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Revisiting the 2022 NHL entry draft - how did the Oilers make out?

Ah 2022 - the end of the pandemic lockdowns. Finally most if not all of the jobs that were present prior to the pandemic came back. The NHL realigned it's divisions to cross border divisions once again, and a full capacity of fans were allowed back in, masking and vaccination protocols notwithstanding - and the players had to follow the same protocols. As for the Oilers, Ken Holland continued to weave his magic remaking the Oilers in his image - and considering that the Oilers had finally made the playoffs for two years in a row at this point, I'd say that was a good thing. Let's see how this draft worked out.

By Phil Gretzky

2024 Stanley Cup Final - Media Day
2024 Stanley Cup Final - Media Day / Bruce Bennett/GettyImages
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Second round - no pick, traded away to Montreal along with William Lagesson and a seventh-round pick in 2024 in exchange for blueliner Brett Kulak, who remains an Oiler to this day.

Third round - no pick, traded away along with Caleb Jones in exchange for prospect Tim Soderlund and blueliner Duncan Keith. Soderlund never went anywhere but Keith played his last season for the Oilers before retiring and joining them in player development.

Fourth round - no pick, traded away to New Jersey in exchange for rental d-man Dmitry Kulikov at the 2022 trade deadline

Fifth round - Samuel Jonsson, 158th overall

Samuel Jonsson is a Swedish goalie who hasn't left his area of the pond yet, and his stats are spotty at best. After two years in the Swedish junior leagues oddly enough he was called up by his Swedish pro league team (were injuries really that bad for them that season? Weird) for four games where he got no starts but did some relief time (no stats available). He then went back to the Swedish juniors where although his stats are nothing more than average at least he played more games, moving the dial on his career slightly. He then graduated to the Swedish minor leagues, where he's played four games for two different teams over two seasons, most recently putting up a 3.75 GAA and a .884 sv% in three games for Bofors IK. It's hard to say exactly what we have here with Jonsson, but it's worth noting that he remains on the Oilers reserve list, one of just four goalies there, so I'm not ready to give up on him yet and clearly neither are the Oilers.

Trending up or down? Down slightly, with the caveat that he hasn't played nearly enough games to know what we have in this player just yet. Failing to impress in four minor league games and pro relief appearances in four pro games is hardly a condemnation of the player. From a developmental perspective, if Jonsson continues to be buried down the order on his Swedish minor league team, it might be worthwhile to bring him across the ocean to play in the ECHL for Fort Wayne and see what he can do there, calling him up to Bakersfield if he shows potential. The task of what to do with him now falls on Duncan Keith, Stan Bowman, Jeff Salajko (head of goalie scouting and development), and Dustin Schwartz (may the Schwartz be with you, Sammy).

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