The Blunders of the Edmonton Oilers

There is a particular notion about the top scorers in the NHL that they all play for highly competitive teams with a few outliers. Nathan Mackinnon, Nikita Kucherov, Kirill Kaprizov or even a guy like Jason Robertson are all at the top of the league in scoring while being on competing NHL teams yet, there’s 2 guys up there that have consistently broken this stereotype. That would be Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers with both being perennial top scorers in the league yet never being on a team that has placed top 5 in team wide standings. So how? How does this happen, how do you have 2 guys that are so good and you can’t build a proper team around them? That comes with a lot of mistakes, blunders and management.

In a world where the Oilers received a fulfilled potential of a fourth overall pick defencemen, we would be raving about how great Griffin Reinhart is. That isn’t reality, Reinhart is a bust and had all the signs of one long before ever being traded to the Edmonton Oilers. In 2015, the Edmonton Oilers traded their first round pick and their second round pick for Griffin Reinhart and it was a disaster for the Oilers in terms of… everything. The New York Islanders who received our picks took Mathew Barzal who has been their top line center since 2017. They also reflipped our second round pick into a higher pick for Anthony Beauvillier who has been a great depth scorer in the NHL outside of a small down year in 2024. For a top line center and a great depth scorer, the Oilers received… 29 games of Griffin Reinhart and lost him for nothing in the Vegas Golden Knights expansion draft. The Oilers weren’t guaranteed to take Barzal or trade up for Beauvillier but with that first round pick, the other players in that range were Thomas Chabot and Kyle Connor… 2 unreal NHL players that the Oilers would be dying to get today. By far, some of the worst asset management ever seen in the NHL.

There’s something about 4th overall picks that don’t mesh with the Edmonton Oilers apparently because Jesse Puljujarvi set the Oilers back years by missing with the 4th overall pick. Puljujarvi was a big body projected top three overall pick at the time who in particular, performed well at the highly acclaimed world juniors with 17 points in 7 games. At the time, this seemed like a no-brainer pick and honestly, a “can’t-miss” pick but there were some signs that maybe Puljujarvi wasn’t all that. Earlier I said Puljujarvi was a projected top three pick but the Oilers got him at fourth and why? How did this can’t-miss prospect drop a spot in the draft? That is because the General Manager of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Jarmo Kekalainen who is from Finland, the same country as Puljujarvi, decided to pass on him in the draft. That was unprecedented at the time and made no sense yet in 2026, ten years later… aged like fine wine. The worst part about this, is that the Oilers passed on Matthew Tkachuk who now has two Stanley Cups.

One bad playoff run can really ruin a player’s reputation and unfortunately, it can even run them out of the city. Jordan Eberle had one of the worst playoff runs individually I’ve seen. It really was bad but, it was also just one time. In 2017, Jordan Eberle put up a measly two points in 13 playoff games and that was enough for Oilers fans and media to essentially drive him out of the city. It was one of the worst witch hunts in recent times for a hockey player and even at the time, wasn’t really justified at all. Eberle was a fan favorite and also played for the team for 6 seasons already, he wasn’t just another player, he was one of the backbones of the franchise. Yet after his bad playoff run, he was traded for Ryan Strome who has been pretty good everywhere he’s played… except the Edmonton Oilers. After being traded to the Islanders, Eberle played in four more playoff runs and in 63 playoff games, putting up a fantastic 45 points in those games. One of the biggest Oilers needs has always been wingers and Eberle was essentially given away for free. In terms of value, needs and honestly everything, this move was disastrous. 

Good defencemen are hard to come by, especially for the Edmonton Oilers and Oscar Klefbom was that. A great defencemen who put in big minutes at a time where the Oilers didn’t have reliable players. Unfortunately he went down with an injury that made him retire permanently and that’s unlucky not just for the Oilers but also Oscar Klefbom himself who was reportedly a great locker room guy. The problem comes afterwards in Darnell Nurse who was basically the only real top defencemen left in the Oilers franchise. Without Klefbom, Darnell Nurse had to step up and he put up his best season ever in 2021 with 56 games and 36 points while playing stellar defence to boot. Nurse looked like he was ready to take that next step and in anticipation of that, the Oilers rewarded him with an eight year 9.25 million dollar deal which aged… terribly. After receiving that contract, Nurse not only took a step back but permanently took that step back with one of his worst seasons being this year in 2026. At a 9.25 million dollar cap hit, Nurse is arguably, barely a top 4 defencemen anymore and having the fans completely turn on him over the course of five years.

The most recent blunder of the Edmonton Oilers and in terms of value, maybe the worst one ever. In 2024, the Oilers had a decision to make, do they resign Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg. The answer should’ve been yes and without hesitation. Instead, the Edmonton Oilers let the St. Louis Blues offer sheet them both which basically meant that the Oilers would receive a second and third round pick for Broberg and Holloway. A terrible return for two players who had just recently proven themselves in a 2024 playoff run and the Oilers… let them go. Holloway has now played 118 games, tallying 90 points in those games while Broberg has fit in brilliantly as a top defencemen in St Louis playing 131 games with 52 points. And while St. Louis has gotten themselves two future cornerstones for the franchise, the Edmonton Oilers are left with a second and third round pick.

For more Edmonton Oilers history, you can read my other posts about Oilers goalies and wingers.

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