The Edmonton Oilers’ 2017 draft class had plenty of promise at one point.

Kailer Yamamoto was their first-round pick at 22nd overall and showed great potential early on. He had two strong stints with the Bakersfield Condors, scoring 18 goals and 34 points in 50 games, earning him a spot on the NHL roster. His rookie season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but 11 goals in his first 27 games had fans excited. That was followed up a couple of years later by a 20-goal campaign; however, the offence dried up quickly, and his time was up in Edmonton before he knew it.

Stuart Skinner was the Oilers’ next pick at 78th overall, and we all know about him. Despite a slight hiccup in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs versus the Vancouver Canucks, Skinner was fantastic for Edmonton in their pursuit of Lord Stanley. The fans love him, and it looks like he’ll be here for the long haul.

Edmonton picked again shortly after taking Skinner, holding the 84th overall pick. They went with Dmitri Samorukov, a Russian defenceman playing in the Ontario Hockey League for the Guelph Storm. He was the 2nd overall pick in the 2016 CHL import draft and ranked as the 22nd North American skater heading into the draft. It felt like the Oilers had themselves a player at 84th.

“Great things were expected of Samorukov when he was picked second overall in the 2016 CHL Import Draft,” said Sportsnet’s Sam Cosentino. “Playing on a rebuilding Guelph team, Samorukov was thrown into the fire, competing nightly in the toughest division in all the CHL. He showed durability, missing just one regular season game, and that’s important to note as he brings a physical element. Not afraid to support the rush or shoot the puck, there is some offensive upside to his game. He’s much more fluid skating backward than forward, but that is a skill he will continue to develop. Having participated for Russia on several occasions, his best international performance was his latest one, winning bronze for Russia at the world U-18s.”

Samorukov showed plenty of promise leading up to his NHL debut in 2020. He was playing well, consistent minutes with the Bakersfield Condors and was the second-best defensive prospect in the system, behind Philip Broberg. Samorukov was an OHL Champion, played in the KHL during COVID, and had more than an entire season’s worth of games for Bakersfield. He seemed ready.

Unfortunately, that was not the case.

Dave Tippett is partially to blame for Samorukov’s time here too. After all the hype, the young Russian defenceman made his NHL debut versus the St. Louis Blues on the road, a difficult place to play at the time, with the Blues only three years removed from a Stanley Cup championship. He took only four shifts in his NHL debut and made mistakes that cost the Edmonton Oilers goals against on two of them.

The first came when he was left alone on a 3-on-1 after a turnover on the offensive blue line from Ryan McLeod. Samorukov couldn’t clear the puck, leading to an easy goal for St. Louis. Jordan Kyrou then undressed him at the blue line after he lunged into him, which ended Samorukov’s night, playing only four shifts for 2:28.

It was an incredibly harsh decision by Tippett, but that was the Oilers’ way for a long time.

It’s unfortunate how his time in the NHL started, and it’s probably harsh that he’s on this list. However, the anticipation ahead of his debut was exciting, and for it all to go as poorly as it did as quickly as it did was disappointing.

The next off-season, the Oilers, ironically, traded him to the Blues for Klim Kostin, who became an instant fan favourite. Now 25, Samorukov is with the Pittsburgh Penguins organization, where he spent all of last season with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.