Revisiting the 2016 NHL entry draft - how did the Oilers make out?

Round six - Aapeli Rasanen, 153rd overall

Again, not much to say here. Rasanen was never signed to an ELC due to a US College career and time in the Finnish pro leagues, a time where he never really made an impact in either case.

Hit or miss? Miss.

Who did the Oilers miss out on? Top six forwards Brandon Hagel (Buffalo) and Jesper Bratt (New Jersey), with an honourable mention to bottom six forward Michael Pezzetta (Montreal). The fact we could've had Hagel or Bratt stings a little.

Round seven - Vincent Desharnais, 183rd overall

You gotta appreciate the irony of a draft where the Oilers miss on literally every single pick except this one where they literally save the best for last.

The hulking 6'7" bottom pairing blueliner made the team in his first callup in the 2022-23 season, where he didn't produce much offensively but did make an impact physically, finishing 19th on the team in hits with 45 and sixth on the team in blocked shots with 48. In 36 games he finished with 0-5-5. Desharnais also became known for his defensive play and PK abilities, as he finished with a sparkling +15 - a phenomenal number for a rookie - and third on the team in PK ice time per game with 2:14. He followed that up with 2:02 in PK ice time per game and 1-10-11 in 78 games, with a +3, this time doing spot duty on the second pairing. Physically he kicked it up a notch, vaulting up to 135 hits (fourth on the team), and second on the team in blocked shots with 122 (second only to Darnell Nurse, in case you're wondering).

Unfortunately for the Oilers Desharnais's team friendly contract was up after this past season and he became a luxury they couldn't afford. He would go on to sign a two year, $4,000,000 contract with the Vancouver Canucks - I guess they liked what they saw when they played against him in the second round of the playoffs.

Hit or miss? Hit

Did the Oilers miss out on anyone? No, in fact, the Oilers got the one impact player that was drafted in this round. Only three other players even played NHL games, a combined 34 between the three of them.

Overall verdict

This was Peter Chiarelli's encore draft, and overall I'd say he failed miserably. He missed out on a lot of impact players in the first, second, and fifth rounds - missing on the third and fifth rounds where they had multiple picks hurts even more. The first round especially - most teams hit on their selections but the Oilers missed. Oy vey, let's hope 2017 is better.

It is kind of cool to hit in the seventh round - and to pick the one player out of 31 who was any good, but that's merely a sliver of hope and nothing more.