While the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames rookies were going head-to-head this weekend, other leagues were playing regular-season games. Four European Oilers prospects suited up in one or more games, with two making their long-awaited season debuts. Let’s go through some video and talk about how these young players are doing.

The 2024 sixth-round selection started his first season with Timra IK in the Swedish Hockey League this weekend. Sundin finished with a minus-two rating and logged around 22 minutes.

The Swedish defenceman started slowly and got caught watching the play on the first goal against. In the clip below, Sundin’s partner is tied up in front, and Sundin needs to step to the immediate threat. The opponent gets two high-danger looks, and the puck ends up in the net.

As the game went on, the right-shot defenceman found his footing and started to play better. After the goal, Sundin showed some strong defensive reads, as you will see in the clips below.

In the next clip, Sundin keeps pace through the neutral zone and defends a one-on-one very well.

What impressed me about the 21-year-old’s game was the growing confidence with the puck. It started with some foot deception to create a clean pass up the wall.

Later, the Timra IK defenceman opened up as a passing option and made a good backhand under pressure that led to a controlled exit.

His best show of confidence came past the halfway mark, when he sold a fake, opened his hips, and worked down the wall. In the future, you want more burst to pull away from the defender, but it’s a great tendency to have.

Toward the end of the game, the sixth-rounder again worked down the wall, put his back into the winger, and beat him to generate a shot on net.

Overall, Sundin got better as the game went on. If he keeps showing poise with the puck, he should put together a fine season. The goals for this young defender are simply to keep playing in all situations and bump the skating up a notch.

Edmonton’s fifth-round pick from the 2020 draft played two games over the weekend and finally registered his first point with an assist in the latter game.

Against Kunlun Red Star in his first matchup, Beryozkin played 14:38. The big Russian’s night was quiet, but there were still highlights. In the clips below, Beryozkin remains a primary option for power-play entries.

As has been the case early, he keeps finding teammates for high-danger chances, including this beautiful pass.

In the second game of the power forward’s weekend, Lokomotiv faced Neftekhimik. Beryozkin saw a season-low 13:12, but Lokomotiv took seven penalties, and he’s not featured on the team’s penalty-killing units. The power-forward notched his first point of the year with a slick cross-crease feed for a tap-in.

Although the right-shot winger is a gifted playmaker, I would love to see him keep driving play himself and attack the net, as he shows in the next clip.

Overall, Beryozkin had a good weekend. If he finds any finish, he could already have a couple of goals. The puck will start going in for Maxim; no concerns there.

Playing on a new team this season, Yevsevev is now a top-pair defenceman who logs big minutes in all situations. On Thursday, he played 22:31 and scored; on Monday, he logged 22:29 and added a secondary assist. His average TOI is now above 20 minutes, a great sign for the former seventh-round selection.

The sixth-round pick from the 2022 draft picked up his first goal of the year on the power play with a net-front deflection. Unconventional for a defenceman, but we will take it.

Yevseyev is not a highlight-reel defenceman. He makes the simple play more often than not, but late in the game, the 21-year-old pulled off a couple of high-end sequences that led to chances. In the first clip, he makes a great backhand pass with two men on him, creating a high-danger look.

In the next clip, he activates on the rush, gets a fortunate bounce to beat two defenders, and nearly finishes a spectacular goal.

Against Kunlun Red Star, Yevseyev picked up a secondary assist with a simple power-play touch while working as the quarterback on the blue line. He keeps it clean and quick.

Amur doesn’t activate its defencemen often, but I would like to see Yevseyev jump a bit more, even if it’s just to gain the zone under control, like in the clip below.

Yevseyev is up to three points in four games on his new team. The ice time is steady around 22 minutes. Early signs point to a big development year for the Russian-born prospect.

No clips for Eemil Vinni this time. Edmonton’s second-round pick from the 2024 draft opened his season in Mestis, Finland’s second tier, and it did not go as planned. JoKP lost 4-3, and the Finnish netminder stopped 13 of 17 for a .765 save percentage. He backed up in the second game.

Goalies are weird, and development often takes longer. It’s early, but this is not the start the 19-year-old wanted following a 2024-25 campaign that was derailed by back surgery.

Overall, though, it was a solid weekend for Oilers prospects in Europe. Albin Sundin, Maxim Beryozkin, and Nikita Yevseyev are playing prominent roles on their pro clubs. Next update lands Sunday, and hopefully, we’re talking more of the same from the kids overseas.