Revisiting the 2017 NHL entry draft - how did the Oilers make out?

Round two - no pick, traded away to Boston as compensation when the Oilers hired Peter Chiarelli as GM (man what a stupid rule that was) - this was the only pick the Oilers were missing in this draft

Round three (two picks) - Stuart Skinner, 78th overall - pick acquired from Arizona when the Oilers traded a third round pick (not their own, unknown) and Vancouver's fifth round pick (acquired for Philip Larsen) in exchange for Calgary's third round pick (acquired when they traded Michael Stone to the Flames)

Boy what a mouthful that was - sometimes draft picks become very well traveled. Anyway, unless you've been living under a rock, you should be well acquainted with the story of Skinner. He didn't move the needle much early on in his career, but earned a cup of coffee in the 2020-21 season when he was called up for one game. The following season he had 13 games with the Oilers after filling in for an injured Mike Smith.

In the 2022-23 season Skinner established himself as the majority partner in tandem, with a .914 save percentage and 2.73 Goals Against Average (GAA). He showed some inconsistency this past season but did end up with the majority of starts in the playoffs and was a key reason why the Oilers got so close to winning the cup last season - on his way he outdueled Oettinger and nearly outdueled Sergei Bobrokvsky in the process. Pretty impressive for a third round pick.

Hit or Miss? Hit.

Dmitri Samorukov, 84th overall

There's not much to say about Samorukov. This was the Oilers' own third round pick. After showing signs of being a puck moving blueliner in the OHL, Samorukov put up modest numbers in the AHL. Nonetheless he earned callups on two occasions, one each with the Oilers and St. Louis Blues, where he played a combined three games and put up no points in those games.

Samorukov's value to the Oilers would be more as a trade chip. He would go on to be traded to the St. Louis Blues straight up for the last choice of the first round, Kostin, who would go on to become a fan favourite bottom six forward in Edmonton before he became a luxury the Oilers couldn't afford and they had to trade him away.

Samorukov spent last season with the Penguins' farm team, putting up 15 points in 64 games before heading back to the KHL, where he spent one season with CSKA Moscow previously and will be going back there again. But even then he only put up a whopping eight points in 48 games for them the first time, so who knows if he even has a career in the KHL?

Hit or Miss? Miss

Who did the Oilers miss out on? No one. Only three impact players were even taken in this round, and the Oilers got one of them in Skinner. The other two were Morgan Geekie and Fabian Zetterlund, both of whom were taken before Skinner and Samorukov, so the Oilers never had a shot at either one.