LOS ANGELES — Edmonton Oilers’ GM Steve Tambellini has a reputation for being conservative, but he’s pulling out all the stops to try and finagle the second pick in today’s draft for the 1-2 daily double.

A source close to the Boston Bruins, which has the No. 2 selection, said “the fans in Edmonton would be proud of how hard Tambellini is trying” because he is willing to give up pretty much anything on his roster and prospects to get Taylor Hall and Tyler Seguin.

Still, it’s a longshot. The Bruins like Seguin, and they’ll likely pick him if the Oilers take Hall. The Bruins have cap issues and can’t really take on any salary in a deal unless they can move centre Marc Savard and Blake Wheeler to Toronto for Tomas Kaberle and find a team to take their $5 million backup goalie Tim Thomas. The Oilers aren’t interested in either of those two players.

You can bet the Oilers would be pitching Ales Hemsky, who has two years left at $4.1 million a season in any package for the No. 2 pick. The Bruins would love him, but, again, they have to divest themselves of salary. In any event, Tambellini has at least been in there banging away trying to get both picks, maybe offering Jordan Eberle or Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson, too.

The odds of it happening are miniscule, but give him credit for trying. They will announce their first pick about 5:15 p.m. Edmonton time.

Oilers’ owner Daryl Katz will be at the draft table and team president Kevin Lowe invited old teammate Paul Coffey to sit in, too. Coffey was the Oilers first player taken 30 years ago, sixth overall.

jmatheson@thejournal.canwest.com