Edmonton Oilers: Did They Rush First-Round Picks

Former Edmonton Oilers goaltender Ben Scrivens had a lot to share about his old team with Sports Express, a Russian hockey news outlet, this past week. He shared comments regarding Taylor Hall and Nail Yakupov, along with his career, but “The Professor” also had an interesting explanation when asked about his team’s woes over the past decade.

He blamed it on the coaching and management, but also accounted part of the failure to the lack of development and rushing of the Oilers’ first-round draft picks.

“A bunch of first-rounders are good only if they play on the team and are playing right. In Edmonton, this obviously didn’t happen…” – Ben Scrivens

When it comes to prominent first-round draft picks that have positively impacted the team, it starts wth Jordan Eberle (selected 22nd overall/2008 NHL Entry Draft), and goes on with Taylor Hall (first-overall, 2010), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (first-overall, 2011), Oscar Klefbom (19th overall, 2011), Nail Yakupov (first-overall, 2012), Darnell Nurse (seventh-overall, 2013), Leon Draisaitl (third-overall, 2014) and of course, Connor McDavid (first-overall, 2015).

Each year for the decade-long playoff drought, the Oilers have looked to their first-round selections as part of their plan to turn around their franchise. The question does ring, however, if Edmonton’s management and coaching staff rushed these players to the NHL, therefore halting their development. When it all comes down to it, it’s yes and no.

When it comes to Eberle, he was developed properly. After being drafted, he spent the next two seasons with the Regina Pats in the WHL, and played a few games for Springfield in the AHL. Finally making it to the NHL in 2010-11, Eberle scored 43 points (18 G, 25 A) in 69 games. He’d follow with a 76-point sophomore season (34 G, 42 A), and during the lockout in 2012-13, he’d spend that downtime with the AHL’s Oklahoma City Barons.

Besides the lockout season of only 48 NHL games, Eberle has racked up at least 40 points each year. He has displayed incredible development and proves to be one of the league’s most underrated wingers.

Speaking of underrated wingers, Taylor Hall was one of Edmonton’s draft picks immediately rushed into the NHL. Thankfully, because of his skill-set, Hall was pressured to turn things around, but that didn’t stifle his development, or set him up for failure. He also played with Oklahoma City during the lockout, but had already started posting impressive NHL numbers.

His debut season, Hall posted 42 points (22 G, 20 A) and followed that year with a 53-point campaign (27 G, 26 A) and .87 PPG to boot. He has struggled with injuries, and proves to sometimes be streaky, but thankfully, that has not stopped him down, and Hall will continue to prove himself as one of the league’s top wingers (just not with Edmonton, sadly).

Also thrown into the NHL was Nugent-Hopkins, who was drafted in 2011 and made it onto the Opening Night Roster just months later. He scored 52 points (18 G, 34 A) in 62 games of his rookie season, but there is a truth behind the flaws in his development.

Though coming in at 6-foot, Baby Nuge weighs in at 189 pounds, and appears to be not as bulky. He has had to struggle through multiple injuries, and though some of them were not to blame on his size, Nugent-Hopkins has not bulked up, or has gotten to properly transition to the size, strength and speed of the NHL, which has taken away from his development, stats and rating.

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Unfortunately, the one first-overall who completely struggled after being rushed was Nail Yakupov. He was surprisingly taken first-overall in 2012, and was put right onto the NHL roster, with pressure placed on his shoulders to turn things around. He had a decent debut during the lockout season, but afterwards, his play dwindled.

With five different coaches in four years, and some putting faith in him and others demoting him and writing him off, Yakupov’s skill and stats fell. His career high in points was a 33-point season in 2014-15, where he scored 14 goals and 19 assists. This past season, he played 60 games, scoring only 23 points (eight goals, 15 assists). He played well on McDavid’s wing, but so do many of the players put with a player of his calibre.

Thankfully, Leon Draisaitl and Darnell Nurse got time in the NHL, but they were also rushed to rise to the occasion, not helping their stat lines. Nurse was given big minutes and was heavily relied on when he wasn’t ready, and Draisaitl was called up when he wasn’t fully prepared. Thankfully, both of them have flourished under Todd McLellan, especially Draisaitl, who broke out this past year.

Next: Edmonton Oilers: Scrivens Comments on Hall, Yakupov and Team's Woes

McDavid is able to handle the NHL, along with Klefbom, because he has proven to be one of the best young talents and is on his way lead the next generation of hockey. The bottom line is, is that the Edmonton organization has a history of rushing forwards up, and sometimes they rise to the occasion, and other times, they don’t. Hopefully, they let Jesse Puljujärvi develop properly.