The first round of the NHL draft in 2011 was fantastic for the Edmonton Oilers. They drafted Ryan Nugent-Hopkins first overall and Oscar Klefbom with the 19th pick, which they acquired in the Dustin Penner trade with the Los Angeles Kings.

The two combined for over 1,200 regular season games for the Oilers, which would have been much higher if injuries had not held back Klefbom’s career. They played a massive role in getting Edmonton back into the postseason in 2017, helping them beat the San Jose Sharks in round one that year. The Oilers honestly couldn’t have hoped for a better result, but unfortunately, the rest of the draft didn’t pan out as well.

At 31st overall, the first pick of the second round, Edmonton selected David Musil from the Vancouver Giants. A left-shot, 6’3″, 207 lb defenceman from the Czech Republic, he was coming off a six-goal, 25-point season in the Western Hockey League. His father, Frank, played 69 games for the Oilers from 1997 to 2001 before retiring.

“This is the year where we have some great young talent. We don’t necessarily have to place these players on our roster now, but we know they’re there, and they’re coming soon,” general manager Steve Tambellini said about the 2011 draft class. “We’re definitely going in the right direction.”

We all know the Oilers weren’t going in the right direction and that Musil wasn’t the right player to pick. He got into four NHL games in 2015, grabbing a pair of assists. However, that didn’t do much more for the second-rounder.

Luckily for the Oilers, they didn’t miss out on a star at 32nd overall. Ty Rattie went the pick after Musil to the St. Louis Blues, where he spent four years of his pro career. Of course, we all know what ended up happening with Rattie. He became “the answer” in Edmonton a few years later when they signed him to a one-year, $700K deal. Rattie earned another contract with a slight pay bump to $800K after a promising 14-game audition in which he scored five goals and nine points. Unfortunately, things didn’t improve much, and he scored only 11 points the following season, ending his time in the NHL. He has been playing in Europe ever since.

The best player the Oilers missed out on was Scott Mayfield at 34th overall. He was with the Youngstown Phantoms then and went on to have a couple of good years at the University of Denver before turning pro. The New York Islanders drafted him, and he has stayed there ever since, playing almost 500 games in the NHL.

The Oilers wasted many picks during their decade of darkness. It’s always easy to look back and judge, but Boone Jenner was supposed to be a mid-first-rounder that year, and Edmonton let him slide past them twice. As this series continues, you’ll notice that this is a common trend.

While Jenner and Mayfield continue to thrive in the NHL, Musil, now 31, is closing out his hockey career back in his home country. He’s a three-time Czech champion with Trinec Ocelari HC but now plays for Pardubice HC alongside former NHLer Richard Panik.

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