Edmonton Oilers listed 25th in The Athletic’s NHL Prospect Pool Rankings
By Cam Lewis
5 months agoThe Athletic has been releasing Farm System Rankings over the past few days and the Edmonton Oilers landed 25th on their list.
This is the fifth consecutive year that the Oilers have either dropped or remained stagnant in these rankings, which isn’t surprising for a team that’s been in win-now mode, moving draft picks and prospects for added depth ahead of playoff runs.
The Oilers were ranked 21st last year and dropped four spots after moving prospect Reid Schaefer and their first-round pick in the 2023 draft. They ranked 19th in both January 2022 and 2021, down from 15th in 2020 and ninth in 2019.
“The Edmonton Oilers’ pool is beginning to bear the brunt of the team’s push to contend. They’ve made just one draft’s worth of picks in the last two drafts and of the seven selections they did make, only two were in the draft’s first four rounds, the least of any team in the league during that span. One of those two picks, Reid Schaefer, has already been traded as well. Add in the prospects they do have not taking the kind of steps you would have hoped for and it’s one of the weaker groups in the league.There are still some decent young players coming — players who may be able to contribute during this window — but their pool isn’t going to produce top-of-the-lineup types. With Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway set to age out and/or graduate to the NHL, their ranking could continue to slide if they don’t hang onto their first- and second-round picks in 2024 as well (they’ve already dealt their picks in Rounds 3 and 4). I considered ranking them a little lower this year, even.” – Scott Wheeler, The Athletic.
Edmonton’s system has been broken down into three tiers, with the top featuring Dylan Holloway, Xavier Bourgault, and Philip Broberg, the team’s first-round picks from 2020, 2021, and 2019, respectively. The second tier has defenceman Beau Akey, the second-round pick from last year’s draft, along with goaltender Olivier Rodrigue, who’s been playing very well in the American Hockey League. These five are the prospects most likely to make an impact at the NHL level.
In the third tier are eight names who project as either depth players or skilled players who appear to be longshots to contribute at the NHL level. Jayden Grubbe, Ty Tullio, Carter Savoie, and Matvei Petrov are playing in the AHL, Matt Copponi and Shane LaChance are two names worth watching playing NCAA hockey, and Maxim Beryozkin and Nikita Yevseyev in the KHL round out the list.
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