Edmonton Oilers: Tracking the 2017 NHL Draft results
By Phil Gretzky
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