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.
The Edmonton Oilers really hoped for more from Viktor Arvidsson.
When they signed him to his two-year, $4-million AAV contract in free agency a year ago, they hoped to be getting the Viktor Arvidssson who was putting up 50-60 points as he had with the Los Angeles Kings and Nashville Predators before. Instead, they got 27 points and a lot of disappointment.
Arvidsson struggled to find his game for much of the season, and while he was still able to chip in some offence, largely playing on the second line with Leon Draisaitl, there could’ve been so much more. And while he played in all of the Oilers’ first-round series against the Kings, as the playoffs wore on, he began to find himself either as a healthy scratch or playing on the fourth line.
The biggest issue for Arvidsson all year long was his lack of consistency. The flashes were there of the productive player he had been before, but the frequent lows were outweighed by the highs.
He found his way to contribute, driving offence at a seven percent rate above league average, but his defensive game struggled to the tune of contributing at a five percent rate below league average, according to Hockey Viz. Ultimately, his efforts were those of a low-end second-line player.
He worked with the Oilers on finding a trade partner to get around his no-trade clause, ultimately getting sent to the Boston Bruins in exchange for a fifth-round pick in 2027.

VIKTOR ARIVDSSON’S CAREER SO FAR

Season
Team
GP
G
A
PTS
+/-
PIM
PTS/G
PPG
SHG
GWG
SOG
S%
ATOI
2014-2015
6
0
0
0
0
0
0.00
0
0
0
9
0.0
10:15
2015-2016
56
8
8
16
-8
35
0.29
1
0
3
139
5.8
12:24
2016-2017
80
31
30
61
16
28
0.76
4
5
6
246
12.6
17:09
2017-2018
78
29
32
61
20
36
0.78
3
3
6
247
11.7
17:45
2018-2019
58
34
14
48
12
26
0.83
3
2
7
195
17.4
19:09
2019-2020
57
15
13
28
-4
26
0.49
4
0
1
127
11.8
16:12
2020-2021
50
10
15
25
9
21
0.50
2
0
2
151
6.6
16:36
2021-2022
66
20
29
49
1
22
0.74
4
0
3
227
8.8
16:59
2022-2023
77
26
33
59
-4
24
0.77
10
1
2
228
11.4
17:06
2023-2024
18
6
9
15
4
14
0.83
1
0
1
59
10.2
16:42
2024-2025
67
15
12
27
-3
24
0.40
1
0
2
158
9.5
15:00
Totals:
613
194
195
389
43
256
0.63
33
11
33
1786
10.9
175:17

OTHER PLAYER REVIEWS

Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s associate editor, senior columnist, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the DFO DFS Report. He can be followed on Twitter, currently known as X, at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach.laing@bettercollective.com.

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