The Edmonton Oilers have inked prospect Raphael Lavoie to an entry-level contract.
The club announced the deal via its Twitter account Saturday afternoon.
Lavoie was believed to have slid back in the draft a little bit as many had him touted as a mid-to-late first-rounder. So for Edmonton to be able to snag him early in round two was great.
Hereā€™s what some scouts had said about Lavoie ahead of the draft:
A large and skilled player. Offensively, his release stands out which is very accurate and allows him to be a capable scorer. Furthermore, Lavoie reads the game fairly well and is good at distributing the puck.
There are diverse opinions on how quickly this huge winger goes off the draft board because he is so dominating against the smaller QMJHL players he regularly plays against. There is no denying he seduces your opinion with his long reach and sneaky deceptive release of the puck that catches goalies off guard. Was added to the World Junior Summer Showcase as an injury replacement and played well when surrounded by really good teammates. At this juncture, he projects more as a right wing, and not a centre. He will have to radically improve his acceleration, foot speed, and pace to be thought capable of patrolling centre ice in higher levels.
Lavoie helped the host Mooseheads reach the Canadian major junior championship game where Halifax lost to the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies. He had two highlight-reel goals in the tournament ā€“ including one in the final ā€“ and an assist along with 17 shots on goal over four games.
His physical play was prevalent throughout the tournament as he used his big frame to create a good cycle in the corner and set up scoring opportunities for his teammates.
He says heā€™s at his best when he has the puck and is creating offensive chances.
ā€œI think Iā€™m pretty good when Iā€™m doing that.ā€
Lavoie was streaky during his draft year and finished the regular season with 32 goals and 41 assists in 62 games.
But when it came to the playoffs, the right-handed shot picked up his game.
This last season, Lavoie returned to the QMJHL where he ripped it up all season long. He started the year with the Halifax Mooseheads but was traded to the Chicoutimi SaguenƩens after returning from the World Juniors.
In Halifax, Lavoie scored 18 goals and 44 points in 30 games, while with the SaguenƩens he scored 20 goals and 38 points in 25 games.
All in all, he finished the year with 38 goals, 44 assists for a total of 82 points in only 55 games. He finished the QMJHL season 5th in goals, and 9th in total points ā€” a great D+1 season.
Iā€™ve really liked the selection of Lavoie from day one especially because of his size and goal-scoring ability ā€” something he seems to have been able to blend together very well.
I think Lavoie has the talent to slot into Edmontonā€™s top nine and maybe a top-six scoring role in the future. At 19 years old, heā€™s still got another year of QMJHL eligibility and would likely need some time in Bakersfield to percolate a little bit more.
Nonetheless, itā€™s great to see the Oilers locking up a future piece of the Oilers puzzle.
Hereā€™s some links to some of the things weā€™ve written about Lavoie in the last year:
Oilers fans, what do you think of Lavoie? Could you see him as a top-six player in the future? Let me know in the comment section!
On Twitter: @zjlaing