Throughout the summer and into the fall, we’ll be counting down the days until the Edmonton Oilers begin their 2023-24 season with a daily trip down memory lane. Today at No. 23 we have Linus Omark, the “O” in “H.O.P.E.”

The Oilers selected Omark in the fourth round of the 2007 draft following his first full season playing in Sweden’s top professional league. Omark broke out during his third season Lulea HF in 2008-09 with 23 goals and 55 points over 53 games, which was good for third in league scoring.

What really put Omark on the map, though, was this creative shootout goal that he scored while playing for Sweden in an international exhibition game against Switzerland.

Omark spent the 2009-10 season playing for Dynamo Moscow in the KHL before coming overseas to play in North America. He started the 2010-11 season with the Oklahoma City Oil Barons and earned a call-up to the Oilers after scoring 31 points in 28 games in the AHL.

It didn’t take long for the skilled Swede to make his mark on the NHL. He picked up an assist in his first game with the Oilers and scored the game-winning goal in the shootout, which featured Omark faking a slapshot before going five-hole on goaltender Dan Ellis.

Omark scored five goals and 27 points over 51 games for the Oilers in his first season in North America but struggled in his second. He started off the 2011-12 season with the Oilers but was demoted after five games in October. He scored 16 points in 18 games with the Oil Barons in the NHL and then came up and scored three goals in nine games for the Oilers in March.

The Oilers and Omark couldn’t agree on a contract in the following off-season and he spent the entirety of the 2012-13 season playing in Switzerland. Omark scored 69 points in 48 games playing for EV Zug and didn’t return to the Oilers when the NHL lockout ended.

He signed a one-year, two-way deal with the Oilers shortly before the start of the 2013-14 season but didn’t crack the team’s roster out of training camp. Omark again showed well in the AHL and was traded to the Buffalo Sabres in December for future considerations. He played 13 games with the Sabres before mutually terminating his contract and returning to Luela HF for the rest of the season.

Over the next decade, Omark has put together a very successful career playing in Europe. Most recently, he scored 56 points across 52 games for Genève-Servette HC in Switzerland and helped the team win their first National League championship in team history.