During his early pro seasons (2012-2015) Brandon Davidson was whatever you call the guy who starts behind the long shots and distant bells. A sixth-round selection in 2010, he didn’t turn pro until he was 21. He would play in 150 AHL games before winning a full-time roster spot with the Edmonton Oilers.
It could have gone another way — he was close to being placed on waivers in the fall of 2015.
What did he do well? How did he pass other hopefuls on the way to the NHL? Todd McLellan, Edmonton Oilers coach at the time, said, “He has size and he can skate. If he can retrieve pucks we can beat their forecheck, that’s all we’re going to ask of him.”
Davidson would outlast higher draft picks (Martin Marincin, David Musil) and an expensive acquisition (Griffin Reinhart) on his way to 180 games in the NHL. He showed excellent defensive acumen and might have been a bigger factor if he could have avoided injury.
This year’s Oilers look set, but as the case of Davidson in 2015 shows, strong performances get noticed no matter the draft number or asset cost to acquire talent. Here are five obscure Oilers prospects looking to emerge as the next Davidson, and find an NHL career.
Vincent Desharnais has many things in common with the Davidson story. He was drafted in 2016’s seventh round after his freshman season at Providence College, and he played three more seasons with the Friars. He didn’t earn an NHL contract when turning pro, but rather an AHL deal.
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