David Tomášek has underwhelmed in the early going of his NHL career.

Last year’s leading scorer in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), he signed with the Oilers in the offseason to give the NHL a go. He made the team out of training camp and started out in Zach Hyman’s spot on the first line, but has since, as the Oilers became healthier again, become the forgotten man.

Even as the Oilers suffer through another wave of injuries, Tomášek remains a healthy scratch, which is damning, as the team chooses to call up players from the farm team rather than put him in the lineup.

Tomášek hasn’t done that bad for a first-year player, but only been….OK, putting up three goals and five points in 22 games for the Oilers with a -6 to boot. But honestly, the NHL is a “what have you done for me lately?” type of business, and Tomášek has fallen off the map recently. He hasn’t played a game since Dec. 13, and he hasn’t scored a goal since Dec. 6, which was also his last point. He also hasn’t been above 0 in +/- since the aforementioned Dec. 6 game. Predictably, his ice time went down over that stretch too.  

Some websites choose to publish bird droppings like this one, claiming the Oilers haven’t given him enough opportunity. I don’t believe it for a second. The NHL is a meritocracy, so only the guys playing up to expectations will get the roster spots and ice time. You only get time in the top-six forward group when you prove yourself in the bottom six forward group — and you only get a spot in the bottom-six forward group when you’ve proven yourself in practice, training camp, and on the farm team. Then once you get there you have to stay there. Tomášek started in the top-six but didn’t stay there.    

I’d like to ask the obvious question of Stan Bowman and the rest of Oilers management: Why haven’t you sent him down to Bakersfield yet? This is what teams usually do with underperforming players as long as they’re not susceptible to waivers, which Tomášek isn’t because he has yet to play a single game in the AHL, never mind reach the 160-game limit of NHL games played. Tomášek can be sent down and called up as much as the team wants him to. Letting him rot in the press box doesn’t help anybody.  

In Bakersfield, the game would slow down for Tomášek, the quality of scorers would go down, and the quality of defence would go down, but both would still be a step up from what he was used to in the SHL. It doesn’t have to be for the rest of the season, or even a long time. Give him five, 10 games in the minors and see how he does. If he has his mojo and his swagger back, bring him back up to the Oilers. 

I get that being up in the press box gives Tomášek a different view of the game, but eventually when it comes to underperforming players you have to “poop” or get off the pot. Make a decision and stick by it.

Yes, he may not have signed with the Oilers to play in the AHL, but again there’s nothing that says it has to be a long term assignment. The quicker you can get him his confidence back, the better it will be for the player and the team. Better he does that in Bakersfield than here.