Edmonton Oilers might want a do-over of their 2021 first round draft selection.
Edmonton Oilers might want a do-over of their 2021 first round draft selection.
EDMONTON -- Winning teams are built in the draft.
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The Edmonton Oilers have acquired vital pieces to their organization through the draft. Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Darnell Nurse, Evan Bouchard and Stuart Skinner were all drafted and developed by the Oilers.
Ken Holland's tenure with the Oilers had its ups and downs. The Mattias Ekholm trade and Zach Hyman free agent signing will go down as two of his best moves while in the Oilers' front office.
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The one struggle for the organization under Holland's rule was the drafting and developing of talent within the team. The 2021 entry draft featured a tremendous blunder that Jeff Jackson felt the need to correct on July 15th, 2024.
That was the morning that they traded forward prospect Xavier Bourgault to the Ottawa Senators for Roby Jarventie. There were other pieces involved in the deal, but this is the core of it.
Bourgault was drafted 22nd overall, two selections after Swedish netminder Jesper Wallstedt. The big issues with that is simple, the Oilers had the 20th pick but traded back instead of picking Wallstedt.
This trade is only magnifying that misstep. At some point an organization needs to simply move on from a player that has no future with the team.
There isn't an immediate need for a goaltender. However, Skinner hadn't solidified himself as a number one goalie back then. He appeared in 13 games for the Oilers that season. He finished his stint with a 6-6-0 record to go along with a 2.62 goals against average and a .913 save percentage.
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While the NHL team might not have needed a goalie at the time, having a prospect like Wallstedt in your stable is huge. Unless a major trade comes down the pipes, Oilers fans can only dream of what a Skinner-Wallstedt tandem could have looked like.
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