<p><em>Welcome to the 2020-21 season review and 2021-22 season preview player-by-player! In this, and other articles, I’ll be, well, reviewing the Edmonton Oilers 2020-21 season and previewing the 2021-22 season. You can read about the analytics behind my analysis <a href="https://publish.oilersnation.com/2021/06/14/a-guide-to-my-offseason-coverage-and-the-analytics-behind-them/" rel="follow" data-wpel-link="internal">here</a>.<span id="more-102741"></span><span id="more-102964"></span></em><span id="more-102979"></span><br />
</p>
<p>Sail on, Gaetan.</p>
<p>The Oilers brought him to town on a flyer signing as a European player and for what it&#8217;s worth, he was a fine NHL&#8217;er. Sure, he didn&#8217;t provide much offensive flash but he didn&#8217;t need to as a fourth-liner.</p>
<p>Haas was just what the Oilers needed — a steady defensive forward. His underlying numbers were far from great, but I think you can point to the fact he started the majority of his shifts in the defensive zone and had a very low on-ice shooting percentage of just 4.95 percent — at least three to four percent off league average.</p>
<p>With him on the ice at 5&#215;5, the Oilers controlled 43.56 percent of the shot attempts, 33.33 percent of the goals and 43.09 percent of the expected goal while posting a low 97.2 PDO. Again, a low shooting percentage is likely to blame for lots of this.</p>
<p>But his isolated impacts on the ice were solid. At 5&#215;5, he provided offence at an 11 percent rate below league average and defence at a staggering nine percent above league average. Again, he was never asked to be an offensive weapon for the Oilers, so he did his job fine as a depth centre.</p>
<p>On top of that, he provided some good value on the penalty kill, where the Oilers expected goals against rate was 12 percent better than league average with him on the ice.</p>
<p>Earlier in the offseason <a href="https://publish.oilersnation.com/2021/06/10/edmonton-oilers-forward-gaetan-haas-signs-five-year-deal-in-switzerland/">Haas signed a five-year deal to return to Switzerland</a>, thus ending his time in the NHL.</p>
<h2>GAETAN HAAS&#8217; NHL CAREER</h2>
<div class="player-overview__stats">
<div class="season-summary__table">
<div class="responsive-datatable">
<div class="responsive-datatable__inner">
<div class="responsive-datatable__scrollable">
<div>
<table id="125053" class="sortable autostripe st reg">
<thead>
<tr class="c_sort_head">
<th class="l">Season</th>
<th class="l">Team</th>
<th class="l">League</th>
<th>GP</th>
<th>G</th>
<th>A</th>
<th>Pts</th>
<th>PIM</th>
<th>+/-</th>
<th>PGP</th>
<th>G</th>
<th>A</th>
<th>Pts</th>
<th>PIM</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr class="MAJOR-1 odd">
<td class="pds l">2019-20</td>
<td class="pdt l hhw ">Edmonton Oilers</td>
<td class="pdl l">NHL</td>
<td class="pdgp">58</td>
<td>5</td>
<td>5</td>
<td>10</td>
<td>6</td>
<td>-1</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr class="MINPRO-1">
<td class="pds l">2019-20</td>
<td class="pdt l hhw ">Bakersfield Condors</td>
<td class="pdl l">AHL</td>
<td class="pdgp">2</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>-2</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="EUROEL-1 odd">
<td class="pds l">2020-21</td>
<td class="pdt l hhw ">Bern SC</td>
<td class="pdl l">Swiss-A</td>
<td class="pdgp">14</td>
<td>5</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>8</td>
<td>4</td>
<td>-4</td>
<td>&#8212;</td>
<td>&#8212;</td>
<td>&#8212;</td>
<td>&#8212;</td>
<td>&#8212;</td>
</tr>
<tr class="MAJOR-1">
<td class="pds l">2020-21</td>
<td class="pdt l hhw ">Edmonton Oilers</td>
<td class="pdl l">NHL</td>
<td class="pdgp">34</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>10</td>
<td>-6</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>4</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
<tfoot>
<tr class="c_sec_foot">
<td></td>
<td class="l"><strong>NHL Totals</strong></td>
<td></td>
<td><strong>92</strong></td>
<td><strong>7</strong></td>
<td><strong>6</strong></td>
<td><strong>13</strong></td>
<td><strong>16</strong></td>
<td></td>
<td><strong>3</strong></td>
<td><strong>0</strong></td>
<td><strong>0</strong></td>
<td><strong>0</strong></td>
<td><strong>4</strong></td>
</tr>
</tfoot>
</table>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<hr />
<p><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at</span></i><a href="http://www.twitter.com/zjlaing"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">@zjlaing</span></a><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, or reached by email at zach@oilersnation.com.</span></i></p>
<hr />

<em>Welcome to the 2020-21 season review and 2021-22 season preview player-by-player! In this, and other articles, I’ll be, well, reviewing the Edmonton Oilers 2020-21 season and previewing the 2021-22 season. You can read about the analytics behind my analysis <a href="https://publish.oilersnation.com/2021/06/14/a-guide-to-my-offseason-coverage-and-the-analytics-behind-them/" rel="follow" data-wpel-link="internal">here</a>.<span id="more-102741"></span><span id="more-102964"></span></em><span id="more-102979"></span>


Sail on, Gaetan.

The Oilers brought him to town on a flyer signing as a European player and for what it's worth, he was a fine NHL'er. Sure, he didn't provide much offensive flash but he didn't need to as a fourth-liner.

Haas was just what the Oilers needed — a steady defensive forward. His underlying numbers were far from great, but I think you can point to the fact he started the majority of his shifts in the defensive zone and had a very low on-ice shooting percentage of just 4.95 percent — at least three to four percent off league average.

With him on the ice at 5x5, the Oilers controlled 43.56 percent of the shot attempts, 33.33 percent of the goals and 43.09 percent of the expected goal while posting a low 97.2 PDO. Again, a low shooting percentage is likely to blame for lots of this.

But his isolated impacts on the ice were solid. At 5x5, he provided offence at an 11 percent rate below league average and defence at a staggering nine percent above league average. Again, he was never asked to be an offensive weapon for the Oilers, so he did his job fine as a depth centre.

On top of that, he provided some good value on the penalty kill, where the Oilers expected goals against rate was 12 percent better than league average with him on the ice.

Earlier in the offseason <a href="https://publish.oilersnation.com/2021/06/10/edmonton-oilers-forward-gaetan-haas-signs-five-year-deal-in-switzerland/">Haas signed a five-year deal to return to Switzerland</a>, thus ending his time in the NHL.
<h2>GAETAN HAAS' NHL CAREER</h2>
<div class="player-overview__stats">
<div class="season-summary__table">
<div class="responsive-datatable">
<div class="responsive-datatable__inner">
<div class="responsive-datatable__scrollable">
<div>
<table id="125053" class="sortable autostripe st reg">
<thead>
<tr class="c_sort_head">
<th class="l">Season</th>
<th class="l">Team</th>
<th class="l">League</th>
<th>GP</th>
<th>G</th>
<th>A</th>
<th>Pts</th>
<th>PIM</th>
<th>+/-</th>
<th>PGP</th>
<th>G</th>
<th>A</th>
<th>Pts</th>
<th>PIM</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr class="MAJOR-1 odd">
<td class="pds l">2019-20</td>
<td class="pdt l hhw ">Edmonton Oilers</td>
<td class="pdl l">NHL</td>
<td class="pdgp">58</td>
<td>5</td>
<td>5</td>
<td>10</td>
<td>6</td>
<td>-1</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr class="MINPRO-1">
<td class="pds l">2019-20</td>
<td class="pdt l hhw ">Bakersfield Condors</td>
<td class="pdl l">AHL</td>
<td class="pdgp">2</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>-2</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="EUROEL-1 odd">
<td class="pds l">2020-21</td>
<td class="pdt l hhw ">Bern SC</td>
<td class="pdl l">Swiss-A</td>
<td class="pdgp">14</td>
<td>5</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>8</td>
<td>4</td>
<td>-4</td>
<td>--</td>
<td>--</td>
<td>--</td>
<td>--</td>
<td>--</td>
</tr>
<tr class="MAJOR-1">
<td class="pds l">2020-21</td>
<td class="pdt l hhw ">Edmonton Oilers</td>
<td class="pdl l">NHL</td>
<td class="pdgp">34</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>10</td>
<td>-6</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>4</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
<tfoot>
<tr class="c_sec_foot">
<td></td>
<td class="l"><strong>NHL Totals</strong></td>
<td></td>
<td><strong>92</strong></td>
<td><strong>7</strong></td>
<td><strong>6</strong></td>
<td><strong>13</strong></td>
<td><strong>16</strong></td>
<td></td>
<td><strong>3</strong></td>
<td><strong>0</strong></td>
<td><strong>0</strong></td>
<td><strong>0</strong></td>
<td><strong>4</strong></td>
</tr>
</tfoot>
</table>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>

<hr />

<i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at</span></i><a href="http://www.twitter.com/zjlaing"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">@zjlaing</span></a><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, or reached by email at zach@oilersnation.com.</span></i>

<hr />

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