Looking back at the Oilers’ second round picks from the past decade

Photo credit:John E. Sokolowski/USA TODAY Sports

5 years ago

With the last decade of mid-first round picks out of the way, I thought that the next step would be to look at how the Oilers have done in the second round. In today’s Draft recap, I’ll take a look at the second round picks the Oilers have made over the past decade and how those selections have fared since Draft day. To change things up a little bit, I’ll also include some notable picks from each draft year and where they were drafted to give us a better idea of who went where and when.

My friends, I welcome you to the last decade’s worth of second-round picks.

2008:

No second-round pick. It was included as part of the Penner offer sheet. This baby actually went through a few different teams before the Sabres finally used it to select Tyler Myers at 12th overall.

2009:

Anton Lander – C – 40th overall

2017-18 Season: KHL: 54GP – 9G, 29A for 38 points
Rookie Season (2011-12 w/ Edmonton Oilers): 56GP – 2G, 4A for six points

Pre-Draft Scouting Report:

“A very smart two-way player with excellent hockey sense. Lander reads the game well and makes mature decisions with and without the puck. Plays with some intensity, but his skating needs some improvement. Is a capable playmaker that protects the puck very well and usually comes out with the puck from the corners and along the boards. Defensively aware and with leadership skills.”

Season	Team	Lge	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PGP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2017-18	Kazan Ak-Bars	KHL	54	9	29	38	40	9	19	8	5	13	16
	NHL Totals		215	10	25	35	56

2010:

Tyler Pitlick – C – 31st overall

2017-18 Season: 80GP – 14G, 13A for 27 points
Rookie Season (2016-17 w/ Edmonton Oilers): 8G, 3A for 11 points

Pre-Draft Scouting Report:

“Pitlick has pro size, great hands, a plus shot, and sees the ice quite well. He is noted for his hockey sense and defensive awareness and does not shy away from the physical element of the game. Pitlick was perceived as a pure goal scorer when he was drafted but his offensive numbers have been limited at the pro level. A series of injuries have kept him off the ice for long stretches during his four-year career — the most recent being a spleen injury suffered in a game against Calgary on New Years’ Eve 2014. HIs determination to overcome those setbacks speaks to his character but the time off has slowed his development.”

Season	Team	Lge	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-
2017-18	Dallas Stars	NHL	80	14	13	27	34	9
	NHL Totals		138	25	16	41	44

Martin Marincin – D – 46th overall

2017-18 Season: NHL: 2GP – 0G, 0A — AHL: 52GP – 4G, 16A for 20 points
Rookie Season (2013-14 w/ Edmonton Oilers): 44GP – 0G, 6A for six points

Pre-Draft Scouting Report:

“Marincin is a lanky Slovak blueliner who is an excellent skater for his size and shows tremendous mobility. He uses his reach very effectively and his offensive instincts and skill set serve him well, both breaking out of his own zone and in a powerplay quarterback role. He can play with an edge (as was evidenced at the 2011 World Junior Championships) but is not overly physical. Since making the transition to the pro ranks, he has taken his game to the next level and was a real difference-maker in the for Oklahoma City in the 2013 AHL playoffs.”

Season	Team	Lge	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PGP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2017-18	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL	2	0	0	0	2	-2
2017-18	Toronto Marlies	AHL	52	4	16	20	18	35	15	1	6	7	6
	NHL Totals		177	3	22	25	84		6	0	0	0	2

Curtis Hamilton – LW – 48th overall

2017-18 Season: SM-Liiga: 21GP – 3G, 5A for eight points
Rookie Season: It’ll come one day! If not, just wait longer.

Pre-Draft Scouting Report:

“Hamilton has solid offensive skills, but thrives in a power forward role. He excels at using his big frame effectively and efficiently. His defensive awareness is above average and his willingness to get his nose dirty without taking unnecessary penalties serve him well. He is the kind of hard working player who can contribute in any situation.”

Season	Team	Lge	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-
2017-18	Tappara Tampere	SM-liiga	5	0	0	0	0	0
2017-18	SaiPa Lappeenranta	SM-liiga	16	3	5	8	6	3
	NHL Totals		1	0	0	0	5

2011:

David Musil – D – 31st overall

2017-18 Season: Czech League: 52GP – 1G, 5A for six points
Rookie Season: Can we count four NHL games as a rookie season to make this list look better?

Pre-Draft Scouting Report:

“Musil boasts good size and is a strong character-guy. He is primarily considered a shutdown defender but has good puck skills and an offensive side that could evolve over the next few years. He plays a smart, contained, physical brand of hockey, boasts NHL bloodlines (son of Frank Musil), and has a skill set that should translate to the pro level.”

Season	Team	Lge	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-
2017-18	Trinec Ocelari HC	Czech	52	1	5	6	22	7
	NHL Totals		4	0	2	2	2

2012:

Mitch Moroz – LW – 32nd overall

2017-18 Season: ECHL: 22GP – 5G, 7A for 12 points
Rookie Season: Had excellent stats in his first season of ‘Be a Pro’ in NHL ’16 but fell back in his NHL ’17 campaign.

Pre-Draft Scouting Report:

“Moroz is a quintessential power forward with a great deal of energy and can be a terror in the offensive zone in a physical manner. That effort does not always translate to offence. He needs to work on his skating a bit, although it is by no means a liability. At this stage, he projects to be an energy player with some potential to be more than just a banger but he will need some time to develop.”

Season	Team	Lge	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-
2017-18	Idaho Steelheads	ECHL	22	5	7	12	88	-1

2013:

Marco Roy – C – 56th overall

2017-18 Season: ECHL: 45GP – 17G, 31A for 48 points — AHL: 13GP – 2G, 0A for two points
Rookie Season: He’ll get one, you’ll see.

Pre-Draft Scouting Report:

“Roy has the ideal height of an NHL center with a high level of natural skill and talent but will need added strength and bulk to compete at the NHL level. He is willing to dig deep into tough areas of the ice when it comes to creating scoring chances but that doesn’t always translate to 100 per cent effort on every shift. He will need to continue to hone his two-way game and responsibility in his own end to have success at the pro level. Roy’s main strength is his skating ability, as he can power through traffic in the neutral zone quite easily. His quick skating and desire to dig deep into the corners sometimes work to his detriment, however, as he is sometimes caught out of position in his own end. He has a decent shot which makes him valuable on the power play.”

Season	Team	Lge	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-
2017-18	Fort Wayne Komets	ECHL	45	17	31	48	24	1
2017-18	San Jose Barracuda	AHL	7	0	0	0	4	-6
2017-18	Utica Comets	AHL	6	2	0	2	11

2014:

No second-round pick. This one was sent to St. Louis as part of the David Perron trade. They ended up selecting Ivan Barbashev.

2015:

No second-round pick. This pick was sent to the Islanders as part of the Griffin Reinhart trade. The Isles then flipped the pick to Tampa Bay who ended up drafting Mitchell Stephens.

2016:

Tyler Benson – LW – 32nd overall

2017-18 Season: WHL: 58GP – 27G, 42A for 69 points (nice) — AHL: 5GP – 0G, 3A for three points
Rookie Season: Benson will turn pro next year and I’m hopeful with some luck that he can stay healthy and start to gain some traction at the next level. Fingers crossed.

Pre-Draft Scouting Report:

“Benson is a strong, grinding winger who possesses both excellent passing ability and a quality shot. Strong along the wall and able to bully his way through traffic, Benson is willing to battle through to the open slot and can be difficult to handle in front of the net for smaller defenders. Benson is a capable two-way player that can be counted on to play in all situations, and has been a catalyst on a weak WHL team, though he lacks elite offensive instincts and shift-to-shift consistency at this stage in his development. Not blessed with top end speed, Benson could increase his overall effectiveness by improving his two-step quickness and keeping his feet moving at all times.”

Season	Team	Lge	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-
2017-18	Vancouver Giants	WHL	58	27	42	69	39	-1
2017-18	Bakersfield Condors	AHL	5	0	3	3	0	-1

2017:

No second-round pick. The Oilers had to give it up for signing Chiarelli after he was fired in Boston. What a horribly dumb rule. It’s no surprise the NHL got rid of it, but we still had to pay up on the pick anyway. Boston ended up drafting a guy with a perfect porn name in Jack Studnicka.

THE WRAP…

Holy hell, the second round of the Draft has not been kind to the Edmonton Oilers over the last 10 years. For a guy like Tyler Benson, it’s still way too soon to say how he’ll turn out or whether it was a good pick or not, but the rest of these years are frighteningly bad. Aside from Benson, not a single guy selected in the second round over the past 10 years is still with the franchise, and I don’t think I have to explain how bad of a look that is.

If you’re looking for reasons why the Oilers have struggled over the years then this list of missed picks should probably be circled and underlined. I don’t know how other teams have done in the second round over the past 10 years, and maybe I’ll do another article showing how the other teams have spent their second-round picks, but I can’t imagine that there are many that only have a single prospect in their system after all that time.

Am I wrong? Am I being harsh? Or is this list as bad to you as it is to me? What say you, Nation?

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