Oilers Prospect Report: Condors season starts and Savoie dominates
2 years ago
It’s been another good week for Oilers prospects around the hockey world. The Bakersfield Condors start 2-0-0, a first-round pick to shine in Quebec, and a couple of late-round picks continue to prove their worth.
We’ll start this week in California with the Condors.
Stuart Skinner (78th overall, 2017) is back up with the big boys after Mike Smith was put on IR yesterday. Skinner has had a solid start to the season with the Bakersfield Condors. It’s still early, but in two games, the Edmonton native has a 1.50 GAA along with 0.946SV%. Last Sunday, Skinner picked up his first shutout of the season after turning aside all 34 shots he faced against the San Jose Barracuda in a 1-0 win.
Smith is eligible to return next Wednesday, which gives Skinner minimal time in the NHL. Edmonton has three games in the next seven days against Arizona, Las Vegas, and Philadelphia. Skinner had a good showing in the preseason, but he seems unlikely to play after the team announced that Mikko Koskinen is getting the start versus the Coyotes. However, what this does do is give Ilya Konovalov time to show us what he’s got down in Bakersfield.
Speaking of Bakersfield, Philip Broberg (8th overall, 2019) has dressed in both games for the Condors. He picked up his first point against Abbotsford with a secondary assist on Adam Cracknell’s power-play goal.
Philip Kemp (208th overall, 2017), Markus Niemeläinen (63rd overall, 2016), Filip Berglund (91st overall, 2016), and Vicent Desharnais (183rd overall, 2016) all picked up assists too. Raphael Lavoie (38th overall, 2019) was held pointless in the opening two games. The Condors are still without Dylan Holloway (14th overall, 2020) and Dmitri Samorukov (84th overall, 2017). It’s been a month since the Oilers announced Samorukov would be out for six weeks, so it shouldn’t be long before we see him back on the ice. Maybe he’ll play even in an Oilers uniform, too, if everything goes correctly.
A couple of Oilers prospects who have been making waves in their respective leagues are Xavier Bourgault and Carter Savoie. Both continued their excellent start to the season over the last seven days.
Bourgault dressed in three games for the Shawinigan Cataractes. He matched his total from last week with six points; however, he found the back of the net a lot more. Bourgault scored four goals, including a two-goal performance versus the Charlottetown Islanders. The 22nd overall pick has now extended his point streak to six games—promising signs from one of the Oilers top prospects.
By this point, Carter Savoie doesn’t surprise anyone anymore. The University of Denver sophomore continued to prove why he is one of the Oilers best goal-scoring prospects. Savoie opened up the scoring on Friday night for the Pioneers in the first period in a 4-1 victory over Air Force. On Saturday, the St Albert native dominated the ice. Savoie was involved in the Pioneers first six goals scoring three of them for his first NCAA hat-trick. After that weekend performance, he was named the NCHC forward of the week. Not a bad find from Ken Holland and his team.
It’s safe to say the kid can shoot the pill.
The final prospect today comes from the Ontario Hockey League. Tyler Tullio (126th overall, 2020) plays for the Oshawa Generals and has been hot to start the year. On Sunday, he put together a three-point performance with a goal and two assists in a 6-3 win over the Peterborough Petes. Tullio leads the Generals with seven assists in eight games. Tullio joins Savoie and Matvei Petrov as one of the late draft picks blossoming for the Oilers.
Overall, another good week from the Oilers prospect pool. Hopefully, next week, there’ll see more progression from Broberg and Konovalov down in Bakersfield. Olivier Rodrigue (62nd overall, 2018) could be an interesting player to watch down there too. It’s also great to see the continuing improvement from other prospects like Bourgault, Savoie, and Tullio.
Other Prospects
Luca Münzenberger (D – 90th overall, 2021) – University of Vermont (NCAA) – 3 games, 0 points
Jake Chiasson (F – 116th overall in 2021) – Brandon Wheat Kings – Out with an injury
Matvei Petrov (F – 160th overall, 2021) – North Bay Battalion (OHL) – 5 games, 4 goals, 6 points.
Shane Lachance (F – 186th overall, 2021) – Youngstown Phantom (USHL) – 6 games, 0 points
Max Wanner (D – 212th overall, 2021) – Moose Jaw Warriors – 3 games, 2 assists
Maxim Berezkin (F – 138th overall, 2020) – Loko Yaroslavl (MHL) – 3 games, 2 goals, 6 assists
Filip Engaras (F – 169th overall, 2020) – University of New Hampshire (NCAA) – 4 games, 2 goals, 4 points
Jeremias Lindewell (F – 200th overall, 2020)- MoDo Hockey J20 (J20 Nationell) – 5 games, 2 goals, 4 points
Matej Blumel (F – 100th overall, 2019) HC Dynamo Pardubice (Czech) – 14 games, 5 goals, 8 points
Tomas Mazura (F 162nd overall, 2019) – Providence College (NCAA) – 3 games, 1 goal
Maxim Denezhkin (F – 193rd overall, 2019) – Lada Togliatti (VHL) – 15 games, 3 goals, 12 points
Patrik Siikanen (F – 195th overall, 2018) – JVP (Liiga) – 14 games, 4 goals, 7 points
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