3 Edmonton Oilers who have been a surprise so far in 2023-24
We take a look at three players who have all proved to be a pleasant surprise for the Edmonton Oilers up to this point of the 2023-24 season.
It's fair to say heading into this season, not many would have predicted how it would start for the Oilers. Picked as preseason Stanley Cup favourites by ESPN they instead began with a shocking 2-9-1 record, which cost Jay Woodcroft his job.
Even after Kris Knoblauch arrived, the Oilers found themselves at 5-12-1, which was their fourth-worst start through 18 games in franchise history. This was then followed by an equally surprising eight-game winning sequence, which was one off the team's all-time longest.
The point is, this has been unexpected season to date for the Oilers. Along these line, here are three players who have been a pleasant surprise so far in 2023-24:
1) Sam Gagner
There was some understandable trepidation about the Oilers' decision to offer a PTO invitation to Sam Gagner during the summer. Declining production and advancing age had some wondering about the wisdom of such a move.
It didn't help that Gagner was recovering from surgery on both hips, thus limiting him to practice during training camp. Without seeing him in preseason action, it would be even tougher to determine what he could or couldn't offer.
At the end of the day though there was nothing to lose and everything to gain, with a minimal financial impact when the 34-year-old subsequently signed a contract with the Condors. He went on to have an immediate impact in Bakersfield.
In three games -- all of which the Condors won -- Gagner produced a goal, a team-high four assists and a +4 plus/minus rating. As a result, he was rewarded with a one-year, two-way contract with the Oilers, worth the league minimum $775,000 at the NHL level.
The Oilers' 2007 sixth overall draft pick proceeded to turn back the clock, as he scored two goals in his third debut for the team. And while the Oilers ultimately lost 4-3 to the Stars, he provided the necessary boost for a bottom-six sadly lacking in the points department up to that stage of the 2023-24 season.
Since then, Gagner has continued to provide invaluable veteran experience and leadership for a team which desperately needed it. He is without doubt part of the reason for the turnaround by the Oilers following their horrific start to this season.
Through 18 games, the London, Ontario native has four goals, five assists, nine total points and a +3 rating. Projected over the remainder of the season, these would all result in his most productive campaign since 2016-17.
In addition, Gagner's 60.9 Corsi For (CF) percentage and 61.3 Fenwick For (FF) percentage both project to be the third-best of his 17 seasons in the NHL. As a final note, consider that he's achieving all this despite his 10:56 average ice time, which is on course to be the lowest of his career.
2) James Hamblin
James Hamblin's rookie campaign with the Oilers was nothing to write home about, not that much was expected from him per se. However, while he produced no points and a -3 rating in 10 games, at least he gained some experience at the NHL level.
Fast forward to earlier this season and Hamblin was recalled on short-term emergency relief, after the Oilers were forced to face the Predators with just 17 skaters. However, they something unexpected happened.
The 24-year-old was meant to return to Bakersfield once the injury situation resolved itself. Instead though, he's stuck around with the Oilers ever since.
In fairness to Hamblin, maybe it shouldn't be such a surprise he's still in Edmonton, as he's a solid two-way player with an excellent work ethic. He has a sound hockey IQ, is versatile, and useful on the penalty kill.
As a result, the undrafted free agent signing has established himself as the Oilers' fourth-line centre. Despite talk of the front office wanting to adding a veteran centre prior to the trade deadline, he has an excellent chance of sticking around for the remainder of the season.
As much as Hamblin's focus has been on defence, he has still provided some offence, with three points in 21 games. This includes one of the top highlights of the season for the Oilers, and not just on a hockey level.
The Edmonton native scored his first career NHL goal for the Oilers, in a 6-4 loss to the Lightning. This was followed by tapping his heart three times, pointed to the skies and saying something, before celebrating with his teammates.
It turns out Hamblin had the celebration planned after his mum passed away from cancer back in 2017; the goal was understandably an emotional and special moment for the young man. If there's anyone who deserves to succeed with the Oilers it's him, and so far this season he is more than making his mum and everyone associated with the team proud of him.
3) Zach Hyman
Okay, so our final selection needs a bit of clarification, given that it's no surprise Zach Hyman is playing well for the Oilers. You only need look back on his first two seasons in Edmonton for evidence of this.
Consider that in Hyman's first season with the Oilers, he set new personal bests with 27 goals, 27 assists and 54 total points. He also -- at that point -- produced the second best CF and FF percentages of his NHL career.
Then last season, the 31-year-old took his game to new heights, by setting new standards for his personal bests. These included 36 goals, 47 assists, 83 total points, a 59.3 CF percentage and 58.2 FF percentage.
Of course getting the opportunity to play in a top six which contains the likes of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl helps, but you still have to make good on the opportunities which come your way. In this respect, while never regarded as a natural goal-scored, Hyman has undoutbedly created a knack for coming through in front of net.
In this respect, we now come to why the Toronto native is our third choice as one of the Oilers who has been a surprise so far in 2023-24. More specifically, the frequency with which he has scored goals up to this point of the season.
At the time of posting, Hyman is leading the Oilers with 19 goals, five ahead of Draisaitl in second place with 14. On a league-wide level he is tied fifth among all players, along with Sam Reinhart and no less an authority than Sidney Crosby.
Over the course of the season, Hyman would be projected to score 51 goals, which would easily be a new personal best. (This is based on 81 games, with him so far missing one.) Combined with his current assist ration -- he has 12 up to this point -- he would just set a new overall personal best points total of 84.
Next. 4 Oilers that need to step up in 2024 for playoff push. 4 Oilers that need to step up in 2024 for playoff push. dark
Whether the 2010 fifth rounder can keep up his current pace remains to be seen. Regardless, the seven-tear, $38.5 million deal he signed with the Oilers is looking more and more like a bargain over time, after initially being criticised by many as too generous.