It hasn’t been the easiest task for general managers in Edmonton to build a team around the best player in the world, Connor McDavid, although it shouldn’t be as hard as it has been. It’s a good thing that some of the first round picks chosen before McDavid (Leon Draisaitl, Darnell Nurse, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins) are contributing to the Edmonton Oilers this season because after the generational talent was selected first overall, it has been a rough go in the first round since.
Of the seven first-round picks the Oilers have had since 2015, only one is contributing to the success of the team this season, Evan Bouchard. Let’s first go through all seven picks.
| Player | Draft Position – Year |
| Jesse Puljujarvi | 4 – 2016 |
| Kailer Yamamoto | 22 – 2017 |
| Evan Bouchard | 10 – 2018 |
| Philip Broberg | 8 – 2019 |
| Dylan Holloway | 14 – 2020 |
| Xavier Bourgault | 22 – 2021 |
| Reid Schaefer | 32 – 2022 |
The success rate of first-rounders must be higher than it has been for the Oilers. That is why there has been so much trouble finding cheap and adequate depth with potential to move up the lineup. Stanley Cup contenders need young players on entry-level deals and cheap deals contributing to the success of the team, or else deeper teams that have that will run right through them. While the Oilers have been strong for the past two seasons and had their shot to make a deep playoff run, the team was eliminated by the eventual Stanley Cup champion both years. Both the Colorado Avalanche and Vegas Golden Knights had a deeper team with contributions coming from all over the lineup.
The first round of the draft is the most important place to hit on picks. These are the most valued and should produce the stars and superstars in the NHL. It has so many times in the past and continues to happen today. So, missing on these high-percentage picks is detrimental. As it stands, only Bouchard is even a factor thus far this season for the Oilers, when realistically, five of these former first-rounders should be.
Now let’s dive into each draft year since McDavid was selected that the Oilers have had a pick in the first round and look at the mistake and why it didn’t work out/isn’t working out to this point.
The First-Round Failures of the Oilers
2016 – Jesse Puljujarvi
The Puljujarvi saga is over in Edmonton, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t go on for far too long and with the wrong methods. There was never really any in-between ground for the Oilers and Puljujarvi. Either he was given too much responsibility on the top line, or he was buried on the fourth line at the end of his time in Edmonton.
Puljujarvi had the talent to be a very good player in the NHL, but the development the Oilers put him through was poor. He was rushed to the NHL, like many first-rounders Edmonton drafted up until 2017. He was unhappy being sent down to the American Hockey League (AHL) after being given too long of a taste in the NHL in his first three seasons. He really only had one full season where he was turning into the type of player the Oilers hoped he would be. This came in his return to the NHL in 2020-21 and through to the first quarter of the 2021-22 season. This saw him score 21 goals and 33 points in a 58-game span until he fell off, was traded, and hasn’t been signed yet this season.
To think what a promising career the former fourth-overall pick could have had if he had been able to produce offensively since he was already great at forechecking and two-way play. Puljujarvi ended up being traded to the Carolina Hurricanes at the deadline in 2023 for what turned into nothing.
2017 – Kailer Yamamoto
The Oilers tried a different path with Yamamoto as he spent a good chunk of two seasons in the AHL to begin his professional career. Once he was good and ready to come up and there was a spot for him to succeed in the top-six, he was recalled and put on a line with Draisaitl and Nugent-Hopkins. Yamamoto immediately showed what he could be in the NHL, even though the near point-per-game pace he played at in 27 games during the 2019-20 season was unrealistic for him to repeat right off the bat.
Yamamoto had one good season where he scored 20 goals and 41 points in 2021-22 and was a first-line winger to a third-line winger throughout his time in Edmonton. He wasn’t amazing defensively and the Oilers would have liked to see him finish his chances more since he was being set up by elite players. He too ended up being traded for nothing over to the Detroit Red Wings this past summer, only to be bought out.
2018 – Evan Bouchard
Bouchard is the only first-rounder that the Oilers have selected since McDavid that is having any impact on the team this season. Despite amazing offensive abilities that have produced seven goals and 27 points in 24 games to go along with the first 10-game point streak by a defenceman for the Oilers since Paul Coffey, he is still criticized by many fans.
Some of Bouchard’s play early in the season was questionable defensively, but with a deeper look, you will see that his Corsi for percentage, Fenwick for percentage, shots for percentage, expected goals for percentage, scoring chances for percentage, and high-danger scoring chances for percentage at five-on-five this season are all 59 percent or above according to Natural Stat Trick. Anything higher than 50 percent is good, so there has been a lot of domination from the Oilers while Bouchard is on the ice. This hasn’t stopped the narrative for a good chunk of the season from more than a handful of fans that every goal against while he is on the ice is his fault and that he should be traded. To clear things up regarding this, anyone who thinks Bouchard should be traded isn’t watching him play or understanding his huge positive impact on the team.
2019 – Philip Broberg
The poor utilization of Broberg has become an issue as of late with the Oilers. There is obvious frustration from Broberg and his agent regarding the lack of ice time and minimal usage. While he is still exempt from waivers, the Oilers have chosen to keep him on the NHL roster for the most part and either healthy scratch him or play him while there are seven defencemen dressed. This has given him little to no chance over the past two seasons to prove anything to the Oilers.
While some are quick to judge Broberg as a bust, he is only 22 years old and a defenceman. D-men typically take longer to develop, even as high draft picks. He has played very well in the AHL, but there just hasn’t been a spot available to him in the NHL. The Oilers couldn’t see what Broberg was capable of once Matthias Ekholm was acquired. Whatever you think about Broberg, the fact is that he hasn’t been given a chance to play and contribute to the scoresheet. He has played 10 games this season and averaged just 10:32 of ice time. He won’t be back for the foreseeable future unless there is an injury or trade so that a spot opens up on the blue line. He needs playing time, and the only way he will get that is in the AHL.
2020 – Dylan Holloway
While Holloway hasn’t found his scoring touch in the NHL yet, he has looked good when he has been able to remain healthy. Unfortunately, that hasn’t been too much. He has had four more serious injuries where he has missed time. These came at the beginning of 2021 and 2022, late in the 2022-23 season, and then again recently, keeping him out until Christmas or later.
When a young player loses so much development time because of injuries, it’s more difficult to progress the way they should. Holloway should become a good player for the Oilers if they are patient, but he has to stay healthy. Even though I have liked his game, he hasn’t gotten much of an opportunity at all in the top-six. As a bottom-six player this season, he has scored just one goal and no assists in 14 games. He will be inserted back into the bottom-six upon his return, but with how well the third line has played, it might be on the fourth line. I wouldn’t expect much contribution offensively from him on the fourth line.
2021 – Xavier Bourgault
Bourgault was the most impressive of the three young forwards that turned pro last season and were inserted into the Bakersfield Condors lineup. The other two were Carter Savoie and Tyler Tullio. Bourgault scored 13 goals and recorded 34 points in 62 games as a rookie. This was a promising start and the expectation was that he would build on that with more playing time and another year under his belt. That hasn’t been the case.
It has been somewhat of a disappointing season for Bourgault in the AHL this season, scoring just three goals and eight points in 16 games. He has struggled down there and there aren’t any plans to call him up because he just hasn’t been good enough, and there are other players who have gotten the call already ahead of him. Raphael Lavoie is one of those young players ahead of Bourgault in the depth chart and has had much more time to improve in pro hockey. The hope is that Bourgault will get some NHL games before the end of next season (from “Opportunity knocks at RW for Edmonton Oilers’ #1 prospect, though it’s apt to take a little time”, Edmonton Journal, Sept. 5, 2023).
2022 – Reid Schaefer
Schaefer was the Oilers’ most recent first-round pick. Drafted 32nd overall in 2022, he wouldn’t be expected to contribute to any organization just over a year after being drafted. As a part of the Ekholm return package to the Nashville Predators, Schaefer is now in a different organization. If he was still an Oilers prospect, he would need a few more years to figure out the pro game. He is struggling with one goal and three points in 20 AHL games with the Milwaukee Admirals.
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It’s noteworthy that all of Ken Holland’s draft picks have combined for just one assist this season (Holloway’s one goal). While it is fortunate that picks past the first round have been a bit better than expected (Vincent Desharnais, Stuart Skinner, Ryan McLeod) since McDavid was drafted, the Oilers need to make better use of their first-rounders when they draft, no matter where in the first round they are chosen. Other teams will continue to hit with their first-round picks, so the Oilers can’t fall behind and need to do everything they can to win with the best player in the world on the team.