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PHILADELPHIA -- Its far from a coincidence that the Edmonton Oilers went big with the third pick in the NHL draft. In taking German centre Leon Draisaitl, the Oilers added some much-needed size and depth at a position of great importance. "Its not a stretch to say were really happy and think that we filled a tremendous need for our hockey club and I think is going to have a real significant impact over time with our team," general manager Craig MacTavish said Friday night. "You combine him with our No. 1 pick last year (Darnell Nurse), and we start to see some size and quite a bit of character continue to come into our dressing room." Beyond 2011 No. 1 pick Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, the Oilers are thin at centre. And in Draisaitl, the highest-drafted German in NHL history, they get a six-foot-one, 208-pound player who has drawn comparisons to Anze Kopitar and Jaromir Jagr. Playing for the WHLs Prince Albert Raiders, Draisaitl had 38 goals and 67 assists in 64 games this past season as he developed his defensive game and faceoff prowess. Hes from Cologne but came to develop in the Canadian junior system and will remain in North America this summer to train. There are still things Draisaitl believes he needs to improve this off-season but the physically mature 18-year-old also thinks hell be ready to play in the NHL in 2014-15. MacTavish cant make such a guarantee. "Obviously we project the team to be much more productive and much deeper than we were this year, and thatll be a significant factor," he said. "We want to make sure that if we do put young kids into our lineup that they have a chance to have success, and thatll be a big factor along with how well he adapts to the NHL game at training camp." Just having a chance to earn a spot at training camp is a nice opportunity for Draisaitl, who understands he wont just be handed a job playing alongside Nugent-Hopkins, Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle. "Im going to have to do my job and earn my spot if I want to play in that league and on that team," Draisaitl said. "I think theyre moving forward for sure and they made some good trades, (David) Perron, and the guys are getting older and more mature. This is just awesome right now." Draisaitl was thrilled to put on the same orange and blue of Edmonton stars of the past, most of whom had their primes before he was born. "Theyve had so many great players on their team: Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, MacTavish -- all those guys are stars in the league, and wearing the same jersey as they do is unbelievable," he said. MacTavish joked that he owed Draisaitl $100 for dropping his name in that group. More importantly for the GMs current job, he hopes Draisaitl can develop into an important piece of this already young core. Draisaitl fills a specific role, too, as the Oilers seek a variety of talent at forward. "(He) protects the puck and is a real offensive-zone player," MacTavish said. "Weve got a lot of skill, but were in need of somebody down low thats capable of sustaining the play. We have David Perron that fits that bill and now Leon will be a guy that can really protect the puck." If Draisaitl develops as scouts expect, he would slot in as the Oilers No. 2 centre of the future. His size mixed with Halls speed could be a tantalizing combination. "Hes probably the fastest skater in the league and hes an exciting player to watch," Draisaitl said. "It might be a good fit, but you never know." MacTavish would love to spend Saturday adding more depth to the organization, but the Oilers dont have a second- or a third-round pick after trades for Perron and goaltender Ben Scrivens. And he doesnt expect to be able to get into the second. "Well be sitting on our hands, it looks like, through the second or third round," MacTavish said. "Hopefully the scouts can pull a few of those impact players out of the later picks." Custom Colorado Rockies Jerseys .com) - The Calgary Flames are spoilers once again. Wholesale Custom Baseball Jerseys . The Jets have now won three straight at home and four of the last five at the MTS Centre. After a scoreless first period, Brad Marchand scored his first goal in eight games eight seconds into the second. http://www.customjerseysbaseball.com/cus...rseys-604x.html. Charlottetown scored four times in the third period en route to a 5-2 win over the defending champion Halifax Mooseheads on Friday. Custom San Francisco Giants Jerseys . Not to be outdone, Atletico Madrid bettered its title rivals by demolishing 10-man Getafe 7-0 with Diego Costa returning from injury to score with a brilliant bicycle kick. "It was an almost perfect night," Atletico coach Diego Simeone said. Custom Milwaukee Brewers Jerseys . After a first half in which he thought "the lid was on the basket," the Toronto Raptors coach watched his squad mount a second half surge to defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers 98-91.CONCORD, N.C. - One bad race knocked three of NASCARs biggest names to the bottom of the championship standings, and a repeat Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway will put the trio on the verge of elimination.Thats the harsh reality for Dale Earnhardt Jr., Brad Keselowski and six-time and defending NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson. They combined to win more than a third of the races this season, and their title hopes could end before the third round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship.NASCAR eliminates four drivers from the Chase field after every third race, and Keselowski, Earnhardt and Johnson are ranked 10th through 12th in the field. A win automatically advances a driver into the third round; anything else forces the drivers to depend on next weeks elimination race at Talladega Superspeedway to stay in title contention.Its a mathematical longshot to think that Keselowski, winner of five races this season, and Earnhardt and Johnson, who have three wins apiece, can all recover enough to move into the third round. None is concerned about anything but Saturday nights race.But after a solid first practice Friday, Earnhardt was confident.Were going to win this race. I really got a good feeling about it, he said on his 40th birthday. This is what weve got to do anyway to try to get further points and try to win the championship. The cars been great all weekend. Attitudes good. Everybodys excited. The teams working well together. The cars responding well. The car ran some good laps in practice and felt real good.Johnson won the Coca-Cola 600 here in May and Keselowski is the defending race winner. Earnhardt won the All-Star race in his 2000 rookie season but has never won a points race at his home track.They are all in a hole right now because of Kansas, the opening race of the second round. Earnhardt had a tire failure while leading, and Keselowski later also had a tire issue. Johnson just had a bad all-around weekend, was in an early accident, and finished 40th.He also was off in qualifying Thursday at Charlotte, where hell sttart 21st.ddddddddddddWe are just not where we want to be, Johnson said. Bottom line. Were working very hard to get there. This sport is not forgiving. What you have accomplished in the past doesnt buy you a damn thing for the present.Jeff Gordon, Johnsons teammate at Hendrick Motorsports, cautioned not to count Johnson out just yet.I have just seen too many times these guys pull it out and do extraordinary things when they seem to be down and out, Gordon said. I dont know exactly what is going on right now. I know that those guys are incredibly good and put up a heck of a fight.I wont be surprised if they still make it to the next round or are a major threat for this championship.Keselowski, who averaged a fifth-place finish in the first round of the Chase and won the opener, said the pressure is intense at Charlotte for the entire Chase field. Penske teammate Joey Logano won last weekend at Kansas to earn the automatic berth into the third round, and his victory extended the streak of Penske or Hendrick drivers winning on every 1.5-mile track this season.Were going to do what we normally do, Logano said. We normally go out there and try to help each other. As a two-car team, weve got to work very tight together to make sure both our cars are fast. I feel like thats something we applied to Team Penske a long time ago.But theres little Logano can do come race time to assist his teammate.Theres only so much you can do on the race track to help your teammate, said Logano. My goal is still to win. I might be greedy, but I want to win.Keselowski is treating Saturday night as if it is the season finale with the championship on the line. Hes been there before a€” in 2012 when he clinched the title over Johnson at Homestead-Miami Speedway.Theres a lot at stake, but it is every weekend. This is part of the challenge, Keselowski said. For us, this is a very Homestead-like weekend. We need to perform. This is our last chance to really control our destiny in the Chase for this round, and we want to make the most of this opportunity. 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