Welcome to my annual player review series, where I dive into the Edmonton Oilers season player-by-player. We’ll look back at the season that was, what kind of impact each player had, and what we could see from them next season. You can read about the analytics behind my analysis here.
And just like that, as mysteriously as he arrived, he was gone.
Sam Carrick’s time in Edmonton was short after being acquired by the Oilers ahead of the trade deadline alongside Adam Henrique. Carrick got into 26 games for the Oilers, and was, with no offence meant, a rather unmemorable player, beyond a fight in his first period with the team against Mathieu Oliver, another against Michael Pezzetta, and a pair of goals in the regular season.
In a fourth-line role, he contributed well offensively for the team, scoring two goals and five points in 16 games, all at 5v5, giving him a solid 1.9 points per hour. His underlying numbers were all solid, albeit below the team average, but beyond his shot attempt share, all hovering at or above league average. He worked on the penalty kill, posting good underlying numbers but ultimately poor goal numbers in the regular season, but only averaged 33 seconds in his 10 playoff games, with pretty negligible impacts.
While not represented by my chart above, he was a physical presence for the team, laying 11.49 hits per hour in the regular season, and 20.95 in the playoffs. Carrick was strong in the faceoff circle for the Oilers, which was needed as a right-shot centre. He had a 63.6 percent win percentage in the regular season, and a 56.32 percent rate in the playoffs, the highest among all players.
Simply put: Carrick was a role-player who filled his role well.
Having played on one-year contracts virtually his entire career post-entry-level-contract, Carrick earned himself a three-year pact with the New York Rangers this summer, signing at a $1-million AAV.
SAM CARRICK’S CAREER SO FAR
| Regular Season | Playoffs | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | Lge | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/- | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
2008-09 | Brampton Battalion | OHL | 61 | 10 | 11 | 21 | 47 | -2 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 16 |
2009-10 | Brampton Battalion | OHL | 66 | 21 | 21 | 42 | 96 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 |
2010-11 | Brampton Battalion | OHL | 59 | 16 | 23 | 39 | 74 | -15 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
2011-12 | Brampton Battalion | OHL | 68 | 37 | 30 | 67 | 104 | 9 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 16 |
2012-13 | Idaho Steelheads | ECHL | 50 | 16 | 21 | 37 | 70 | 15 | — | — | — | — | — |
2012-13 | Toronto Marlies | AHL | 19 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 18 | -2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2013-14 | Toronto Marlies | AHL | 62 | 14 | 21 | 35 | 115 | 17 | 14 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 10 |
2014-15 | Toronto Marlies | AHL | 59 | 9 | 18 | 27 | 112 | -1 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
2014-15 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 16 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — |
2015-16 | Toronto Marlies | AHL | 52 | 16 | 18 | 34 | 90 | 11 | 12 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 19 |
2015-16 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | -2 | — | — | — | — | — |
2016-17 | Rockford IceHogs | AHL | 57 | 11 | 17 | 28 | 85 | -14 | — | — | — | — | — |
2016-17 | San Diego Gulls | AHL | 15 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 20 | 3 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 14 |
2017-18 | San Diego Gulls | AHL | 67 | 13 | 28 | 41 | 83 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — |
2018-19 | San Diego Gulls | AHL | 61 | 32 | 29 | 61 | 90 | 7 | 16 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 21 |
2018-19 | Anaheim Ducks | NHL | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | — | — | — | — | — |
2019-20 | San Diego Gulls | AHL | 46 | 23 | 20 | 43 | 40 | 27 | |||||
2019-20 | Anaheim Ducks | NHL | 9 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | -3 | — | — | — | — | — |
2020-21 | Anaheim Ducks | NHL | 13 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 28 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — |
2020-21 | San Diego Gulls | AHL | 27 | 14 | 10 | 24 | 19 | 5 | — | — | — | — | — |
2021-22 | Anaheim Ducks | NHL | 64 | 11 | 8 | 19 | 85 | -12 | — | — | — | — | — |
2021-22 | San Diego Gulls | AHL | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — |
2022-23 | Anaheim Ducks | NHL | 52 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 86 | -17 | — | — | — | — | — |
2022-23 | San Diego Gulls | AHL | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — |
2023-24 | Anaheim Ducks | NHL | 61 | 8 | 3 | 11 | 90 | -11 | — | — | — | — | — |
2023-24 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 16 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 12 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 12 | |
NHL Totals | 240 | 28 | 25 | 53 | 316 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 12 |
PLAYERS REVIEWED SO FAR
Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.
