NHL EQUIVALENCIES FOR TRAINING CAMP HOPEFULS (F)

The Edmonton Oilers will have a job opening or two this fall, and it could go to one of their young players. A chance at center, or on the wing, might be filled by an unexpected source. One of the first things we should look at is offense—can these kids score enough to hang around? NHL Equivalencies can help us suss out the quality offensive prospects.

I normally use two sources, Gabriel Desjardins and Rob Vollman. Desjardins’ version of equivalencies have been around for over a decade and are the standard. Rob Vollman’s came to the forefront after his Hockey Abstract book was released last summer. For our purposes, I’ll use .3 for the CHL, and Vollman’s guide for college, AHL and Europe.

The best players by this metric are two teenagers (Draisaitl and Chase) but Tyler Pitlick was healthy and effective enough to show up in a good spot this season (Vollman suggests that 19-22 year olds in the AHL should have an increased equivalency based on prospect history).

Bogdan Yakimov’s NHLE is skewed, he played only 9.5 minutes a game in the KHL while still compiling the numbers above. If we added 5 minutes, he’d be a little behind Draisaitl on this list.

I expect Draisaitl, Pitlick and Pinizzotto are the most likely players on this list to play in the NHL next season, but the real fun is going to be in the AHL. There’s a fascinating group of young men turning pro this fall (Yakimov, Moroz, Khaira, possibly Draisaitl) and tracking their progress in Oklahoma City is going to be a blast.