Edmonton Oilers Prospect Report: Dylan Holloway shines in return to AHL
1 month ago
The NHL trade deadline has come and gone, and for those who follow Edmonton Oilers prospects, it was good news for the most part. The prospect pool stayed together as a whole. The team’s top prospect, Raphael Lavoie, did not move nor did anyone else.
The only negative from a prospect standpoint is the Oilers trading several draft picks in the coming draft years. Now, that is certainly not a negative in terms of trying to win, just in the sense of the prospect pool. However, when you have McDavid and Draisaitl in their prime, the Stanley Cup has to be the goal, and that means something has to go out to bring in players capable of helping.
In this case, it was draft picks and that is fine. However, it does mean those prospects remaining need to develop into NHL players at a higher rate than other teams. These players will need to fill holes in the roster at low salary cap hits and be available for trade when the draft picks remaining don’t excite teams looking to trade with the Oilers. This week saw another step for several players in this journey. More on these prospects and all your news and notes in the Edmonton Oilers Prospect Report.
Who Caught My Eye?
Raphael Lavoie
At this point, Lavoie should be a weekly feature on Sunday. He continues to add to his impressive offensive totals while doing many of the little things right to help his team win. This week Lavoie went 4-1—5 in the four games this week. He added eleven shots which continues a trend down in his shooting stats. However, more impressively, three of his four goals were at 5v5, which led to a plus three week for him on the plus/minus stats.
There has been this narrative that Lavoie is a power play specialist. Not that I think it matters when you score goals at the developmental level, Lavoie is not a powerplay specialist. Of his 67 AHL goals, 21 are on the powerplay. That’s a healthy ratio of 5v5 scoring. This week, that was on showcase again, and here is a look at all three goals at even strength.
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His shot is lethal from anywhere on the ice, and his confidence with it is at an all-time high.
What I like most about his game in terms of where he is at developmental is his maturation. He is showing a very good understanding of when to attack and when to retreat and defend. Here are a couple of clips this week that emphasize this part of his game.
Watch this great little play. Lavoie recognizes his team is going to recover the puck with time and space. He instantly takes off to create an outlet pass chance. By doing this, he also takes two defenders out of the Condors’ zone, so even if he doesn’t get the pass, he makes it easier for his team to exit the zone another way.
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This next clip shows both his understanding of danger in the offensive zone and then his willingness to work hard all the way back to help defend. Lavoie ends up in an F3 position, but the forecheck in front of him has lost its shape. Watch him realize the situation and help neutralize a potential odd-man attack. He then does a nice job of defending the high play and sending Seth Griffith away on a breakaway.
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This goal did not count due to a weird penalty call made by the linesman, but the play itself was important as it showed Lavoie’s continued development in his defensive game.
Dylan Holloway
When you have waiver eligibility, it can be quite the roller coaster for a player. Dylan Holloway has found that out a couple of years in a row now. At the trade deadline, the Oilers added two forwards in Adam Henrique and Sam Carrick. That meant two players need to go out for cap purposes. So, Sam Gagner was waived and Dylan Holloway was sent down. For the record, I am happy with this choice. It is crystal clear that two coaching staffs in a row don’t know how to use Dylan Holloway. In both cases, he ends up playing eight minutes a night on a fourth line. This is not a good development strategy for an offensive prospect.
We can quibble about whether he should have been on the fourth line, but that is irrelevant. The coach had him there and that isn’t doing anyone any favors. So down he went to Bakersfield. He got into two games and was used heavily in all situations. He played on the top line in each game at center. He also played on the first penalty kill and was moved from the second powerplay to the first powerplay after Drake Cagguila went out with injury on Friday. His game was sublime in all facets. His totals for the two games were 1-1—2, with five shots on net and an excellent plus-three. All of his points were at even strength. There is a caveat to all of his totals. He only played five periods. Holloway left the game on Saturday after a weird collision with the Colorado goalie.
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He did not return to the game, and the team did not send out an official report. However, Mike Griffith, who follows and reports on the team in Bakersfield, sent out this post late last night.
Holloway’s career has been full of this type of fluky injury play. Hopefully, he and the team have dodged a bullet, and he will suit up in Abbotsford later this week.
In terms of his play, he was excellent at center for the most part. He is still learning the center role professionally. He gets a little excited about coverage in his zone and can over-commit, but that will come with reps. He also rushes the play a little bit, trying to impact every shift. Again, as he gets more reps, he will understand when to attack and when to be more patient.
All that said, it was still a strong five periods for Holloway. He cleaned up in the face-off circle averaging over 65 percent on the weekend. He also scored a really pretty goal off a nice face-off win that he helped create.
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His other point of the weekend was a great assist, in which he showed off his speed and quality playmaking ability, all while being patient on the play.
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There is a lot of narrative about whether he should be in the AHL or the NHL. That really does not matter now. He is in Bakersfield and he needs to work hard to hone his craft. The team is clearly committed to seeing what he can do as a center and this is the league where he should learn. Not the NHL. Here is hoping he remains in Bakersfield for the season. The yo-yo needs to stop with this play. You also hope Holloway has a healthy run and gets the reps he needs to impact the NHL team next season.
Shane Lachance
The sixth-round pick from the 2021 draft continues to have a solid freshman year. He is 12-11—23 in 34 games and would be the leading scorer amongst freshmen on his team but for one issue. There is another freshman on the team and his name is Macklin Celebrini, the consensus 2024 first overall pick. Regardless, Lachance has really played well, and in the last couple of weeks, Lachance has moved to the first line playing left wing with Celebrini, and it has been an excellent development. Lachance went 1-2—3 in two games this week and added six shots on net. He was also a plus-three as well.
Now there is no question that Lachance needs to work on his skating. This will be the key to his NHL trajectory. However, he has skills that translate. He is a big man with very, very good hands. Watch this shift of his goal this week as it shows you these attributes in all their glory.
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I’ve said it many times before there is a Pat Maroon feel to this player. The skating will have to get better for certain. However, his size, hands and level of meanness remind me so much of Maroon. In addition, he has a better shot than Maroon. Whether he ever suits up as an Oiler is uncertain, but there is a developing prospect there. The next step will be to see how he does without Celebrini, who certainly will not be on the team next season.
News and Notes
- Ty Tullio is quietly really coming on. In four games this week, he went 1-3-4 with a plus-two rating and added five shots. Here is a little clip showing off the absolute bomb of his shot.
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- Tullio has been on either the top line or the second line now for sometime and it is really working for him. He also sees some second powerplay time and is now starting to get a taste of the penalty kill. I think this player has a chance. It is not without another full year of work in the AHL, but it is coming along well.
- Matvey Petrov and Carter Savoie both returned to the line-up this week from injuries. Savoie only returned for Saturday’s game. Petrov was in both games on the weekend and showed off his elite wrist shot.
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- Playoff season is upon us. The KHL playoffs have already started with not much change in the fortunes of the three Oiler draft picks, Maxim Berezkin, Nikita Yevseyev and Maxim Denezhkin. Yeveseyev remains stuck in the Russian version of the AHL after playing almost all of the season last year in the KHL. Berezkin and Denezhkin continue to tread water on their teams in a stalled development pattern.
That is all for this week in Oilers prospect land. As always, send me feedback to @bcurlock on the X or right here on ON. Have a great week and see you next Sunday.
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