Revisiting the 2020 NHL entry draft - how did the Oilers make out?

Round six - Filip Engaras, 169th overall

Not much to say here as Engaras is already out of the organization. He showed limited potential in the Swedish junior leagues and then came across the ocean to play in the US College System, where his best results were 21 points in 33 games for the University of New Hampshire. He turned pro with the Condors at the tail end of the 2021-22 AHL season, producing no points in five games. He followed that up next season with two goals in 11 games for Bakersfield, at which point he was sent down to Fort Wayne where he put up 14 points in 23 games. The Oilers I assume didn't renew his contract as after that season where he was sent down to Fort Wayne he isn't listed on the reserve list and it appears he's signed a two way AHL contract with the Utica Comets, the AHL team of the New Jersey Devils. His career since arriving in Utica has followed a similar trajectory - limited scoring in the AHL, a scoring touch shown in limited time in the ECHL. It doesn't look like Engaras is making the NHL anytime soon but never say never. Sometimes guys on AHL contracts can surprise.

Trending up or down? Down

Who did the Oilers miss out on? No one of any consequence. Most teams missed on their picks in this round, only one pick past Engaras even played NHL games, and that was only one game, and not last season. Only a single player even played more than 100 NHL games from this round, Nils Aman (Vancouver) and he was taken two picks before Engaras so the Oilers had no chance at him. Even then he wasn't listed on the Canucks end of season roster so he's an extra forward at best at this point.

Round seven - Jeremias Lindewall, 200th overall

And now we get to the longest of long shots in the draft that will probably go down as the biggest crapshoot in NHL history. I think you see where I'm going with this - not much to see here. This Swedish meatball was drafted after he showed potential in the Swedish junior leagues, putting up 28 points in 39 games in the lone season listed. He hasn't even progressed to the top Swedish pro league the SHL, though, only sticking to the Swe-1 league (the second tier pro league) and not even producing 10 points in any given season. His silver lining is he produced 1-2-3 in only 16 games last season so if he can build on that it might indicate there is at least a decent European player there. In terms of his NHL career, though? It seems unlikely at this point he'll even cross the ocean to play in the Oilers system, much less play for the Oilers.

Trending up or down? Down

Who did the Oilers miss out on? No one of any consequence. The closest pick to an NHLer was goalie Devon Levi (Florida), who at this point is nothing more than an AHL bubble player and has since been playing in the Buffalo Sabres organization. His numbers are nothing special for the moment, but this is a 22 year old kid who has only played 30 games in the NHL and still has a year to go on his ELC, so we can't write him off yet. Only three picks other than Levi have even played NHL games, and none of them are NHL regulars yet.

Overall verdict

This draft was overall not very good, but it wasn't a really strong draft for the NHL in general - that's what happens when you're dealing with shortened sample sizes for draft picks, it's more about throwing a dart at the dart board and seeing what sticks.

Dylan Holloway was showing well before St. Louis stole him away from us (yeah I said it, I don't care). Maxim Berezkin will be interesting to watch for the next couple of years, let's see if he can build on that solid KHL playoff run. At this point, I never truly count anyone out from this draft as we're now only four years into their draft year, but a number of players look to be a failure to launch. You could tell this draft had Holland's fingerprints all over it because he traded away two picks for two Red Wings and traded a higher pick for two lower picks.

I'll leave it to you to decide if the play-in series was an actual playoff series or not.