Oilers missed out on one of the top defenders in the NHL

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Daniel Lucente
August 12, 2024 (4:51 PM)

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Although Ken Holland couldn't have truly known at the time, the Edmonton Oilers sadly lost out on drafting Brock Faber and went another route instead.

Despite what could have been in drafting Brock Faber, Ken Holland did do a good job bringing the Edmonton Oilers up to stardom before he was recently replaced by Stan Bowman. The Oilers had many years being near the bottom of the league and Holland was able to build the team to what they are now, having just went to the NHL finals.

The biggest regret Ken Holland probably has is when his team chose not to retain their draft pick and make a trade instead. That would prove to be costly. The Oilers traded two second-round picks (one in 2020 and one in 2021) as well as Sam Gagner to the Detroit Red Wings for Andreas Athanasiou and Ryan Kuffner.

At the time it seemed like a decent trade to make as no one knew how exactly the players that much lower in the draft would turn out Andreas Athanasiou already knew Ken Holland from their days in Detroit, and he was having a decent year with 24 points in 46 games. However, he only played nine games with the Oilers after that trade and recorded just two points.

Oilers fans, you might want to turn away now, but it's time to reveal what the Oilers could have had if they didn't make that trade. That pick that the Oilers traded was then traded to the Kings, and they selected the one and only Brock Faber. He was then shipped to Minnesota in a subsequent trade, so it's safe to say the Kings are probably kicking themselves over that debacle as well.

Brock Faber was a Calder Trophy finalist and lost out to Connor Bedard. Faber is only 21 and played in all 82 games last season for the Wild, recording 47 points and playing in nearly 25 minutes a night! The Oilers sure lost out on a good one here.

Source: The Hockey News
Oilers Lost Promising Defender With Fumbled Trade

Source: HockeyDB
Brock Faber