Edmonton Oilers preseason heroes of the past 15 years

We all remember these guys. The ones nicknamed “The Answer.” The players who get our hopes up after a dominant preseason only to fade away shortly after. They are the preseason heroes, and in recent years anyways, the Edmonton Oilers have had no shortage of them.

In some of the most difficult seasons trying to find wingers for Connor McDavid, plenty of players appeared to be on the verge of stardom after a few short preseason games before being waived by the New Year. We mostly have fond memories of these players, so as we get closer to the puck dropping on preseason action in the next couple of weeks, how about we revisit some of our favourite preseason heroes from Edmonton Oilers history.

Magnus Paajarvi

The 10th overall pick in the 2009 NHL Draft was Magnus Paajarvi, an incredibly promising scoring winger from Sweden. Back at the beginning of the decade of darkness, this being the second rebuild attempt at this point, Paajarvi was a part of the HOPE quartet, featuring Taylor Hall, Linus Omark (who almost made this list himself), Magnus Paajarvi, and Jordan Eberle. These four were supposed to help lead the Oilers to greatness once again.

Early indications were incredibly promising. In his very first game in an Oilers uniform, a preseason game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Paajarvi scored a hat trick. Wasting no time, it looked like he was going to fit right in with the NHL. In that first preseason, he ended up with four points. Although he did have a solid rookie season, with 34 points in 80 games, and another four point preseason the following year, he never really lived up to the original potential and his first ever preseason game may have been the highlight of his time as an Oiler.

Vladimir Tkachev

Here’s one to really draw on our memories, Vladimir Tkachev. He began his illustrious Oilers tenure after a training camp invite in 2014. Tkachev went undrafted and was brought in to give him a trial run. After an impressive training camp and preseason in which he had three points in three games, appearing to be ready to make an impact, he signed an entry-level deal with the team. This stretch had already begun to endear him to Oil Country as we had been searching for a spark plug, energy player for a while.

The excitement was short-lived, however, as the NHL cracked down on the Oilers. There existed a CBA clause that rendered Tkachev ineligible to be signed to a contract as a CHL player with less than a year played in North America.

Tkachev will live on in Oilers history as a major “what-if” after his impressive preseason that looked like he was going to fit in with a soon-to-be growing team.

Anton Lander

A former second-round pick of the Oilers back in 2009 was Swedish forward Anton Lander. Long projected to be a major part of the team in the early 2010s, Lander had taken a lengthy development path that had him stuck between the AHL and NHL, never quite being able to stick around in the big leagues permanently. In his first 94 NHL games, he only had eight points.

Those fortunes seemed to be changing, beginning in the 2014–15 season. Lander was breaking out, he had 20 points in 38 games. Finally, we could start pencilling him in as an important and stable part of the team’s depth.

Heading into the 2015–16 season with the excitement of Connor McDavid joining the team, Lander was living up to and exceeding expectations. He played in six preseason games, scored five goals, and added one assist to lead the team in scoring with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. How did he keep this rolling into the regular season? Let’s just say he didn’t.

In the 2015–16 season, Lander had three points in 61 games. After one more season in the Oilers organization, Lander moved on and returned to Europe, where he has had a fairly successful career in the seasons since.

Jussi Jokinen

Jussi Jokinen was supposed to be a valuable member of Edmonton’s depth. In a period of time where the Oilers struggled to fill up the lineup with high level NHLers, the signing of a versatile two-way forward like Jokinen was supposed to be a huge help to the performance of the team.

Early indications had him not just meeting, but exceeding expectations. Two goals and five points in the preseason? Sign us up, that is exactly what we needed in the forward depth.

As we know now though, Jokinen’s tenure as an Oiler went about as poorly as it could be. One point in 14 games, a couple of scratches, and he was shipped off to the Los Angeles Kings.

Jokinen’s time in Edmonton may have been short lived, but it was memorable. In it’s own way. He now lives on as one of the organization’s most prominent preseason heroes.

Ty Rattie

Ty Rattie is the inspiration for this list. The most well known preseason hero of the past couple decades for the Oilers. A key inspiration for the nickname “The Answer.”

Originally signed as a free agent in the 2017 offseason, Rattie did not have high expectations placed on him. But he fit in well with the organization from the start, totalling 43 points in 53 games with the Bakersfield Condors and another nine in 14 games with the Oilers in a late season call-up. That is when eyebrows started to rise when watching Rattie play. Did we finally find a winger for McDavid?

We sat with that question all offseason long as we awaited the beginning of the 2018–19 season. And that is where The Answer was born. Rattie, along with McDavid, had 11 points in four preseason games. Finally! A winger with chemistry to pair with the rising superstar.

Unfortunately, that was the peak. Rattie did not keep up that level of production and quickly found himself falling farther and farther down the lineup until he was waived in January.

Brendan Perlini

The final and most recent entry on this list is another winger in the Ty “The Answer” Rattie mould, Brendan Perlini. Originally a fairly high first-round pick, Perlini did have early career success with the Arizona Coyotes, but that quickly dissipated as he struggled to find a permanent place to play. After a season in Switzerland, he signed with the Oilers hoping to find the scoring touch that had him pot 17 goals earlier in his career.

His first appearances in an Oilers uniform were in the 2021 preseason, which he quickly impressed Oil Country. Five goals and six points in the preseason? Perfect, we’ve got another scoring winger to pair with McDavid or Leon Draisaitl.

As it turns out, that was another flash-in-the-pan moment for Perlini. He actually scored more goals in the preseason than he did in the regular season. With just four goals in 23 regularseason games in Edmonton, he was sent down to the AHL and left unsigned the following offseason.