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.

Warren Foegele’s time in Edmonton has come and gone after three seasons. Acquired by the Oilers in the summer of 2021 from the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for defenceman Ethan Bear, he immediately fit in well in the bottom six.
Over the years he showed an ability to play up and down the lineup, and in 2023-24, he had a career year, posting bests in goals, assists and points, with 20, 21 and 41, respectively.
At 5v5, Foegele was a force for the Oilers this season. The team was always driving play in the right direction with him on the ice, controlling the shot attempt share, scoring chance share, and expected goal share at above-average rates. While he spent most of his time on the third line alongside Ryan McLeod, there were times during the season when he slid up the lineup to play alongside Leon Draisaitl, including in the playoffs.
While his underlying numbers had always been strong, so were his individual numbers at 5v5. He took tons of shots, and generated a plethora of scoring chances. In fact, his scoring chance and high-danger scoring chance rates were second on the team last year to only Zach Hyman.
His shooting percentage was above average, but the biggest issue was that his linemates had issues producing offence. Ryan McLeod, for as good as his impact defensively was, struggled himself to score and set up his teammates to do so. Foegele fell victim to some of that this season, as, with the two of them on the ice at 5v5, the Oilers scored on 6.36 percent of their shots, well below the team average of 8.81.
Foegele’s impacts on the ice were always excellent. He drove offence at a 12 percent rate above league average, provided league average defence, and was rock solid on the penalty kill, providing value at a three percent rate above league average, according to hockeyviz.com. All in all, his contributions came bordering that of a low-end first-line player.
The Oilers opted not to re-sign Foegele, letting him walk in free agency where he signed a three-year, $3.5-million AAV deal with the Los Angeles Kings. Ironically enough, the Oilers signed one of the Kings’ free agent wingers in Viktor Arvidsson, who the Oilers will utilize in their top six in hopes of generating more even-strength offence than Foegele was able to.

WARREN FOEGELE’S CAREER SO FAR

Regular SeasonPlayoffs
SeasonTeamLgeGPGAPtsPIM+/-GPGAPtsPIM
2014-15
U. of New Hampshire
H-East
34
5
11
16
26
-3
2015-16
U. of New Hampshire
H-East
5
0
1
1
4
2
2015-16
Kingston Frontenacs
OHL
52
13
35
48
44
32
9
8
2
10
12
2016-17
Kingston Frontenacs
OHL
28
11
20
31
20
5
2016-17
Erie Otters 🏆
OHL
33
16
16
32
20
21
22
13
13
26
25
2017-18
Charlotte Checkers
AHL
73
28
18
46
40
22
8
0
3
3
12
2017-18
Carolina Hurricanes
NHL
2
2
1
3
0
3
2018-19
Carolina Hurricanes
NHL
77
10
5
15
20
-17
15
5
4
9
6
2019-20
Carolina Hurricanes
NHL
68
13
17
30
34
9
8
1
0
1
2
2020-21
Carolina Hurricanes
NHL
53
10
10
20
20
4
10
1
1
2
10
2021-22
Edmonton Oilers
NHL
82
12
14
26
24
-9
13
0
1
1
2
2022-23
Edmonton Oilers
NHL
67
13
15
28
28
7
12
2
1
3
16
2023-24
Edmonton Oilers
NHL
82
20
21
41
47
3
22
3
5
8
25
NHL Totals
431
80
83
163
173
80
12
12
24
61

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.

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