton Oilers have been focusing on a full rebuild over the last couple of seasons. This conscious effort to develop, play, and draft young players with high ceilings has yielded them two consecutive first overall draft picks in 2010 and 2011, followed by a top-3 pick in the coming draft. The used their first overall pick in 2011 on center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, a slight (6’0”, 155lbs) 18-year-old who immediately made the jump to the NHL, and has averaged nearly a point-per-game (52 games, 18-27-45, minus-1) while battling injuries. In his final WHL season he racked up 75 assists and 106 points in 69 games. He looks poised to become one of the league’s great passers. 2010’s first overall pick was used on the sniping winger Taylor Hall. Now 20-years-old, Hall possessed NHL-size from the get-go, and will only continue to develop into a stronger power forward (currently listed at 6’1”, 195lbs). Hall had 22 goals in his rookie season in 65 games, and this season has put in 27 goals in 61 games. Alongside Nugent-Hopkins, Hall looks like a future 40-goal scorer with great speed, but he too has battled injuries including a recent concussion. Alongside those two on the modern day version of The Kid Line is Jordan Eberle, the elder statesman of the three at 21-years-old. After incredible success in the WHL (50-56-106 in 57 games in 2009-10) and becoming a folk hero for Team Canada’s Junior team (14-12-26 in 12 games), the 22nd overall pick in 2008 is blossoming into one of the league’s brightest young stars. An All-Star this year, Eberle is currently tied for ninth in the league in scoring with 70 points in 68 games, including 32 goals (7th). He has great hands and a high hockey IQ that blends well with his linemates. Missing is Magnus Paajarvi, the 10th pick in 2009. The big Swedish winger has shown glimpses of All-Star talent, but has yet to put it all together (42 points in 121 games. Another is Linus Omark, he of the shootout mastery. There are still a couple of other B-rated forward prospects in the pipeline as well. What they lack is bonafide young talent on defense and in goal. 24-year-old Jeff Petry has shown promise this year (20 points, minus-8 in 65 games) and could be a keeper in the top-four. Colton Teubert is a big body on the back, and was acquired in the Dustin Penner trade, but isn’t NHL-ready yet. Their best defensive prospect, though, is Oscar Klefbom in the Swedish Elite League; he is 6’3” and only 18-years-old. Aside from that though, things are pretty thin on the blueline. Ideally, Edmonton would love to get a high-ceiling defenseman with their top pick in 2012, but they may be picking too high to select someone like Matt Dumba, a hard-hitting defenseman with 20 goals this year playing in Red Deer, Alberta. Another high-ceiling defenseman is Ryan Murray, who should go in the top-5. There is a handful of other defenseman who will likely go in the middle of the first round. In net, it doesn’t look like Devan Dubnyk is the long-term solution for a contending team. The 14th overall pick in 2004 has received plenty of opportunity to establish himself as a #1 goalie, but hasn’t delivered on a consistent basis (career NHL numbers: 32-40-12, 2.90 GAA, .912 SV%, 4 shutouts). Sadly, the Oilers were risking a lot on him, as there are no other quality goaltending prospects in their system. Their wealth of forward prospects may be a good fit for Los Angeles (Jonathan Bernier), Vancouver (Cory Schneider), or Nashville (Anders Lindback). The Oilers don’t struggle offensively, and are already a middle-of-the-pack team in terms of goals scored despite their youth. Their main problem is shot prevention (minus-3 this year, minus-5 the two years before) and goal prevention. They need to find a long-term answer in net and some young defensemen to add to their fantastic core of RNH, Hall and Eberle. Nick is RealGM’s NHL Feature Writer. You can reach him by email nick.obergan@realgm.com or on twitter @NickObergan