ARG this is it. This is the draft I was dreading to recap, because spoiler alert: it really is a terrible draft.

This is probably the worst draft class the Edmonton Oilers have had in a long time, up there with 2007’s dud list.

Yes, in this list, there are two NHLer’s who have played 100 NHL games, but they are far from impact players. The rest of the picks reinforced the old “Coke Machine” adage.

It was not a pretty draft. As before, I’ll be mentioning Scott Cullen’s Draft Pick Value quite a bit in this piece.

Drafted 1st Round, 10th Overall, Magnus Paajarvi

From Hockey’s Future:

Pääjärvi Svensson is a very speedy and skilled winger. His acceleration is top notch and what really characterizes his game is the way he drives to the net. In full speed, he gets around the opposing defenseman with ease and usually gets the puck on the net with a quick wrist-shot. Offensively, he is also blessed with above average hockey sense, nice technical skills and the ability to set up his teammates with passes. He is a creative player with smarts that usually scores quite spectacular goals and does things that are hard for the defensemen to read.

Defensively, he has throughout his career as a junior been considered as a sloppy player with not enough willingness to back check and to the dirty work. This is something Pääjärvi Svensson has worked very hard on and improved significantly. Today, he is in fact a quite capable two-way player that also battles for the puck and takes care of his responsibilities. However, there are still some defensive aspects that could use improvement. Size and strength is good and he has all the tools to become a dangerous offensive force in the future.

Boy I remember being happy with this pick, despite the Oilers not drafting the player I originally wanted (that goes to Dmitri Kulikov that went to the Panthers). I remembered Paajarvi being that Swedish player that would talk trash against Canada during the world juniors. I was excited because the Oilers, like with Eberle, didn’t seem they were going to rush Paajarvi.

Sorta. He would join the Oilers during the 2010-11 season as part of the new big three with Jordan Eberle and Taylor Hall. However, unlike the other two, Paajarvi never found his place with the Edmonton Oilers. He played 80 games and potted 34 points in his rookie year, which are both to this date, career highs. He would spend the next season in Oklahoma City of the AHL and with the Oilers and would play his last Oiler campaign in the lockout shortened season of 2012-13.

He was traded in the summer of 2013 to the St. Louis Blues, along with a second round draft pick, for Left Winger David Perron. In St. Louis, the struggles continued: he would spend stints in the AHL.

He does have 271 games played, where 85% of players taken at this spot play 100 games played. In that regard, he clears. However, he has a paltry 78 points in those games. The offense never materalized. Paajarvi had all the speed and the size, but didn’t use the size as hoped. He met the minimum but was a disappointment.

Drafted 2nd Round, 40th Overall, Anton Lander

From Hockey’s Future:

A very smart two-way player with excellent hockey sense. Lander reads the game well and makes mature decisions with and without the puck. Plays with some intensity, but his skating needs some improvement. Is a capable playmaker that protects the puck very well and usually comes out with the puck from the corners and along the boards. Defensively aware and with leadership skills.

Man, was I ever excited for Anton Lander. I remember reading in the Hockey News, where they had him I think 37th as a gritty player with great intangibles. Captain Material. Heck, I remember at the development camp I got his autograph on my jersey and hat. That’s quite the investment!

That said, Anton Lander is currently at a crossroads. He was waiver fodder last year and is currently the lone Oiler in this draft class to be still a part of the Oilers organization. His AHL game looked too good for the AHL where in 2013-14 and 2014-15 he was a point per game player in both seasons. He had a strong finish after being calling up but failed to keep any of that momentum this season posting a paltry one goal, three points in 59 games. It’s not like Lander didn’t have Power Play time either this year.

As per Cullen, 34.5% of players taken around this spot play 100 games and Lander has cleared with 191 games. Like Paajarvi, offensively Lander has not produced at an NHL level: in those 191 games, Lander has only produced nine goals and 31 points. Yes, he was not drafted for his offensive ability but after the tease in the AHL, he too like his former Swedish teammate Paajarvi is a let down.

But hey, he’s better than anything below.

Drafted 3rd Round, 71st Overall, Troy Hesketh

From Hockey’s Future:

Hesketh is a tall excellent skating two-way defenseman. He possesses good vision and reads plays really well. One aspect of Hesketh that is so impressive is his smart positional play. He knows where plays are going and reacts accordingly. Hesketh also possesses an excellent stick and does a good job of not only taking away lanes but time and space as well. Hesketh has very good foot speed and transitions remarkably well. He doesn’t shy away from the physical aspects of the game either. Hesketh has demonstrated good poise with the puck, but could stand to shoot a bit more. He also distributes the puck quite well too. As Hesketh fills out and strengthens his 6’2 frame, his all around defensive play, particularly in shutdown situations should also improve.

I have never seen Hesketh play a single minute of hockey so it’s hard for me to comment about him, other than he was a total bust of a prospect. Not only did Hesketh not played one single game in the NHL, where Cullen has 71.5% chance of making 100 games, Hesketh never made it to professional hockey. For a man who was said to be a good puck mover or had some offensive talent, Hesketh’s stat line in three years of USHL and College hockey: 53 games and 6 points.

Hesketh was a complete bust and from Hockeydb, hasn’t played hockey since the 2011-12 season.

Drafted 3rd Round 82nd Overall, Cameron Abney

From Hockey’s Future:

Abney’s primary talent is punching people and taking punches. He is the quintessential tough guy, a role that is being diminished in the modern game, unfortunately for him. Beyond his pugilistic abilities he is a below average to poor hockey player across the board.

ARG. This pick! This is the prime example of a Coke Machine Draft Pick. It’s funny during development camp, he was actually putting up some nice dangles and I would call him Magic Hands. I actually liked Cam Abney as a guy. He was originally a Everett Silvertip but was traded during the 2009-10 season to the Edmonton Oil Kings, being the first (and wrongfully) example of fans who forever link OIL KINGS GET DRAFTED BY OILERS ALL THE TIME1!1

Anyways, the player himself: Abney was not even close skill wise to make it to the NHL level. There’s a 23.8% chance of a player in this spot to make it to 100 games played, but Abney was below average in every regard other than fighting. In a game where fighting is slowly dying. In a game where enforcers are a rare breed because you need to do more than just throw fists.

I won’t get into fighting in the NHL, but Abney was drafted fro that singular aspect and it was not a good pick. He was traded with Teemu Hartikainen to Toronto for Mark Fraser in 2014. As per hockeydb, he last played for the Bakersfield Condors in the ECHL last season.

Abney played a total of 28 games in the AHL. He was an ECHL player. 0 NHL games and it was a poor pick then and it resulted into little.

Drafted 4th round, 99th overall, Kyle Bigos

From Hockey’s Future:

Mean, nasty, and fierce in defense of his teammates. Bigos is a mountain of a man and knows how to use his size to his advantage. Speed and quickness are an issue as they are with many men of his size, however his solid positioning helps him compensate for both.

How do you top one Coke Machine on Skates? Well by drafting another one of course!

Back in the 2010 development camp, it was a running gag with my friend Justin and my brother Nic, that we would comment on Bigos ability to be invisble while on the ice. It was mostly because while being on the roster, he never was there.

Bigos lived to the big part of his name but like Abney, was very one dimentional. Cullen states 23.8% of draft picks at this spot gets to 100 games and in a reacurring theme for this draft, Bigos did not make it. His highest level of play was a whopping 5 games at the AHL with the Worcester Sharks. Bigos was traded in the summer of 2013 to the San Jose Sharks for Lee Moffie, basically a swap of non NHLers, although the names were wicked enough.

If I have to comment on a players name being the best part of them as a player, you know it’s rough to justify this draft pick as a success. He currently plays for the Edinburgh Capitals of the English Hockey League, the Elite Ice Hockey League.

Drafted 4th Round, 101st Overall, Toni Rajala

From Hockey’s Future:

Rajala has quality offensive talent whose best asset might be his elusiveness. He is however, very slight of build. He is a pure skill player who – mentally and physically – always seems to be a step ahead of the opposition. Size and strength are real concerns, and the key issue will be whether he can compete on a nightly basis against some of the bigger and faster players in the NHL. He has shown flashes of being unstoppable at the junior level – both in domestic play and in international competition – and has a strong inner drive to create offense. He is a marvel handling the puck, shoots accurately with a quick release, and is adept at passing and receiving the puck.

While not an NHL success, as he too played no NHL games, Rajala actually played some AHL hockey compared to the previous two picks.

Back to the 2010 Development Camp: I remember Rajala being so crafty and swift on the ice. He was a player I was definitely rooting for. Rajala came over to North America where he played in the WHL’s Brandon Wheat Kings. One thing I noticed: his size was very small. During autographs, I towered over him. I think the 5’10 listing was very generous.

That said, Rajala became burried. He was not defensive enough to be a bottom six forward and was not skilled enough to be a top six option (or he was, but he was buried behind Jordan Eberle, Ales Hemsky and then Nail Yakupov).

During the summer of 2013, his contract was terminated and he is currently playing in Sweden with Lulea HF. He played a total of 46 AHL games and put up a near Point Per Game pace, with 45 points. That said, he did not play a single NHL game, where 19% of players play 100 games at this spot. That’s now three straight Oilers picks that never played an NHL game. Yikes.

Drafted 5th Round 133rd Overall, Olivier Roy

From Hockey’s Future:

Exceptionally quick laterally as well as a quick glove, Roy is an incredibly athletic goalie and when he is on his game, he is as good as they come. When he made the jump to professional hockey he was prone to inconsistency, but seems to have made improvements to his mental game, reflected by his improved goaltending stats. He has an immense amount of natural ability and needs to continue to capitalize on it.

The biggest crapshoot in a game of crapshoots: drafting goaltenders. Olivier Roy represents the first goalie in these recent drafts to have never played an NHL game. Roy looked like he had promise, but if there was one area where I felt he fell was when he played in the World Juniors for Team Canada and let in some really awful goals. His first real season where he played more than five games professionaly came in 2012-13 where he played 22 games and had a pedestrian 0.902 save percentage.

He was famously packaged with Ladislav Smid to the Calgary Flames in the Fall of 2013 for Roman Horak and Laurent Brossoit.

Roy never played more than 15 games in the AHL, spending most of his time with the then Flames Affiliate, the Alaska Aces. Roy is currently playing in Austria for Ljubljana Olimpija HK.

Conclusion

This is easily the worst draft so far for the Edmonton Oilers since 2007. They had four picks that didn’t play a single NHL game, let alone 100 games. The ones that did , Paajarvi and Lander, did meet the mark but are so mediocre offensively, it’s hard to say they are a “success”. Especially in the case of Magnus Paajarvi where so much hope for him to produce offensively and use his body for strong physical play, but alas, we never did get to see that. Lander on the other hand, has struggled mightily this season and I wonder if his time with the Oilers expires this summer.