I'm going to be starting a series to get us through the dog days of summer. To anyone who has been following the Oilers over a number of years, it's no surprise that the Oilers had a horrific track record of drafting and developing prior to Peter Chiarelli joining the team in 2015 and becoming the first Oilers general manager to have the courage to do a housecleaning of the scouting staff, both amateur and pro ranks.
The Oilers have been reaping the benefits ever since with a much improved drafting record. Say what you want about the guy as GM, this was one of the things he did right during his tenure.
Overall the 2015 NHL draft was a nice deep one where teams hit on a lot of picks, including the Oilers. Let's see where they hit:
Round one - Connor McDavid, first overall
If you cheer for the Oilers and don't know who Connor McDavid is, then I don't know what planet you're on but it certainly isn't earth. He's only grown into what is widely acknowledged as one of the best NHL players of all time and the next generational talent after Sidney Crosby was drafted by the Penguins, no big deal or anything.
Never finishing with less than 30 goals in a season outside of his rookie year - and that was only due to injury, nothing else. Multiple 40 goal seasons and a 60 goal season. Last season he became one few players to crack 100 assists in a season - only Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, and Bobby Orr have done it before. The only reasons he hasn't hit 100 points in every season he's played, is due to injury in one season and the pandemic cutting another NHL season short.
Last season McDavid also won the Conn Smythe trophy as playoff MVP despite the Oilers losing the Stanley Cup Final, something only six players before him have done. Winner of multiple Hart, Art Ross and Ted Lindsay trophies and one Rocket Richard trophy win two seasons ago. There's only one trophy missing from his case and hopefully he'll get it this upcoming season. A mere 18 points shy of 1,000, a mark he will hit this upcoming season.
Hit or miss? Hit, massive hit