With the recent success of Matthew Tkachuk in the NHL playoffs right now it really hurts to know that he could have been an Edmonton Oilers player right now. The 2016 NHL Entry Draft hasn’t played out well for many, but Tkachuk now looks like a steal at his 6th overall spot.
| Overall | Team | Player | Pos | Age | GP | G | A | PTS | +/- | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Toronto Maple Leafs | Auston Matthews | C | 18 | 481 | 299 | 243 | 542 | 109 | 94 |
| 2 | Winnipeg Jets | Patrik Laine | RW | 18 | 462 | 198 | 181 | 379 | -48 | 179 |
| 3 | Columbus Blue Jackets | Pierre-Luc Dubois | LW | 18 | 434 | 129 | 173 | 302 | 13 | 383 |
| 4 | Edmonton Oilers | Jesse Puljujarvi | RW | 18 | 334 | 51 | 63 | 114 | 5 | 108 |
| 5 | Vancouver Canucks | Olli Juolevi | D | 18 | 41 | 2 | 1 | 3 | -2 | 6 |
| 6 | Calgary Flames | Matthew Tkachuk | LW | 18 | 510 | 192 | 299 | 491 | 114 | 548 |
| 7 | Arizona Coyotes | Clayton Keller | C | 18 | 442 | 133 | 209 | 342 | -41 | 171 |
| 8 | Buffalo Sabres | Alexander Nylander | LW | 18 | 93 | 14 | 20 | 34 | -10 | 20 |
| 9 | Montreal Canadiens | Mikhail Sergachev | D | 18 | 441 | 46 | 192 | 238 | 63 | 266 |
| 10 | Colorado Avalanche | Tyson Jost | C | 18 | 413 | 54 | 80 | 134 | -3 | 154 |
Provided by Hockey-Reference.com
Generated 6/9/2023.
Regarding the 2016 draft only the first overall pick, Auston Matthews has more points than Matthew Tkachuk. In his draft-leading 510 games played Matthew Tkachuk has produced 491 points, which is about 50 fewer points than Matthews who has 542.
To put it in perspective, Jesse Puljujarvi, who was drafted 2 players ahead of Tkachuk, only has 108 points and has played in a mere 334 games in the NHL. Most Edmonton Oilers fans can agree that at the start of his career, Puljujarvi was mishandled by the Edmonton Oilers.
Could Be Worse Regarding Matthew Tkachuk
The good news for the Edmonton Oilers regarding this draft is that the Calgary Flames originally drafted Tkachuk. He informed them he would re-sign there so he was traded to the Florida Panthers last season.
If the Edmonton Oilers would have drafted Tkachuk would he have wanted to re-sign here? We do have a McDavid and Draisaitl, so I pretty much assume that most players want to stay here and play with those two. Evander Kane re-signing proved that to me.
Edmonton Oilers Top 6 With Tkachuk
Kane – McDavid – Tkachuk
Nugent-Hopkins – Draisaitl- Hyman
No offence to Kailer Yamamoto, but Matthew Tkachuk would be a massive upgrade. This top 6 would instantly become the best top 6 in the NHL. Would there be a lot of cap problems with this top 6? Yes of course there would be.
It is nice to dream about what could have been for the Edmonton Oilers, but we could do this on almost every draft. If every team always picked the right player then the draft wouldn’t be exciting. The fact that Matthew Tkachuk is having success with Florida and not Calgary make this not hurt as badly though.