Three of the four were first round picks, one of them, Hall, drafted first overall, which gave him about an 80 per cent chance of being a top line attacker in the NHL, another, Paajarvi,\u00a0 taken tenth overall, which gave him a 50 per cent chance of becoming a Top 6 forward. Eberle and Omark, though smaller players, had oodles of skill and attacking smarts.<\/p>\n
But not one of these players made a significant impact when it came to turning the Oilers into a winning team, not even the dynamic Hall, who is now with his seventh NHL team. All four players are still playing pro hockey, Paajarvi and Omark having carved out OK-to-great careers in Europe, Eberle being a regular Top 6 forward in his own NHL stops.<\/p>\n
But the hope that H.O.P.E. brought to Oilers fan proved to be something of a false hope.<\/p>\n
Young guns<\/p>\n Will this time be different? The large cluster of young gun forwards in the Oil\u2019s Top 15 prospects this year has one forward with Paajarvi\u2019s draft pedigree in Matt Savoie and another with close to Eberle\u2019s draft status in Ike Howard, but there\u2019s no supernova talent like Hall.<\/p>\n There is, however, some significant depth, players such as grinders David Lewandowski, William Nichol, and Connor Clattenburg, offensive aces like Savoie, Howard, Viljami Marjala, Quinn Hutson and Roby Jarventie, and two large two-way players, Maxim Berezkin, still in Russian, and Josh Samanski, just over from Germany.<\/p>\n They\u2019ll all have great opportunity to step up in Edmonton given the team\u2019s salary cap conundrum that sees the Oilers blessed with star talent who also happen to eat up a huge percentage of Edmonton\u2019s overall cap space. The Oilers, as early as this October, are desperate for inexpensive young players who can step up, win jobs, and help the team\u2019s brilliant core of stars win in the playoffs.<\/p>\n Where does Lafreniere, Edmonton\u2019s first pick in the 2025 draft, fit in?<\/p>\n Every year this century in NHL drafts about 15 to 20 forwards have been taken in the third round of the draft, the same round Lafrrenier was drafted.<\/p>\n About one or two of those third-round forwards each year become OK-to-great NHLers, playing 400-plus games in the NHL, often in a Top Six capacity.<\/p>\n The best of the third rounders drafted this century has been Brad Marchand, Brayden Point, Patrick Sharp, Jake Quentzel, Bryan Rust, Pavel Buchnevich, Carter Verhaeghe, Anthony Cirelli, Adam Lowry, Alexander Killorn, and Adam Henrique.<\/p>\n Henrique was taken 82nd overall in 2008, and when I was watching a highlight reel of Lafreniere\u2019s 2024-25 season, Henrique\u2019s game came to mind. Lafreniere is good on his skates, but not the fastest, good with the puck, but not the slickest. He plays a smart, hard-working game and goes hard to the net with the intent to score, much like Henrique.<\/p>\n Of course, Henrique \u2014 one of the few forwards to be drafted in the third round to go on and have a good NHL career \u2014 is the exception to the rule. Most forwards drafted here fail to make it in the NHL. But there\u2019s no saying that Lafreniere can\u2019t also be the exception to the rule. After all, he was a low round pick (eighth round!) in the Western Hockey League bantam draft but he\u2019s made the jump in that league. Maybe having learned he can defy the odds, he can apply those lessons and take an even bigger step.<\/p>\n Lafreniere<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what he said<\/a> this past February about his battle to overcome low draft status in the WHL: \u201cYeah, I think it was just kind of just an understanding of just how hard I need to work. I think it\u2019s just kind of clicked inside of me that I need to do more than everyone else and keep pushing myself to be better. And so I just kind of gone the weights a little bit more and gained some weight and took a little bit of height, so it\u2019s definitely helped a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Here\u2019s some of what\u2019s been said about him in the last few months both before and after the 2025 draft:<\/p>\n At The Hockey Writers, Dayton Reimer said<\/a> in early June: \u201cThere are moments where he can get pushed off the puck and struggles to win battles against bigger, stronger players\u2026 Despite his good top-end speed, the Blazers\u2019 rookie isn\u2019t the cleanest skater, limiting some of his effectiveness without the puck\u2026 The things he does well, he does very well: he\u2019s fast, tenacious, incredibly smart, makes creative passes through traffic, and has a strong, accurate shot.\u201d<\/p>\n And Gabriel Foley of Recruit Scouting: \u201cWill need to build out his frame and get a jump away from the puck, but his ability to think and act quick is impressive and impactful.\u201d<\/p>\n And Neutral Zone scouting, which pegged him as a sixth or seventh round draft pick: \u201cDespite a minus-33 rating on a struggling team, he produced 56 points in 68 games while playing significant minutes (20:14 TOI) and finished fourth on the roster in goals, assists, and points. He offers high-end hockey sense, strong puck skills, and a competitive motor, though his physical game, battle consistency, and defensive reliability remain areas requiring improvement.\u201d<\/p>\n And Luke Sweeney of Dobber Prospects: \u201cWhile not always physical on the puck, Lafreniere is adept at using deception to surprise carriers and strip pucks off them. He finished fourth on Kamloops in scoring in his first year there, though his minus-33 was second lowest on the team. However, this was a weaker team, and everyone on the roster was well into the negative.\u201d<\/p>\n And Corey Pronman of The Athletic: \u201cLafreni\u00e8re had a productive first full WHL season, being a point-per-game player for Kamloops. He\u2019s a good skater with solid puck skills and vision. He creates offense on the move and inside the offensive zone. He was also a regular penalty killer for Kamloops. Lafreni\u00e8re checks a lot of boxes, but as a smaller winger, there\u2019s a lack of a special element in his game that you want when projecting his frame to the NHL.\u201d<\/p>\n Most recently, Oilers prospect expert Bruce Curlock said<\/a> of him: \u201cThe first thing you will notice about Lafreni\u00e8re is his work ethic. He never gets cheated on any shift, no matter the situation or the zone. What makes this intriguing is that Lafreni\u00e8re is an excellent skater. His acceleration and lateral movement is very quick. Lafreni\u00e8re skating combined with his work ethic makes him a pain in the ass to play against. He\u2019s a great defender in-zone and he\u2019s an aggressive forechecker on offence.\u201d<\/p>\n Expectation for 2025-26. In his draft year, Henrique put up 44 points in 66 games on a strong Windsor team. Lafreniere had 56 points in 68 games with a weak Kamloops team. In his Draft Plus-1 year, Henrique improved to 63 points in 56 games, playing on a championship team led by Taylor Hall and Ryan Ellis. If Lafreniere is to follow Henrique\u2019s path, he\u2019s got to get about 80 points in 68 WHL games this year, and help turn his struggling team into playoff contender.<\/p>\n Cult of Hockey prospect series 2025<\/p>\n Forwards: David Lewandowski (15th<\/a>)<\/p>\n Dmen: Paul Fischer (16th<\/a>), Nikita Yevseyev (18th<\/a>), Asher Barnett (19th<\/a>)<\/p>\n Goalies: Nathaniel Day (17th<\/a>), Eemil Vinni (20th<\/a>)<\/p>\n At the Cult of Hockey<\/p>\n STAPLES Edmonton Oilers in trade talks for Boston Bruins 1st round winger? Hmm<\/a><\/p>\n STAPLES: Can Smurfs get it done? Edmonton Oilers now faster but smaller on the wing<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Young](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/31cae90df39a2f2c6b62df3a86ed9937.jpeg\"\/)
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Lafreniere\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/e0fbb5b7209fe3e990305bfc72e9c76b.jpeg\"\/)
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