It seemed like the Edmonton Oilers built for a stockpile of good defensive prospects for a while. Ethan Bear, Caleb Jones and Dmitri Samorukov were all in the system by 2017, and Evan Bouchard joined them a year later after the Oilers took him 10th overall.
In the 2016 draft, Edmonton snagged two defencemen who would end up playing NHL games for them. Those two players’ careers have gone in different directions despite where they were drafted. Vincent Desharnais was their 7th round pick from Providence College and has gone on to play 114 games all within Edmonton, however, his time in the Copper and Blue came to an end this summer when he signed for the Vancouver Canucks. The other was Markus Niemeläinen, a pending unrestricted free agent.
Niemeläinen was the 63rd overall pick in the 2016 draft, going three picks ahead of Adam Fox. Evidently, Fox and Niemeläinen haven’t had close to the same success in their careers. The Finnish defenceman has played 43 games in the NHL career, grabbing one assist. His debut came against the Pittsburgh Penguins on December 1st, 2021, playing just over 10 minutes. Niemeläinen stuck around for long chunks for the remainder of the season, playing in 20 games.
His path to the NHL was interesting. While playing for the Saginaw Spirit in the Ontario Hockey League, he was drafted but moved back to Finland shortly after. Niemeläinen spent the next four years, from 2017 to 2021, playing in Liiga before returning to North America again, where he spent most of his time in the American Hockey League with the Bakersfield Condors.
Niemeläinen wasn’t the only pick that didn’t work out for the Oilers in 2016. With the fourth pick, they selected Jesse Puljujarvi, and in the second round, they went with Tyler Benson, 32nd overall. It’s not often that your 7th rounder is your best player selected, but the Oilers somehow managed to pull it off.
The expectation when Oilers fans saw a 6’5″ 200 lbs defenceman slot into the lineup was that they were getting a physical old school player. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case at all. He was never able to reach the heights of the NHL, which has ultimately led to him being on the market still, almost a month after free agency began.
What’s next for him? It’s safe to assume he’ll return to Finland and stay there until his career ends.
NIEMELAINEN’S PRO CAREER
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/- | PGP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2020-21 | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 21 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — |
2021-22 | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 34 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 12 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2021-22 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 20 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | -5 | — | — | — | — | — |
2022-23 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | — | — | — | — | — |
2022-23 | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 30 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 18 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2023-24 | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 35 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 18 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
NHL Totals | 43 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
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