The goalies have a broad back in Edmonton. They haven’t been very effective this season, but the Tampa Bay Lightning have gone 9-6-5 in the absence of Andrei Vasilevskiy, the Toronto Maple Leafs have twice as many wins than losses with Ilya Samsonov and Joseph Woll and the Los Angeles Kings sit sixth overall in the NHL in win rate despite Cam Talbot in net.
In short, Stuart Skinner and Jack Campbell are not the only ones responsible for the Oilers’ misfortunes, now ten points behind the Seattle Kraken and the last place giving access to the playoffs, with three games to play, but also seven points behind the Ducks of Anaheim and the Arizona Coyotes, with only one game in hand on them.
The Oilers are 21st in the NHL in goals scored per game. They have barely more than the Canadian. They score too few goals following transition plays and allow far too many scoring opportunities.
The Oilers wouldn’t be in this situation if they drafted and developed a little better. Since Connor McDavid, first overall pick in 2015, only two players drafted by the organization occupy a key position within the team, and again, goaltender Skinner is struggling and Evan Bouchard, despite an impressive offensive performance, raises the ire from Oilers fans due to his numerous defensive blunders.
If only we had gotten quality veterans for some of these young players, but they were so bad that we lost first-round prospects Jesse Puljujarvi and Kailer Yamamoto without getting anything in return. Fortunately, we don’t go back before the McDavid era, because Nail Yakupov would represent another great example of bankruptcy.
The Oilers hold the fourth overall pick. After Auston Matthews and Patrik Laine, the Columbus Blue Jackets surprise the middle with the third choice by ignoring Jesse Puljujarvi in favor of Pierre-Luc Dubois. Seeing a Finnish general manager, Jarmo Kekalainen, with still strong roots in his native country, pass over a Finnish prospect could have tipped the Oilers off, but it was probably too late and Puljujarvi’s mind-blowing performances in the Championship world junior would have encouraged a majority of recruiters to draft the young man at this rank.
After seven rough seasons, 112 points in 317 games, the Oilers traded Puljujarvi to the Hurricanes for a compatriot we’ll probably never see in the NHL. Would Edmonton have drafted defenseman Mikhail Sergachev if Puljujarvi had not been available, as rumored? Or Matthew Tkachuk, drafted sixth overall by Calgary? Despite an early second-round pick and three third-round picks, no one else broke through.
The Oilers drafted a smallish winger at No. 22, Kailer Yamamoto, 5-foot-8, 153 pounds, 99 points, including 42 goals, in 65 games in his year of eligibility in Spokane. Yamamoto had a promising debut season with 26 points in 27 games in 2019-20. Then the following seasons were punctuated by ups and downs. He had 41 points, including 20 goals, two years ago, but we got rid of him last summer to free up payroll.
Very few players chosen after Yamamoto have had great careers, aside from the Dallas Stars’ two genius shots, goaltender Jake Oettinger at 26th and forward Jason Robertson at 39th. Even though he’s not at the top of his game right now, goaltender Skinner, drafted in the third round, was a good move. He was a finalist for Most Outstanding Rookie last year.
Opinions are divided in Edmonton on defenseman Evan Bouchard, tenth overall pick. Bouchard is an excellent offensive defender. He’s coming off two seasons of 40 or more points and has 18 points in as many games this year.
His advanced statistics are not bad, but to the naked eye, his positioning, his decision-making in the defensive zone and his boldness in his battles for possession of the puck are weak. Bouchard’s defensive flaws were already obvious during his year of eligibility.
The Oilers probably would have been better served with Noah Dobson, drafted two spots further by the Islanders, or K’Andre Miller, 22nd overall pick by the Rangers.
Second-round pick, 40th overall, Ryan McLeod plays a marginal role in Edmonton, but very few players drafted after him have managed to establish themselves in the National League, other than Sean Durzi, Philipp Kurashev, Yegor Sharangovich, Jordan Harris and Jack McBain, among others.
The choice of Swedish defender Philip Broberg at 8th was surprising and it hurts today. In his third season in North America, Broberg, 22, is still struggling to break into the lineup. He played only ten games, played an average of ten minutes per game and even played games in the American League at the start of the season.
This vintage was rich in talented players in the first round. Broberg was chosen over Trevor Zegras, Matthew Boldy, Cam York, Cole Caufield and Alex Newhook, all established in the National League. The second round pick, Quebecer Raphaël Lavoie, raised hopes for a while, without ever managing to break through. He was placed on waivers at the start of the season and no club claimed him. He played six games in Edmonton recently before being sent back to the minors. In defense of the Oilers, very few players drafted after Lavoie have managed to establish themselves in the National League.
Would Dylan Holloway have become the hoped-for power forward if he hadn’t suffered a serious wrist injury late in his career with the Wisconsin Badgers, where he had 35 points in 23 games with Cole Caufield? The 14th overall pick has had two surgeries to repair his strong wrist and despite good production in the AHL in recent years, he has just 10 points in 65 career games in Edmonton. It’s not too late at just 22 years old, but Kaiden Guhle, drafted two spots down, would likely be the number one defenseman in Edmonton today. But let’s give the Oilers the benefit of the doubt in this matter. They also had bad luck.
Still too early to judge. Forward Xavier Bourgeault amassed 115 points in just 72 games in his last two seasons in the junior ranks in Shawinigan, but he has 39 points in 73 games on his record since the start of his career in the American League. Drafted one spot behind him, Wyatt Johnson is already an offensive leader in Dallas at just 20 years old, but the teams almost all look bad compared to the Stars’ picks.
Ken Holland is responsible for the choices made by the Oilers since Broberg in 2019. Shortly after this vintage, he replaced Bob Green and Keith Gretzky with his former right-hand man in Detroit, Tyler Wright. He was fired last summer shortly after the arrival of a new president in Edmonton, Jeff Green.
