Oilers have NHL’s top “u-24 Core 4”

Last year, TSN created a big controversy anointing the Toronto Maple Leafs’ u-24 Core 4 as the top group in the league. This year, it seems they remembered where Connor McDavid plays.

Edmonton edged out Toronto this time as the Leafs saw Morgan Rielly aged out of their group and the Oilers had stud defensive prospect Evan Bouchard bump struggling forward Jesse Puljujarvi out of their list.

To be completely honest, I would argue that Edmonton has the top four group here no matter what simply given Connor McDavid. While I agree Toronto, and some other teams like Colorado, Boston, and Vancouver, have really nice groups of young players, having the league’s MVP in McDavid is the bigger game changer.

It’s interesting to see how high TSN is on Bouchard, also. The smart, puck-moving defender looks like an absolute steal for the Oilers at No. 10 overall now given the way he performed during his cup of coffee in the NHL in October. Despite being just 19, Bouchard had the calmness and composure of a veteran defender and already looked like Edmonton’s best passer from the blueline.

There’s no denying how good Edmonton’s young group of players are. If you expand this whole u-24 thing just one year, you can also throw Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Oscar Klefbom into the mix. Beyond that, in the system, the Oilers also have Puljujarvi, Kailer Yamamoto, and a few other solid prospects performing at the AHL level.