Edmonton Oilers: Tracking the 2018 NHL Draft results
By Phil Gretzky
Rounds 3-5 – no pick
Round 6, 164th overall – Mike Kesselring
Right defence Mike Kesselring is an interesting prospect – and as you might expect at this round, he’s a bit of a darkhorse project. He started out for the Des Moines Buccaneers of the USHL, putting up totals of 2 and then 12 points – in 12 and 33 games. He’s not very physical, never having put up more than 20 PIMs in his USHL career.
He went from -3 to +5 which is a nice improvement in his own zone play. He played 2018-19 for the Fargo Force in the USHL, where he broke out a bit, going 7-15-22 in the same 33 games. He went down to +2 from +5 but still the right side of the ledger to finish at. He played 2 playoff games for the Force but put up no offence in those games.
He then graduated to the US College Route last season, going 2-3-5 with 35 PIMs and a -2 in 34 games for Northeastern University. The closest thing I can find to a scouting report for him is this. One key detail from that article is that Northeastern U’s D was pretty stacked, so naturally, rookie Kesselring will be playing down the order. But apparently this season he’ll play higher up – I assume that’s because of graduations out of the University.
Going forward: We don’t have much to go on for Kesselring, but if that article about him is right, I expect him to improve upon his rather pedestrian numbers from this season. If that continues throughout his college career, expect the Oilers to offer him an ELC towards the end of his college career. He doesn’t have one right now, but we hold his signing rights until Aug. 15, 2023.
Trending: Hard to say right now – let’s call it laterally, with the potential to move up. If the Oilers can hit on a 6th round pick, that will be quite a coup for the scouting staff.
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Round 7, 195th overall – Patrik Siikanen
Finnish C/LW Siikanen is quite the longshot. He’s spent the majority of his hockey career moving through the ranks of the Finnish hockey system, culminating in last year when he played 28 games in the SM-Liiga, producing a mere 2 assists, 2 PIMs, and a -8.
With such underwhelming stats to go on, he was then sent down to what I assume is the Finnish minor leagues (Mestis?). There, he did better, putting up 7-3-10 in 16 games with the same 2 PIMs and going up to a -4.
Not exactly earth-shattering stats, we can see why he was drafted in the 7th round. I can’t find a scouting report for him.
Going forward: It’s safe to assume that Siikanen will stay in Finland for at least the next couple of seasons, as learning how to play pro hockey and adjusting to North American culture shock would be too much for him to bear.
Best to leave him in Finland for now, give him more time, and see how he does before bringing him over. It shouldn’t be a surprise that the 20-year-old doesn’t have an ELC yet, but we hold his signing rights until June 1, 2022. If he doesn’t show anymore by then he’ll be an easy decision not to sign.
Trending: Impossible to say at this point since we have such a small sample size with this player. TBD with more time.
Bottom line
This draft is a very mixed bag. Considering we didn’t have picks for 3 straight rounds, I assume in this draft the Oilers were going for quality over quantity. Bouchard, Mcleod, and Rodrigue are the 3 guys to watch, while Kesselring is intriguing and Siikanen is a roll of the dice.