Stan Bowman isn't hiding the type of player he wants to keep adding to the Oilers

The Oilers general manager laid out his team building philosophy in blunt terms this week, and it centers on one specific idea that fans have heard whispered about all summer.

Bowman wants big centres, and he wants them every single year, no matter how many are already on the roster.

That mindset showed up clearly on draft day when Edmonton grabbed Rudolfs Berzkalns in the second round, a 6-foot-4, 205-pound pivot who plays a responsible, heavy game down the middle.

Bowman didn't shy away from explaining why that profile keeps landing on his board.

He wants players who can win pucks along the wall, protect the middle of the ice and still hold up physically once the games get tighter in April and May.

Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl already give the Oilers elite skill down the middle, but neither is built to grind through puck battles against the league's biggest defensive units.

Adding size behind them gives Edmonton more balance and takes pressure off two players who have carried an enormous offensive load for years.

Bowman framed it as a never ending pursuit rather than a box to check off.

Big centres, in his words, are a position you can never have enough of.

Edmonton still has work to do filling out the middle six, and Berzkalns is likely years away from NHL minutes.

But the direction is now unmistakable.

Every trade call, every draft pick and every free agent meeting is being filtered through this same question, does this player make Edmonton bigger down the middle.

Also read on House Of Hockey :
Sidney Crosby gets caught in a viral moment during his summer in Nova Scotia