DEV CAMP: Kesselring was at his lake house when drafted by Oilers

EDMONTON, AB -Oilers sixth-round draft pick (164th-overall) Michael Kesselring wasn't sure when he'd be selected in the 2018 NHL Draft, so he decided to hang back and not attend the event.
Instead, the 6-foot-4 defenceman - just half an inch shy of being 6-foot-5 - elected to watch the Draft unfold from his lake house in Barnstead, NH., alongside family and friends.
"I just had a lot of people telling me maybe third round, maybe fourth, maybe seventh," Kesselring, who will suit up for the Des Moines Buccaneers of the United States Hockey League next season, said. "It was a big range so I decided to stay home. It's just a small little lake house."
Kesselring and Co. waited for five rounds to pass until the Oilers announced their sixth-round selection.
"As it went on and went on, we got a little bit more nervous," he said. "It was a big sigh of relief when it happened."
Kesselring had communicated with Oilers Amateur Scout Scott Harlow throughout his draft year. He was fully aware that becoming a member of the Oilers organization was a possibility.
"I know him really well," Kesselring said of Harlow. "I know he liked me a lot. I talked to him throughout the year a lot and I knew they were interested."
There are plenty of reasons as to why the Oilers would be interested in the right-shot blueliner, who characterized his game on Monday after the first on-ice session of Development Camp.
"I'd say I'm a long, lanky puck-moving defenceman," Kesselring, who had two assists in 12 USHL games last season, said. "I like to get up in the play and create offence but on defence, I use my long reach well and I'm good at containing guys."
Regardless of where he was or when he was drafted, Kesselring is confident in himself and looks to take a big step forward in 2018-19 as a key cog for the Buccaneers.
"It's all about what you do after (you're drafted) anyways," he said.