The most recent name Edmonton is hoping will finally break a genuinely terrible streak is David Lewandowski.
The Oilers have spent the last three decades selecting and training wingers outside of the first round, hoping one would eventually develop into a top-six scorer in the NHL. Simply put, it hasn’t happened.
There are several close misses. Real promise was brought by Teemu Hartikainen, Linus Omark, Jean-Francois Jacques, and Tony Salmelainen in the 2000s. In the 2010s, Raphael Lavoie, Anton Slepyshev, Tyler Benson, and Curtis Hamilton came after. More recently, Matvey Petrov and Carter Savoie have been the names that supporters have high expectations for.
None of them succeeded. For an organization that decades ago used to take Hall of Fame wingers outside the first round, beginning with Jari Kurri at 69th overall the following year and Mark Messier at 48th overall in 1979, it’s a surprising void.
Fernando Pisani, who was selected 195th overall in 1996, is still the last late-round selection made by the Oilers to even come close to playing a true top-six position. Edmonton has since discovered reliable depth centers and checking wingers, but they have never found that elusive scoring winger.
Last season, Lewandowski made his debut with Bakersfield as a one-game tryout amateur.
The swing talent for Lewandowski is still skating.
He has already drawn considerable attention with his offensive equipment. Spencer Pomoty of Oilers Nation applauded his backhand as “truly unusual” for his skill level in his draft year, referring to his playmaking instincts as his greatest asset.
Bruce Curlock, a writer for Prospect, drew attention to a separate quality, a release that Curlock characterized as “rapid, hard, and precise and overpowering goaltenders.” With 17 goals and 48 assists for 65 points in 57 games for a team that was only 16th in the league’s scoring, he was able to lead his club in scoring last season thanks to that shot.
He already has the physique of a power forward, standing at 6’2″ and 177 pounds, despite not having reached his peak physically.
Curlook, however, also identified the true obstacle. Skating continues to be the swing skill that determines how much of this translates.
“More crossover work is required right now in order to enable a speedier tempo,” Curlock wrote, adding that improved skating would also allow Lewandowski to vary his offensive angles against opponents more effectively.
That’s actually the complete equation as we approach this season. He has a clear route to an entry-level contract and a real opportunity to end this particular drought if he can continue to improve his skating while dominating the WHL with Saskatoon.
He’s already demonstrated significant year-over-year improvement, and he’s closer to a real NHL route than most of the names on this lengthy list ever achieved.
It will be years until we find out if he’s the one who will put an end to a 30-year run of letdowns, but Edmonton has a genuine reason to watch attentively for the first time in a while.
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