Edmonton Oilers: Tracking the 2017 NHL Draft results
Here’s a look at how the Edmonton Oilers 2017 NHL Draft has panned out so far
The 2017 draft was a whole new animal for this franchise. This draft was coming off the wake of the franchise FINALLY getting the playoff monkey off our backs for the first time in 11 years.
So natch, this is the 1st time in a long time the Oilers weren’t in the hunt for a lottery spot on the draft, and it would be the lowest they’d draft in – well – 11 years. This was the 1st season the retooled scouting staff would really have their metal tested. After all, anybody can pick between 2 or 3 options in the top 3 picks in the draft. The challenge for the scouting staff is when the team has success and they have to pick between 12 or more options in their designated spot, as well as account for any last minutes trades that go on.
This draft proved to be more fruitful than 2016 – which is ironic since we actually drafted 18 spots lower. Not as fruitful as 2015, mind you, but still a pretty good haul overall. If you’re just joining my series on the draft cycle of the last 5 years, you can read about the 2015 draft here and the 2016 draft here.
Let’s start off now.
Round 1, 22nd overall – Kailer Yamamoto
Right winger Yamamoto has taken to the game of hockey like a duck to water. He played his junior career for his hometown Spokane Chiefs in the WHL, putting up seasons of 57 points in 68 games as a rookie, then following that up with 71 points in 57 games then 99 points in 65 games. Also noteworthy is he showed a streak of physical play as well, racking up 50, 34, and 46 PIMS respectively those first 3 seasons. He also showed a knack for playing in his own zone as well, going +12, +20, and +14 in those first 3 seasons.
So it’s no wonder then, that he earned an invite to Oilers training camp in 2017-18, and earned at least a chance to grab a spot, playing 9 games with the Oilers and doing not too badly, going 0-3-3 with 2 PIMs and a -2. However, as you might expect, since the jump from junior straight to the NHL is a tough one that not very many picks can make. The team wisely decided he needed more seasoning and sent him back to junior. In the process, they also avoided blowing a year of his ELC.
When he got back to junior, he ended up with his 3rd out of 4 years of 20+ goals, going 21-43-64 in 40 games for the Chiefs with another 18 PIMs and a junior best +22. He threw in another 1-3-4 and 6 PIMs in 7 playoff games for the Chiefs that year.
Earning another trip to NHL camp, Yamamoto came back to the Oilers and lasted a bit longer in his 2nd callup, going 1-1-2 with 2 PIMs and a -6 in 17 games. Still, judging by his stats you can see that his defensive play suffered against the stiffer competition of the NHL. This is not surprising when you’re 19 and 20. The team once again wisely sent him down, this time to AHL Bakersfield. There he fared much better, going 10-8-18 in 27 games for Bakersfield, with 16 PIMs and a +12 to go with it.
Fast forward to this past season, and with a new GM who believes in letting players marinate in the minors as long as they need – arguably longer than they need, in some cases – Yamamoto started the season in Bakersfield this time. Here, he went 8-8-16 with the same 16 PIMs and his +/- dropping this time to a -7.
Nonetheless, the Oilers were having injury problems in the latter portion of the season and being one of their best prospects, Yamamoto was called up. This time, Yamamoto would surprisingly rise to the occasion and break open in the NHL, going 11-15-26 with 12 PIMs and a sparkling +17 in 27 games for the Oilers in a top 6 role. He also played 4 games in the playoffs, unfortunately producing no offence and 6 PIMs in those games, but you can only expect so much from rookies. You would think with numbers like that that he would be in line for the Calder trophy, but no dice.
Yamamoto has now earned himself a spot in the top 6 for good, ahead of schedule, and his timing couldn’t be better as his emergence has allowed Dr. Drai to center his own line. This gives the Oilers 2 legit scoring lines instead of loading up on the 1st line. In fact, the line of Nuge-Dr. Drai-Yamo was often called the best line in hockey. His scouting report is here.
Going forward: This player has a bright future for this club, and I don’t read too much into his lack of playoff production as that’s a whole different animal to master. But, he’s catching the team on the upswing, so I predict there will be no shortage of chances for him to get it right. He’s proven to be a quick study in his career so I don’t think it will take too long for him to build on the regular season he had this year and start scoring in the playoffs. Right now the sky’s the limit for this sniper who will fly under the radar with his higher-profile linemates.
Trending: Up – way up
Round 2, no pick – Fun Fact
This was the pick the Oilers had to give to Boston for hiring Peter Chiarelli as GM in 2015 after Boston fired him. That rule conveniently went by the wayside when Todd McLellan was hired as LA’s coach after we fired him 2 seasons ago. The NHL’s executive team bungles things like this so much…..*sigh*…..but, of course, I’m not bitter….*wink**wink*
Round 3, 78th overall – Stuart Skinner
Goalie Stuart Skinner is an interesting goalie. Goalies are typically the hardest to project, and even now it’s hard to say exactly what we have in Skinner. Skinner had a very up and down junior career, playing for the Lethbridge Hurricanes of the WHL up until a mid-season trade sent him to the Swift Current Broncos in his last season of junior.
His junior career-high was with the Hurricanes in 2015-16 when he finished with a .920 sv% for the ‘Canes, and 2nd best GAA when he finished with a 2.73. His numbers for the 2 seasons before and after that season saw his numbers take a nosedive. This was until the trade to Swift Current buoyed his numbers a bit, as his sv% went from .897 with the Hurricanes to .914 with the Broncos. His GAA also went down from 3.38 to 2.68. Nonetheless, it’s easy to see why the guy was still available in the 3rd round: flashes of elite play, but overall a project.
He graduated to the pros in 2018-19 but his pro career has gone about as well as you’d expect, a mixed bag. He’s played about 50-50 between Bakersfield and Wichita in the ECHL, and has never put up elite numbers in either league. His pro career-best sv% is .903, in the ECHL, and his GAA best is 2.99 with Bakersfield. Neither of those numbers screams NHL caliber.
However, a bit of a lifeline was thrown to Skinner’s career when he was named AHL player of the week on January 26, 2020. This was after somehow finding it within himself to go 3-1-0 with a 1.50 GAA and a .946 sv%. Those would be impressive numbers as season totals, but considering Skinner finished the season with an .892 sv% and a 3.31 GAA it seems obvious that he went on a hot streak that week. He wasn’t able to sustain the momentum for the rest of the season.
Skinner is slated to be the starting goalie in Bakersfield as the Oilers don’t have anyone else with that level of pro experience that’s still under contract. Dylan Wells is doing even worse as a pro, Shane Starrett’s contract is up after this season officially ends, and Olivier Rodrigue is coming in as a raw rookie and we have no idea how he’ll do.
The job is Skinner’s by default……for now. I emphasize for now because the Oilers have 2 key goalies coming into the prospect pipeline that, if they perform as expected, will push Skinner to the ECHL for good if he doesn’t watch it. He’s signed for 1 more season by the Oilers and he better make the most of it, otherwise he’ll be out of the organization in short order.
I could see Skinner being invited to training camp next season but I can’t see him backing up Koskinen in the NHL, he hasn’t earned that yet. There’s talk he’s being considered for a backup spot with the Oilers, but I see this as the outlier for his season next year. Best case scenario. Scouting report is here.
Going forward: As I said, he better get his act together this upcoming season as I suspect the team will be happy to not renew his contract if he puts up the same numbers he’s put up the last 2 seasons in the pros. If he can play all season next year like he did that 1 week this year then there’s hope for this guy moving forward. Otherwise, his pro career is likely over.
Trending: Pro career is on life support
Round 3, 84th overall – Dmitri Samorukov
Left D Samorukov is going to be one of those guys who will be in a dogfight for a spot on the Oilers down the road. Notwithstanding a Kris Russell trade, the Oilers right now have Klefbom-Nurse-Jones on the left side, and that’s a pretty strong front 3 to take up spots on the D corps of the Oilers.
He seems committed to an NHL career, though, as he chose the traditional junior route in development. His first season in juniors for the Guelph Storm of the OHL he finished 4-16-20 with 41 PIMs and an ugly -24 in 67 games. He improved the next season, though, going 11-23-34 with 29 PIMs and a -10 in 62 games, and put up 2 assists and 6 PIMs in 6 playoff games for the Storm.
After the Storm’s season is over, he was invited to join the Condors for the tail end of their season, putting up 2 assists and 2 PIMs, with a +2 (who knew?) in 5 games. However, he still had 1 more season of junior eligibility left, and that season he really shone for the Storm. He improved to 10-35-45 in 59 games with 20 PIMs and rocketing up to +36, an incredibly impressive improvement in +/-. He followed that up in the playoffs with 10-18-28 in 24 games with 12 PIMs to go along with it for the OHL Champion Storm.
He graduated to Bakersfield this past season, finishing 2-8-10 with 24 PIMs and a -5 in 47 games for the Condors. Although that first season doesn’t necessarily make him stand out, if he can progress as well as he did in junior, he’ll have an NHL career for sure. Scouting report is right here.
Going forward: There’s a lot to like about Samorukov as a prospect, but if history is any indication, he’ll be a bit of a project who develops slowly especially in his own end. There’s nothing necessarily wrong with that, but I wouldn’t bet on Samorukov making the Oilers before, say, Evan Bouchard or Philip Broberg. He’s looking good so far at 21. He’ll be a good use of a 3rd round pick if he becomes a regular on the Oilers.
Trending: Up
Round 4, 115th overall – Ostap Safin
A dual winger – a right winger who is listed as shooting left – Czech prospect Ostap Safin is an intriguing prospect. His development has taken the unconventional road of starting in Europe and then going to juniors.
Over his 1st 2 seasons in the Czech leagues he’s played a whopping 9 games combined, putting up 1-1-2 with 2 PIMs and finishing even in season 1 and a +2 in season 2. Then he came over to North America in 2017-18 to play junior for the Saint John Sea Dogs of the QMJHL. He did pretty well offensively, going 26-32-58 in 61 games for the Sea Dogs, to go along with 31 PIMs but an ugly -29.
This is not necessarily surprising, though – most Europeans that come here have trouble with either the defensive elements or the physical play of North American hockey. After that season was up he joined the Condors for 9 games, scoring 1 goal and adding 2 PIMs with an interesting -1 in those 9 games. Quite an improvement from what he did in junior.
The next season, the Sea Dogs traded him to the Halifax Mooseheads. He unfortunately got injured, and best I can tell this is the last we’ve heard of his injury. You always hate to see guys dealing with serious injuries. Even more so for prospects, because if they have to retire before their career even starts, then they’re not even a has-been, then they’re a never-was, and that’s a shame.
Anyway, as you might guess Safin only played 15 games for the Mooseheads that season, putting up 3-8-11 in that time with 14 PIMs and a +1 to go along with it. Good numbers in limited playing time. He followed that up with 2 assists in 23 playoff games for Halifax with 10 PIMs.
Naturally wanting to be careful with Safin due to his injury, the organization sent him to play in Wichita this past season, where he had a pretty good season putting up 16-19-35 in 54 games for the Thunder, with 27 PIMs and a -8 to go along with it. Looks he’s recovered from his injury, which is nice to see. The scouting report is here.
Going forward: Safin has a good toolbox, expect him to challenge for a spot in Bakersfield. If he wins one to spend the next 2-3 seasons there, then in time perhaps challenge for a spot on the 3rd line or even the top 6 here. For now, though, we’ll have to call him a project. His versatility will be very valuable and if he makes it to the Oilers permanently I expect that will be his greatest asset.
Trending: Up
Round 5, 146th overall – Kirill Maksimov
Right winger Kirill Maksimov is another Russian darkhorse we hope can help the team out in the future. Like Samorukov, he came to North America to play in juniors, starting out with the Saginaw Spirit of the OHL before being traded partway through his 2nd junior season to the Niagara Ice Dogs. Maksimov’s development turned the corner in his last 2 seasons with the Ice Dogs, as he put up totals of 34 goals and 80 points and 40 goals and 79 points in 62 and 63 games respectively. His PIMs and +/- also shot up in those same 2 seasons, to 72 and 118 respectively. +/- was fantastic, going up to +23 and +38 respectively.
He graduated to Bakersfield last season, and although he didn’t see the same success he had in his latter 2 seasons of junior (to be expected in a rookie pro season), he’s signed to a contract for the next 2 seasons. Obviously, the organization likes what they see from him. For the record, he only put up 5-8-13 in 53 games in Bakersfield last season, with 34 PIMs and a -4. The scouting report is here.
Roughly on par with a rookie pro.
Going forward: If Kirill can continue to build his skills in Bakersfield, I could see him challenging for a spot in the bottom 6 a couple of seasons from now. If he still has the same hands he had in junior, then we could see a Milan Lucic in his prime type of power forward. A player that could be a valuable part of riding shotgun next to Connor Mcdavid, hitting all the while to clear space for him to do his thing. I like the numbers I see so far from him, but of course, he’s got a long way to go just yet.
Trending: Up
Round 6, 177th overall – Skyler Brind’amour
If that last name sounds familiar to you, then the answer to your question is yes, we have in fact drafted the son of former NHLer Rod Brind’amour. Good to know he has the genes to compete, but it’s tough to say how far it’ll make him go. After all, Keegan Lowe hasn’t had near the pro career his father Kevin did. Surely you all remember Kevin Lowe.
Anyway, left center Skyler has done things non-traditionally. He started out with a few games for the US Youth teams (Under 17 and 18 teams). In 2 seasons with them, he played 8 games and scored 1 goal. No PIMs either year and finished 0 in year 1 and -10 in year 2.
He then moved to the BCHL where he played 2 seasons for the Chilliwack Chiefs and seemed to do pretty well. In season 1, he finished with 10-14-24 and 34 PIMs, in 52 games. Not a bad start for junior A. In 7 playoff games he put on 3 more assists and another 2 PIMs. He followed that up next season by almost doubling his point totals – to 13-31-44 with 39 PIMs and 2-3-5 in 11 playoff games and another 6 PIMs. Nice progression.
He then graduated to the US College route last season, where he played his rookie season for Quinnipiac University in Connecticut somewhere (yeah I had to look that up too). He only put up 4-9-13 with 16 PIMs and even in 34 games. Not outstanding, but not bad. For the life of me, I can’t find a scouting report for him, but there’s this, which is good news for him.
Going forward: It’s tough to say what we have with young Skyler here. He’s gone a very unorthodox development route. If he had gone more mainstream I’m willing to bet he would’ve been drafted higher. I like that progression in 2 seasons in junior A, but junior A is a long way from the NHL. I have to agree with the ON article that states at this point he’s a long term project.
He’s 1 of 2 picks from this draft that doesn’t have an ELC with the organization yet, but the Oilers hold his signing rights until August 15, 2023, so we have lots of time to sign him. Honestly, I can’t blame the club for not offering him a contract just yet. US College folks are always tougher to predict than those in junior as I’m willing to bet the player development staff and Oilers management are unanimous. Basically that Brind’Amour needs at least 2 more seasons at QU before you can think about committing to signing him.
At that point, we should know more about what he can do and know what to do with him one way or the other. If he had the same career as his father, personally I’d be thrilled. His father put up 1184 points and 1100 PIMs in 1484 games. 12 20 goal seasons, 1 in which he came close at 19, and 4 30 goal seasons. That’s a solid career. If he makes it to the NHL on this team, he’ll probably have to play in the top 6 as a winger as no one is upending the McDrai duo at top 6 center.
Trending: Baby steps up
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Puck Prose
Round 7, 208th overall – Philip Kemp
Right d-man Kemp is not a flashy prospect, but one that could be a small diamond in the rough in the future. Kemp started out as a regular in the US National Under 17 and 18 teams, going 1-3-4 with an ugly -16 and 2 PIMs in 35 games on the under 17 team.
On the under 18 team, he put up 2-2-4 with 8 PIMs and a much improved +7. Kudos for cleaning up his own zone play.
He then graduated to the US College system at Yale University, where he’s maintained more or less the same pace as he did for the US National teams.
His rookie season was 3-5-8 in 26 games with 8 PIMs and a +7. In season 2 he put up the same boxcars except in 30 games. This time his PIMs went up to 35, although his +/- dipped to -9.
This past season his games played increased for the 2nd straight year, as he played 32 games this time, finishing with 3-8-11, a dip to 10 PIMs, and almost completely rebounding in +/- to +4. Both his US national teams and his teams at Yale have never made the playoffs, so none of those stats to speak of. His scouting report is here and frankly, I tend to agree with it.
Going forward: Remember in the last pick I wrote there are 2 picks without an ELC? This is the other one. And it’s no surprise why, either – Kemp doesn’t have great offensive chops, but he could contribute secondary offence and for the most part be defensively responsible.
Kemp has size but not a lot of scoring chops, and the fact his PIMs were cut in less than half from the season prior to this past one should show you that even Kemp’s physical chops can disappear. This is the case during long stretches, which doesn’t bode well for him. He’s a very generic, vanilla type of hockey player. The Oilers just signed a few European prospects to be the stay at home guys, they may look at Kemp and decide they don’t need another one.
All of this being said, Kemp would probably get a little more attention from the organization if he did more next season, his last in US College hockey. If he can produce more offence, stay on the plus side of +/-, and put those PIMs closer to the 35 mark, then I’m willing to bet the Oilers give him a 1 year ELC or AHL only/2 way AHL/ECHL contract to give him a chance.
Otherwise, if he keeps to the same pedestrian totals and stays the same vanilla player he is now I’m willing to bet the Oilers pass on him. We retain his rights until August 15, 2021. Having the career trajectory of Matt Benning isn’t going to get you a whole lot of cache in the organization. It’s next year or bust for him. If he busts, maybe he’ll take his chances in Europe.
Trending: Laterally – which for a 7th round pick is not good.
Bottom line
Overall I like how this draft has gone. Only 2 guys are trending down right now (Skinner and Kemp are right on the edge). I love the fact that most of the picks are trending up and 1 – Yamo – is already playing on the big league roster ahead of schedule. 5 out of 7 picks have ELCs, which IMO is great. Not all of them will make it of course and some may be more valuable as trade bait than anything else, but right now I like the looks of most of them. Even the picks in the later rounds are compelling, something we couldn’t say much in 2016. Stay tuned for the 2018 draft results.