Oil On Whyte
Fansided

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
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 5
Next

Sixth round - Nikita Yevseyev, 190th overall

The Oilers gambled on defenceman Yevseyev with this pick, who as you can probably guess from his name is Russian. Drafted after he put up seven points in 14 games for his Russian junior team (the previous season, his rookie season in pro hockey, he had almost split time between his junior team and the Russian minor leagues). The following season it appears he started in the Russian minor leagues but only played two games before getting called up to Ak-Bars Kazan of the KHL, where he put up five goals and seven points in 47 games with a +7 to boot, and immediately followed that up in the playoffs with 1-3-4 in 22 games. He's followed that up since then bouncing around between the Russian minor leagues and the KHL, so at this point it appears he is nothing more than a KHL bubble player. But, as with Jonsson, you have to take this with a grain of salt as Yevseyev has only played 69 KHL games so we don't know exactly what we have with this player, he's only 20 years old and may just break out for us. Just as with Jonsson, he remains on the Oilers reserve list, one of six defenders there. I see flashes of potential in his numbers, unlike with Jonsson where they've been flat across the board, so let's call him a project who's trending up ever so slightly.

Trending up or down? Trending up, very slightly. His numbers show potential, but we need to see more KHL games to know exactly what we have with this player. He needs to achieve these goals in the following order - 1) Secure a spot in the KHL and stay there all season long 2) Come to Bakersfield and do well in the AHL, and last but not least 3) Show enough potential that he either makes the Oilers or can be included as a trade chip with another team. At this point, any combination of things could happen. He may be nothing more than a KHL bubble player, or he may only be able to play in the KHL. Maybe he comes to Bakersfield but his game doesn't translate to the North American pro leagues, it's happened before and it'll keep happening to some Europeans. Or maybe he can be an NHL bubble player - a Brad Malone type who's good enough to play regularly in the AHL and in spot duty in the NHL. Or he may be an NHL regular and thrive here, just like lots of Russians in the past, such as Alex Ovechkin, Sergei Federov, or Alex Mogilny, amongst a host of others.

Home/Editorials