While I do think a lot of the blame for Schremp not panning out falls at his own feet, I still blame the Oilers for their horrible decision to fold the farm team and loan their prospects out to other organizations. Schremp was one of the main prospects whose development was hurt by this, along with JDD and MA Pouliot (although Pouliot's health problems did him in as well). Plus, even once they finally got an AHL team again, their first coach was Buchberger, who had no business being the head guy.
Completely agree with your assessment on Omark.
I thought the Oilers completely mishandled Paajarvi and Lander; I was ok with bringing them to North America, but they shouldn't have been rushed to the big club. Lander eventually overcame how badly he was handled (hopefully he doesn't take a downturn this year), but I'll at least credit MacTavish with moving Paajarvi for Perron when he did.
I disagree that Gagner should have went back to junior; IMO, his play at the Super Series and early season play would have made that difficult. Plus, he probably wouldn't have developed much under Hunter and likely would have just put up a tonne of points. Still, I think he should have been put in more of a minor role for his rookie year and should probably have been sent to the AHL in his second year.
Plante was a bad pick who was done in by injuries. He was raw when he was drafted, so playing time was key for his development; his injuries prevented this. He may not have turned out anyways - definition of boom-bust pick.
Nash was just a bad pick. Moving up to get him? Even worse. Whatever happened between him and the organization just compounded the situation, but I completely blame the Oilers for drafting a player they shouldn't have and not dealing with him correctly.
I thought the Oilers did a good job of developing Hartikainen, but he just wasn't good enough for the NHL in the end. It happens. The fact that he got as far as he did (considering when he was drafted) is actually a plus for the organization. J.F. Jacques was similar; he was good in the AHL, but just couldn't take that last step.
Robert Nilsson had similar issues to Omark; I used to know a Swedish guy that played with him in the Swedish youth leagues . Obviously this is a gigantic pile of hearsay, but he told me that Nilsson was the kind of guy who was way better than everyone he played with at an early age, but not really that motivated to improve. From my viewings of him in the NHL, he was pretty soft.
O'Marra, on the other hand, just wasn't good enough and effectively plateaued in junior. He couldn't score in the AHL, which is generally a pretty good indication that a forward just doesn't have the skill level required.
Hamilton relied too much on his size in junior and wasn't able to adapt to the AHL effectively. His injuries didn't help, either.
Cogliano and Chorney probably should have finished their college careers (or at least one more year in Cogliano's case), and Cogliano probably should have spent more time in the AHL, but I'm not sure the Oilers are really to blame for either one. Most of Cogliano's (lack of) development with the Oilers was on him refusing to accept that he wasn't a top 6 player (which didn't dawn on him until he was traded), and I don't think Chorney was ever really talented enough to develop into more than an AHL/NHL tweener.
Paukovich was just a bad pick. There was nothing in his game that indicated he should have been a 2nd round pick.
IMO, Eakins and MacTavish screwed up with Dubnyk and Marincin.
