Oilers Prospect Report: Chiasson scores, Savoie named to All-NCHC, and Niemelainen re-signs

We are now less than two weeks away from the NHL trade deadline. The Oilers are buyers, but likely won’t do anything crazy.

In terms of prospects, don’t expect to see any of the Oilers’ top promising talents get moved. Unless Ken Holland decides to get that top goaltender, we all want, but that’s an article for somebody else to write.

Before moving on, a couple of quick notes: Xavier Bourgault is still out. He returned for one game on February 4th but hasn’t been seen since.

Dylan Holloway also scored a pair of goals for the Condors to take his tally to six on the year.

Now, we’ll get to the rest of the news:

A couple of articles ago, it was mentioned that Jake Chiasson made his return to the Brandon Wheat Kings lineup after recovering from surgery.

Well, in just a brief stint back on the ice, the Oilers 4th round pick from 2021 let his impact be known with a four-point game against the Lethbridge Hurricanes.

Chiasson was involved in the first three Wheat Kings goals in what finished as a 6-3 victory. He made a nice cross-crease pass to Nolan Ritchie to get the scoring started. His goal came with less than a minute to play in the first period. He got to the net and the puck found him to tie the game. If you watch Chiasson in the future, you’ll notice he likes to get to the net A LOT.

His other two points were secondary assists on Brandon’s 4th goal and the insurance goal.

I wrote about this yesterday on Oilersnation, which you can read here.

In short terms, Carter Savoie is a very good hockey player and has been recognized as one of the best in his NCAA conference. In his sophomore season, the St. Albert product has 40 points (20 goals, 20 assists) in 32 games and two more to go this weekend.

Savoie is an exciting player and one that should have Oilers fans excited.

Some more positive news, Markus Niemeläinen is staying in Edmonton for another two years. Niemelainen’s camp and the Oilers agreed to a contract with an average annual value of $762k.

The Finnish defenceman has become a fan favourite during his brief time at Rogers Place. The physicality he’s brought to the Oilers blueline brings an element fans haven’t been used to for a while now.

Niemelainen has played 20 games in Edmonton, all this season, and has one point. He was initially selected 63rd overall in 2016 and has played 44 games in Bakersfield scoring four goals and 13 points.

Recently, he was sent down to Bakersfield strictly for the purpose of the birth of his first child. Oilers fans should expect to see him back in Edmonton in the not too distant future, especially if all these injuries continue to pile up.