The Edmonton Oilers’ 2012 draft class is arguably their worst ever.
Nail Yakupov headlined the draft, going first overall, and after a 17-goal rookie season, things looked promising early. However, Yakupov never found that level again. The closest he came to 17 goals again was 14 a few years later, but shortly after that, he was out of the NHL. He’s played in the KHL ever since.
Yakupov was one of the seven players the Oilers selected that day. They went with local product Mitch Moroz in the second round and then Jujhar Khaira and Daniil Zharkov in the third. To close out the draft, Edmonton picked Joey LaLeggia and John McCarron in the fifth and sixth rounds. The best player they took in that draft actually never played a game for them. In the fourth round, with the 93rd overall pick, Edmonton chose defenceman Erik Gustafsson from Djurgårdens IF Stockholm in the Swedish Elite League.
After the draft, Stu MacGregor, the director of amateur scouting at the time, had this to say about Gustafsson:
“Offensive, skilled defenceman. Again, a puck-mover we can hopefully fit in with the rest of our group to give us some puck movers and some size.”
Despite leading Djurgårdens IF Stockholm in points the following year and then putting up equivalent numbers to John Klingberg in Frölunda, the Oilers opted not to sign Gustafsson. Instead, they decided to go with the prospect group which included David Musil, Dillon Simpson and Martin Gernat as the future of their blueline.
After going unsigned, Gustafsson found a home with the Chicago Blackhawks.
“The Blackhawks are lacking left-handed playmakers from the D position,” said Peter Wallen, his agent at the time, on signing in Chicago. “That’s what they want him to develop into over the next two years and make an impact on.”
Well, they certainly did develop him into exactly that. Four years later, Gustafsson had a 17-goal and 60-point season with Chicago in 79 games. He finished sixth among defencemen in league scoring, outscoring Roman Josi (56 points in 82 games), Victor Hedman (54 points in 70 games) and Drew Doughty (45 points in 82 games).
The Swedish defenceman never reached those heights again, unfortunately for him. The closest he got was in the 2023 season with the Washington Capitals and Toronto Maple Leafs. He finished that year with 7 goals and 42 points in 70 games.
Gustafsson has gone on to play almost 500 games in the NHL and has scored over 200 points. He recently signed a two-year, $4 million contract with the Detroit Red Wings. Over his career, the Swedish defenceman has earned an estimated $11,810,000.
