Edmonton Oilers 2025 NHL Draft Recap

The Edmonton Oilers had no picks in the first or second rounds of this year’s NHL Draft. They entered the Draft with five mid-to-late-round picks. Their newest prospects are…

Tommy Lafreniere – 83rd Overall – Right Winger/Centre: From the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers, put up 24 goals and 32 assists for 56 points in 68 games. He’s not afraid to crash the net or engage in puck battles, and can be a good playmaker. The Oilers signed Zach Hyman four years ago. Did they just draft another version?

David Lewandowski – 117 Overall – Left Winger: This pick was part of the Evander Kane trade on Tuesday. Lewandowski put 15 goals and 24 assists for 39 points in 52 games with the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades. A power forward who throws hits and has a good shot. Sounds like he could be a solid Kane replacement in half a decade or so from now.

Asher Barnett – 131st Overall – Defenseman: Edmonton got this pick by trading a fifth-round pick in next year’s Draft to the Nashville Predators. A left-handed shot, he has put up eight goals and 14 assists for 22 points in 58 games with the US National Team Development Program. He was the captain for Team USA at this year’s U18 World Championships, putting up two goals and four assists for 6 points in 7 games. The latter tournament showed a more offensive attribute. He’ll be playing in the University of Michigan next season.

Daniel Salonen – 191st Overall – Goaltender: From Finland, he posted a 23-1 record with a .933 save percentage and a 1.55 goals against average for Lukko U20. His team won the league championship, he was named league MVP and the league’s best goalie. Rare for most goalies, he catches with his right hand. Salonen is the second Finnish netminder the Oilers have drafted in two summers. They selected Eemil Vinni 64th Overall in the 2024 Draft.

Aidan Park – 223rd Overall – Centre: From the UCHL’s Green Bay Gamblers, he put up 33 goals and 33 assists for 66 points in 55 games. Good offensive numbers and, from what I’ve read, “polished defensive habits”. He played 3 Playoff games for the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen, and I figure he’ll spend a whole season with the Hitmen next year.

A pretty boring start for Oilers fans in the sense that we wanted to see management make a major splash. Other than the Noah Dobson trade to Montreal, every team either traded to move up and down the pick order, or just stood where they were. John Gibson, a goaltending target for Edmonton, was traded to Detroit, much to the chagrin of the Oilers faithful when it comes to that position on the team. It’s possible that Anaheim didn’t want to trade Gibson to a team in their division that’s a league-average goalie away from being champions. Was his 2025 season just an outlier, or would he’ve been a solid addition between the pipes? I’d like to think the latter, but we’ll find out next season. Friday and Saturday were about the future, and July 1st will be about the present. More cap dumps, a big trade, a big free agent signing, will we see any of these happen on our side of the playpen?