When we last spoke the Bakersfield Condors had been eliminated from the playoffs ending the season of many of the most senior prospects of the Edmonton Oilers.

This week we turn to some of the younger prospects that populate the Oilers organization. In particular, the focus is on the three remaining CHL prospects who played in the last week and who all made impacts in their respective series. Impressively, the highest draft pick of the three is a fourth-rounder with another being a sixth and the final one a seventh-round pick. Two of them are good Western Canadian boys with the other being from Moscow, Russia. This week we focus on the kid who journeyed from Russia to Northern Ontario during the Covid pandemic. He decided to tell us with his play that he would very much like to keep heading west to Edmonton in the near future.

I know this young man is finding his way into the hearts and minds of Oiler fans. How do I know this? I sent this tweet and it had one of the largest reactions of any prospect tweet I have sent in five years.

Petrov followed that great goal with another one where he showed off his patented one-timer from the left flank.

However, this series was more than goal-scoring for Petrov. In fact, it was more a continuation of his regular season where Petrov really displayed his puck skills helping teammates score. In the seven-game series against Barrie, Petrov was 2-6-8 in seven games. The series was littered with great puck plays like this one here. No question, last year, Petrov shoots this puck. This year, he draws all eyes to him and then dishes for an easy finish.

Here is another great assist where Petrov demonstrates another skill that became more prominent this year. His forecheck skills. This skill development might actually be more important than his puck skills because any chances that Petrov can create off transition will likely be very high quality.

Finally one more example of Petrov’s improved effort levels and energy to set up a teammate’s goal.

Now, Petrov still has work to do just like all junior prospects not named Connor McDavid. We just showed Petrov’s effort level and checking on the offensive side of the puck. Here is a really good example of the lack of that effort defensively.

It is this play that will drive Oiler fans crazy, but even more importantly, it will give his pro coaches a reason to staple his butt to the bench. That said, he has the skills necessary to play in the NHL. He needs to get stronger physically and more consistent defensively, but these are development attributes that can be achieved more easily.

We’ve covered the story of Petrov’s travails in his draft year. While I am sure the young man would have loved to have been drafted higher, the fact he fell to the 6th round is great fortune for the Edmonton Oilers. Given his offensive ability and the Oilers’ search for scoring wingers, he may also think his draft slot wasn’t as bad as it originally seemed.

If Jake Chiasson’s season could be described by a book title, it would be called The Tale of Two Cities [Seasons]. His season before the trade was below average at best. His season after being acquired was much better. His performance in the playoffs has been a continuation of his season in Saskatoon. Above average to excellent play, but at times leaves observers wanting him more. Chiasson’s seven-game series against Red Deer was really impressive. He had six points in seven games and was integral in the Blades coming back from 3-0 down to win the series.

He has this Ryan Smyth trait of scoring all of his goals from a distance of two feet or less.

He also has tremendous hands and offensive zone vision. In addition, he goes to the net without any fear at all. He is counted on heavily in Saskatoon’s first powerplay. Watch this whole clip to see all of these attributes.

Finally, I want to show a clip that shows Chiasson’s motor on the forecheck. He has a heavy stick on the check and he constantly moves his feet to loose puck battles.

A couple of final notes on this week’s report. Maximus Wanner’s season ended this week at the hands of the Winnipeg Ice. Wanner finished the series against Winnipeg with a goal and two assists in six games. More impressively, he absolutely held his own on the first defence pairing against one of the most potent offensive teams in the CHL. His next stop will be Bakersfield where he really has very few hurdles in his way on the right-side defence depth chart.

Finally, a quick shout out to Nikita Yeveseyev whose team lost the Gargarin Cup final in seven games to CKSA. Yevseyev, who is still 18, played all 21 playoff games averaging about eight minutes and had one goal and three assists. If this player can exit Russia, I believe he would be a fascinating professional player in North America.

That’s it for this week everyone. As always, your feedback is welcome here or @bcurlock on Twitter.