Alex Chiasson was brought in on a PTO with the Edmonton Oilers at the beginning of last season and the bottom six winger had a highly memorable season, setting a career high 22 goals and finding a comfortable spot on the Oilers top unit PP. There was a time during that season where Chiasson was shooting close to 50%, numbers that seemed highly unsustainable, but you know what?

Yeah that's exactly what happened.

ALEX CHIASSON

65GP: 11-13-24

First thing first we need to discuss Chiasson's contract. His two year 2.15 million dollar deal was absolutely an overpay on Ken Holland's part, and one of the few missteps the Oilers GM has had since taking over last summer. As always, the player cannot be faulted for the contract and looking at Chiasson's season as a whole, there is actually some surprising positives to ascertain.

His 11 goals this season was exactly half of what he produced last season but looking at his linemates that shouldn't shock anyone. Last year the player Chiasson spent the most time with at even strength was Leon Draisaitl (570 minutes) while this year those two played only 75 minutes together. This year his most common linemate was Gaetan Haas (257 minutes).

Edmonton was actually able to ice some real top six talent over this season which resulted in Chiasson playing in a position he is far more suited for; bottom six ice time. Chiasson went from averaging just over 16 minutes a game last year, to 13 minutes this season.

His total shots on net also didn't take too much of a hit. While Chiasson recorded 123 shots on net last season through 73 games mainly being used in a top six role, he registered 97 shots through 65 games this season.

Looking at his underlying numbers is what surprised me the most. Of all Oilers players who played at least 400 minutes at even strength, Chiasson had the second best CF% of 50.28 and the sixth best scoring chances for % of 49.65. Both Gagner and Chiasson were very solid players on the fourth line at generating chances.

Now there are still issues with Chiasson. He can be an incredibly streaky player and while he still received a large amount of top unit PP time (especially when Neal was out) Chiasson doesn't always have the hands or IQ to make plays or cash in at the level of Draisaitl and McDavid.

Overall Chiasson is an overpaid fourth line forward but ignoring his contract he does provide bottom six offense and fills his role well and if he made a million dollars left the fanbase would have no issues with what he brings.

FINAL GRADE: B

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