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Edmonton Journal

Most over-rated Edmonton Oilers still plugging along elsewhere in pro hockey

They are, as a group, the most over-rated Edmonton Oilers of all-time. But they're still plugging along in pro hockey. Article content Who are they? Bottom-pairing d-men in Edmonton, players who as young pros ere held up by large and vocal factions of the Oilers fanbase as budding NHL stars, surefire Top 4 defencemen-to-be, with all the fancy statistics you'd ever want to back up the claim. Article content Article content But one after another failed to in his Oilers audition, then have struggled as well in other NHL organizations. Article content Article content This list has many similar players, mostly smaller d-men with NHL average-to-good puck-moving skills. None of them were high draft picks, but their lack of pedigree and inconsistent skill profile didn't stop many fans from adoring them, promoting them, and gnashing their teeth at the presumed incompetence of the Oilers organization when they crashed in Edmonton and eventually were traded away after a few seasons. Article content The fact that not one of them stuck as a Top 4 d-man in another NHL city suggests maybe the Oilers were right to move on, and that the faction that so believed in each player simply had it wrong. I had it wrong on a few of them, I admit. Article content Article content It's a bold statement to say these are the most over-rated Oilers of all, especially given how so many fans have fallen for high pedigree offensive players like Rob Schremp, Nail Yakupov, Magnus Paajarvi and Jesse Puljujarvi. Article content But I'll suggest there's a special intensity to the hope invested in these bottom-end d-men, one similar to the optimism of the gold prospector scratching for decades for the one big find, the ego-driven aspect that rises high inthose who hope to have that rare ability to spot a diamond-in-the-rough. Article content These d-men tended to be most beloved by fans who put a lot of weight in modern era hockey analytics and fancy stats, the team-based on-ice numbers that attempt to rank individual players. The one exception to that is big Desharnais, who was adored by the old school, Rock 'Em, Sock 'Em faction of fans. They loved the size and aggression he brought to the team. But after two playoff seasons where Desharnais struggled to move the puck, it was time for him to go, at least when he was offered a major raise by Vancouver. But the Canucks quickly moved on from Desharnais as well.