The 2010s were about as rock bottom as it could get for the Edmonton Oilers. Although the “Decade of Darkness” started following the 2005–06 season, it was the turn of the 2010s where the misery hit critical levels. The Oilers were consistently one of the worst teams in hockey, constantly made bad managerial decisions, and never seemed to learn from their mistakes. As a “reward” for being so terrible, Edmonton spent a lot of time picking highly in the NHL Draft in the 2010s.
Unfortunately, this didn’t immediately save them from the league’s basement. Not until the back-to-back selections of Leon Draisaitl in 2014 and Connor McDavid in 2015 did the team’s fortunes turn for the better. Before those two, there were a lot of busts in Oil Country.
Let’s take a look back on some of the most famous examples, from wasted picks to players who just couldn’t get over the hump.
Nail Yakupov
Unfortunately the first name that comes to mind when someone thinks “draft bust.” Nail Yakupov can’t be described as anything less than a major disappointment. Selected first overall in the infamously weak 2013 Draft, Yakupov still profiled as the draft’s premier offensive talent, scoring 170 points in 107 career OHL games. In fact, Yakupov’s rookie year showed some promise. 17 goals and 31 points in the lockout shortened 2012–13 season on a pretty bad Oilers team wasn’t nothing, but that would turn out to be his high-water mark.
Despite scoring 24 goals and 40 points trapped in Dallas Eakins’ “swarm defence” system in 2013–14, Yakupov’s production dropped harshly in 2014–15, with just 14 goals and 25 points in 81 games. Not even the arrival of Connor McDavid could salvage Yakupov’s NHL career, as just eight goals and 23 points in 60 games during the 2015–16 campaign signalled the end of his time in Edmonton.
Yakupov was envisioned as the final piece of a young Oilers core of Taylor Hall and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. With RNH as the steady centre and Hall as the power forward, Yakupov’s talent seemed to be ready-made as the trigger man of a lethal and young line. Instead, he flamed out and massively undershot expectations.
After leaving the NHL in 2018–19 for the KHL in his native Russia, Yakupov has carved out a respectable career, and even was a member of the 2021 Gagarin Cup champion Avangard Omsk. However, he’ll always be best known as one of the biggest busts in NHL history.
Jesse Puljujarvi
Jesse Puljujarvi’s story is much more complicated than Yakupov’s. Selected fourth overall in the 2016 draft, Puljujarvi had just come off a World Juniors for the ages. Five goals and 12 assists in seven games, tying Wayne Gretzky and Eric Lindros for second-most points ever in a single tournament, as well as capturing Finland the Gold Medal. At 6’4 and 216lbs, he profiled as the perfect two-way winger to pair with McDavid.
Unfortunately, Puljujarvi never found his stride at the NHL level. His first two years in the league involved him being yo-yo’d between Edmonton and AHL Bakersfield. During the 2019–20 season, he left the Oilers and signed with Kärpät of Liiga in Finland, and performed very well, scoring 24 goals and 53 points in 56 games. Upon returning to Edmonton, he posted back-to-back seasons of at least 14 goals in 2020–21 and 2021–22, but it wasn’t enough to keep him around.
Puljujarvi was dealt to Carolina in February 2023, and has since bounced around from Pittsburgh, to Florida, and now Switzerland, signing a two-year deal with Genève-Servette HC of the National League. Puljujarvi also dealt with serious injuries, eventually requiring a double hip replacement in the summer of 2023. It never all came together for the “Bison King,” and although he was a well-liked Oiler by the end, it would’ve been even better if he reached the potential he showed prior to the draft.
Linus Omark
Unlike Puljujarvi or Yakupov who dissapointed due to draft pedigree, Linus Omark was the embodiment of the phrase “all sizzle, no steak.” He was a wizard in the shootout, and was well-known for regularly making magical moves while playing in Europe. After joining the Oilers AHL affiliate in Oklahoma City in 2010–11, Omark played well enough to earn a call-up to the NHL, where he debuted with one of my favourite goals ever.
Unfortunately, that clip is the highlight of his professional career. Although wildly talented with the puck, Omark was a non-factor without it, and wasn’t physical or defensively sound enough to solidify a roster spot. He would spent the next year and a half bouncing between the NHL and AHL, before leaving for Switzerland in the summer of 2013.
After a successful year, Omark actually re-signed with the Oilers, but again failed to lock down a spot and was traded to Buffalo in December 2013. Omark was waived by the Sabres but refused to report to their AHL affiliate, which led Buffalo to terminate his contract, allowing him to return to Europe. Although the YouTube highlights were awesome, Omark never had enough around his game to keep up at the NHL level.
Tyler Benson
The absolute definition of an NHL tweener, Tyler Benson was selected 32nd overall in 2016 and seemed to be a solid pick from the jump. A solid junior career gave way to some truly impressive AHL years. In 2018–19, he had 15 goals and 66 points in 68 games. Then in the shortened 2020–21 season, he scored 10 goals and 26 points for 36 points in 36 games.
Despite this, Benson never got a real look at the NHL. One 29-game stretch in 2021–22 was his only shot, but with only one goal and one assist, he didn’t solidify a spot. Benson spent the next few seasons bouncing between stints in the AHL and spot starts in the NHL. He recently signing in the SHL and then the DEL, posting 22 goals and 59 points in 45 games with the DEL2’s EC Kassel Huskies.
Benson always seemed like a player who would find his way onto the Oilers eventually, but instead he found himself unable to breakthrough to the next level.
Griffin Reinhart
The centrepiece of one of the most lopsided deals in NHL history, the Oilers bet huge on Reinhart at the 2015 draft. After securing McDavid first overall, Peter Chiarelli picked up the phone and called the New York Islanders. Griffin Reinhart had been selected fourth overall in 2012. Although it looked like he wouldn’t pan out, Chiarelli thought he knew better.
Reinhart had captained the Edmonton Oil Kings to two WHL championships and a Memorial Cup win in 2014. He was big, mature, and physical, the exact kind of young defenceman the Oilers lacked at the time. Chiarelli decided he had to have his man, and sent the 16th and 33rd overall picks to the Islanders in exchange for Reinhart.
The 2015 draft is commonly regarded as one of the deepest drafts in modern NHL history. With those picks, the Islanders turned around and selected Matthew Barzal and Mitchell Stephens (and they could’ve had either Sebastian Aho or Brandon Carlo in Stephens’ spot). Barzal went on to win the 2017–18 Calder Trophy as the league’s best rookie, and almost instantly cemented himself as the best forward on the Islanders. Barzal has played 611 NHL games. Stephens has mainly been a career AHLer with occasional NHL playing time. Stephens has played 123 NHL games.
Griffin Reinhart played 37 NHL games in his career. 29 of them came as an Oiler, where he proved he was neither mature, nor physical, and most importantly, very bad at playing defence. The Oilers could have continued to bolster their young core with the 16th and 33rd overall picks. Instead, they traded them for a player who played less than 40 NHL games in his life. Although he wasn’t drafted by Edmonton, this might have been the biggest bust of them all. It would’ve been pretty cool to add a Barzal to a team that already had McDavid, Draisaitl, RNH, and Hall. Alas, not to be.
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