My bride and I got the chance to visit the beautiful country of Costa Rica over the last ten days. The country is filled with tremendous people who carry themselves with a sense of contentment despite challenges that would make most of us Canadian uncomfortable. No doubt the national motto, Pura Vida, or “the simple life” is derived from this way of being.

While enjoying my time there, it occurred to me that the simple life is maybe the best way to view Oilers prospects. Maybe the play and the production of Dylan Holloway, the 2020 first-round pick, and Noah Philp, the undrafted free agent signing, should be the focus and not how each ended up as Edmonton Oilers prospects. More on Holloway, Philp and all the Oilers prospects who made waves this week in the Edmonton Oilers Prospect Report.

Honestly, Holloway is the first prospect I have questioned writing about anymore. He’s not an AHL player. He’s in Bakersfield because of a salary cap situation in Edmonton. Plain and simple. Can he further develop while he is here? For certain. Is it necessary? Not at all. This week Holloway continued to prove this fact with three brilliant games. He went 2-1-3  and added nine shots on goal. He now is up to eight points in nine games with the Condors.

His first goal of the week had all the wow factor of what Holloway will bring at the NHL level very soon. Tremendous outside speed, strong edgework to drive the net and a deft little finish.

Holloway also continues to display a wrist shot that I believe some underrate in terms of its ability to score at the next level. I do appreciate that on this goal the goalie may have read pass option, but the Holloway release is very impressive. Watch how quiet his upper body is when he decides to shoot the puck. Then watch how little lower body action is required for Holloway to generate his power. I do believe this skill is transferable to the NHL.

While Holloway is an NHL player at this point, it is important to note there are areas where he could make himself an even better player. One aspect that I think could be very beneficial is his offensive zone spacing. Often when Holloway doesn’t have the puck in the offensive zone, his instinct is to immediately race to the net front for a screen, deflection or rebound situation. This is a pretty common instinct for players because they hear it all the time from coaches.

However, in Holloway’s case, he might be better served not to do this immediately. Watch what happens on this play. When Holloway recognizes the puck is headed to the point, he heads to the net. The issue is that he skates past player #1 right into his check (#2) making it easier on the defender. Then the defenders #2 and #3 really have easier work given the two Condors get into the same spot.

Now let’s look at the same clip and highlight what Holloway maybe had available to him if he hadn’t reacted immediately.  Look at the space in the middle of the ice. It certainly looks like Holloway had a chance to create a 2-3 offensive zone attack and given his speed, puck skills and shot, it likely is a much more dangerous situation.

This seems like a small thing, but honestly with Holloway’s skating and puck skills, giving him the puck in more space with more time to create will make him an even more dangerous offensive player.

While Philp had a cup of coffee with Bakersfield last year, he does remain a rookie under AHL rules. I would bet there is not one person, except maybe a certain tree planter who was a fixture at the University of Alberta sports department in the ’90s, who had Noah Philp leading all Condor rookies in scoring. With Bourgault, Savoie and Tullio all having strong scoring pedigrees in college or junior hockey, I certainly would have bet on any one of them over Noah Philp. Philp, however, just keeps proving me wrong.

This week Noah Philp added 0-4-4 in three games to take his totals for the season to 16-18-34 in 66 games. Now, these aren’t Rocket Richard-type numbers, but they are impressive for a prospect who is considered a defence-first center who can win faceoffs and play the penalty kill. The most important point Philp had this week for me was this secondary assist. Why would a secondary assist be that important? Because it is off a faceoff win. This is a skill the Oilers will need in the future. A big, right-handed center winning faceoffs routinely.

For good measure, he had a primary assist on a face-off win against Coachella Valley onenight later.

The second most important point he had this week was a primary assist that came off a tremendous seam entry by Philp. This one was important for me because it is clear Philp’s skating has improved dramatically. He steps into seams twice and surprises both defenders with his speed which ultimately creates a goal for Phil Kemp.

While less important, here is another fantastic clip of Philp this week. Not quite a 200-foot shift here, but love his neutral zone positioning to create a turnover and then when he sees the chance to attack, he accelerates into a lane to get the touch pass and attack the zone.

I understand people want to focus on his age and how he arrived, but Noah Philp just keeps proving he belongs in the conversation of best Oiler prospects.

A quick note before I wrap up this report. Jake Chiasson’s, Saskatoon Blades and Matvey Petrov’s, North Bay Battalion are in tough first-round playoff series. I will have a summary of each player’s first round next week. As of tonight, Chiasson has 1-1-2 in six games and has struggled against Regina’s pace. Petrov has 0-9-9 in five games. I have suspected he is battling an injury which may explain the imbalance in his scoring, but his play has been impressive nevertheless.

That’s it for this week folks. As always, feedback is welcome right here or to @bcurlock on Twitter. See you at the rink.