The 2026 NHL Draft has wrapped up and the Edmonton Oilers made five total selections, after making a deal on day two of the draft. They sent the 52nd overall selection to the Tampa Bay Lightning for the 58th overall pick and 133rd.
Following the draft, prominent NHL prospects writer for the Athletic, Scott Wheeler, listed the Oilers as one of the 'Losers' of the 2026 NHL Draft in his recap article. Wheeler splits his drafting teams up into four categories: Winners, Overtime Winners, Losers, and Overtime Losers with the 'losers' category being the worst. His criteria for this category is as follows: "Teams I believe will underperform where they selected."
The Oilers were in the 'losers' category with only two other teams; The Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning.
Oilers draft day recap
Using their five selections the Oilers chose three forwards, one defenceman, and one goaltender. The Oilers had picks at 58th overall, 84th overall, 133rd overall, 180th overall, and 212th overall.
At 58th overall, the Oilers selected Latvian forward Rudolfs Berzkalns out of the USHL with the Muskegon Lumberjacks. At 84th overall they selected Swedish winger Malcom Gastrin who played with the U20 MoDo team in the U20 Nationell. At 133rd overall they selected defenceman Andrew Robinson from the Windsor Spitfires OHL. at 180th overall they selected forward Caden Harvey who is also from the Windsor Spitfires of the OHL. Finally at 212th they selected overage USHL goaltender, Ryan Cameron from the Sioux Falls Stampede.
Did the Oilers really lose on draft day?
According to Scott Wheeler's own words, here is what he had to say about the Oilers being classified as 'losers': "I didn’t like the Oilers’ draft, but it’s also hard to be too hard on them when they’re picking as late as they did. Rudolfs Berzkalns is big and has clear pro attributes as a potential future bottom-sixer. He was lower on my list than where they took him, but I mocked him as a bubble late-second/early-third round guy, and he has tools. Everyone just wants to see him make the finishing play more. I don’t view any of their other guys as NHL prospects."
Wheeler brings up valid points, the Oilers did not make a single selection until near the end of the second round. This does not give them as many options to find a dynamic player to add to their prospect cupboard. However, they employed a strategy which many other teams in the Oilers' position do by drafting players with 'projectable' traits.
Berzkalns has all the tools to become a bottom-six defensive centre, Gastrin has the ability to be a high energy bottom-six winger who can provide some supplemental scoring. Robinson and Harvey bring some bottom of the lineup skills while Cameron boasts solid size for a modern day netminder.
Adding these players to the pool, should in theory give the Oilers a relatively high hit rate and allow them to fill out the depths of their NHL roster while they try to compete for a Stanley Cup. Although it is understandable given Wheeler's evaluations of the players, the draft is notoriously a long game and something that we may not get a full picture of for another ten years.
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